this post was submitted on 06 Dec 2024
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Does anyone know of a simple, battery powered state switch device for either Matter, Homekit or Zigbee? It should NOT be a wallsocket