Bluetooth Blinds

[Do Kieu]

At their most basic, smart shades and blinds make life far more simple, opening and closing without the risk of tangled strings or accidentally stripped shades. Like traditional shades and blinds, they can shield your home from harsh sunlight, while also helping to insulate it from hot- and cold-air leaks. And they ensure privacy from that nosy neighbor (you know the one).

Most of these devices require a hub (which plugs into your router or into a wall outlet) to connect to Wi-Fi and enable smart functionality. The SmarterHome MySmartRollerShades and SmarterHome MySmartBlinds are slight exceptions since they work over Bluetooth out of the box, but you still need the companion Wi-Fi bridge to get full smart capabilities.

Each Wi-Fi hub is slightly different, but they all help extend the connection range, allow for new features via firmware updates, and support adding dozens of branded devices. For instance, one Lutron Casta Smart Hub can handle as many as 75 Lutron devices.

The SmartWings Motorized Light Filtering Roller Shades, the SmartWings Motorized Light Filtering Cellular Shades, and the Leviosa Roller Shades I tested are the biggest outliers here since they operate via Matter over Thread rather than Wi-Fi. Instead of a traditional Wi-Fi hub, you need a compatible Thread border router for each of the platforms you intend to use with these shades, whether Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, Google Home, or Samsung SmartThings. Common border routers include smart speakers and displays, such as the Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen), the Apple HomePod Mini, and the Google Nest Hub Max, as well as other connected devices such as the Nanoleaf Shapes decorative lighting panels and the Samsung Q90C TV. See the complete list of Thread border routers for more.

Once connected, these gadgets communicate with your battery-powered shade or blind, just as they do with any other smart-home device. You can then use the companion app, where available, or any compatible third-party platform app to open and close or to raise and lower your window coverings; create a set Schedule based on your daily habits; ask Alexa, Google Assistant, or Siri to open your shades or blinds for you; enable features that adjust them according to sunrise and sunset estimates in your area, or slowly throughout the entire day; or design automations with multiple smart-home devices as part of a daily routine.

These shades and blinds are DIY, but they do require drilling (with the exception of the easy-to-install SmarterHome MySmartBlinds; more details on that later). Some of the shades and blinds are heavy, and it might help to have a second person on hand to assist.

The Lutron Casta Smart Hub, sold separately, is required to enable Wi-Fi and any smart functionality in the Lutron app and with its supported smart-home platforms, including voice control. One hub works with as many as 75 Lutron devices. This hub connects to a router, and we found it simple to set up via a tutorial in the Lutron app.

They are fuss-free. I created multiple Schedules, including one for sunrise and sunset, and these shades worked seamlessly, which was pretty delightful. I especially enjoyed walking downstairs in the morning to shades that had already opened without my having to do anything. At sunset, they automatically blocked the direct bright light that typically streams into the living room at that time of day.

Unlike the models available from Lutron, these shades come with a rechargeable battery that gets topped up by an included solar panel strip. That could be unwieldy, so we especially like that the solar panel is tucked away from view.

Smart-home integration is limited. The only compatible third-party smart platform is Alexa. And using it can be clunky. In the Tilt app, you first have to create a Routine, which you can then trigger in the Alexa app.

One long-term tester has Fyrtur shades in their kitchen to block blinding direct light in the evening. The shades are set to lower automatically at a specific time every day and then to open again at sunset. This tester noted the usefulness of the shades operating without their having to do anything.

One window in my living room faces west, which just happens to be where I installed my Lutron blinds. Because of the direction the window faces, bright light streaks in starting in the late afternoon. Most of the time, we get up and lower our shades manually until the sun is a little less intense. With Natural Light Optimization, the blinds made micro-adjustments automatically throughout the day, so we never once had to make our own tweaks to avoid a blinding glare.

If you want Matter compatibility: The SmartWings Motorized Light Filtering Roller Shades and the SmartWings Motorized Light Filtering Cellular Shades are easy to install, look nice, and run quietly.

A less expensive though less full-featured option is the Thread-enabled SmartWings Motorized Light Filtering Cellular Shades, described above, which have the same honeycomb design and heat-transfer tempering capabilities.

We do not recommend the Matter over Thread Leviosa Roller Shades. The unfinished-looking battery compartment was massive and heavy, and it required 10 D batteries (even more than the Lutron Serena Smart Roller Shades).

Motionblinds Bluetooth motors can be set up and programmed in a minute by smartphone, drastically simplifying installation, automation and control of motorized blinds. Motionblinds Bluetooth safeguards 100% privacy: it works without bridge, without registration and without any cloud dependency.

Window coverings with Bluetooth motors can be set up in a minute. Just scan the setup code through the Motionblinds Bluetooth app. Follow a few simple steps in the app to complete setup and the blinds are ready to be controlled by smartphone.

Putting the blinds on autopilot is very easy by programming timers into the motor through the app. At scheduled times, blinds automatically move to their preset positions. To safeguard user privacy, all data and intelligence are strored locally on the motor, instead of relying on a cloud.

Install the Motionblinds Wi-Fi bridge to connect blinds powered by Bluetooth motors to smart home systems such as Google, Alexa, SmartThings. This also allows app control from anywhere in the world, beyond Bluetooth range. The Motionblinds Wi-Fi bridge works through a cloud connection and does require registration.

I first for them working a rather lumpy way with a python script and http server. Details here This worked but was unreliable do to my use of lamdas. Details here
This worked and could have been rewritten a number of ways to work better but it was just not a solid solution.

Well done @CDriver! This can be useful not only for Soma blinds owners, but also as a guideline for other users who want to add support for some other cool BT devices. In this case, there was not any code changes (just fairly simple XML files), so it should have been quite easy (I hope ) to implement

and thanks a lot for your work! I also got myself some Soma controllers and I am trying to set them up right now. So far everything worked, but can you assist me with the xml files? Where do I find them and where do I put them?

EDIT: Found the folder, but I think I need some more files. Currently I just have the ones from your linked post (org.bluetooth.characteristic.blind_position.xml + org.bluetooth.characteristic.blind_position.xml )

I ended up reverting to use the http method.
GitHub SkyJohn/Homebridge-SOMA-Smart-ShadesHow To Guide on controlling a SOMA Smart Shade with Apple's Home.app using Homebridge and a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B - SkyJohn/Homebridge-SOMA-Smart-Shades

For openhab I only needed the webshades library ( -Smart-Shades-HTTP-API/blob/master/webshades.py ). However, since openhab and webshades run both on port 8080, a small modification was needed. In webshades.py I added:

A note: if you have multiple blinds your method could have some concurrency problems. Two blinds in a group, if you send request to the group the items fire almost at the same time. This will cause weird behaviour with the Bluetooth connection. It did on mine anyway.

However, the webshades webserver seems to be not responding after some time. Does that happen in your setup too? My quick fix would be to simply restart it sometime in the night; but maybe someone else figured out a better explanation/solution?

This integrationIntegrations connect and integrate Home Assistant with your devices, services, and more.[Learn more] adds support for Motionblinds Bluetooth motors. Want to motorize your existing blinds? This can be done with Motionblinds motor CMD-03. Made-to-measure window coverings with Motionblinds are available through a worldwide reseller network.Beware that this integration does not work with Eve Motionblinds motors. Eve Motionblinds can be added to Home Assistant using the HomeKit Device integration or the Matter integration.

First, check the setup code of your motor. Eve Motionblinds motors with Matter and Thread have a setup code showing the Matter logo. If you see a different setup code, then you have a motor with Bluetooth or HomeKit technology. In that case, please check out our Bluetooth or HomeKit support.

Google Home, Apple Home, Samsung SmartThings, and Amazon Alexa are the most common smart home platforms. They allow you to manage smart devices such as lights, thermostats, security cameras and blind and shades through one central point, such as a smartphone app or assistant.

This border router, also called home hub, creates a local Thread network in which smart devices work together and connects this network to other networks, such as Wi-Fi or the Internet. This allows smart devices in your home to be controlled from outside, for example with your smartphone or watch.

Battery powered Thread devices such as Eve Motionblinds motors represent endpoints in your Thread network. If the distance between your Thread border router and Eve Motionblinds motor is too long, Eve Motionblinds may not be added to the Thread network and/or may not respond adequately.

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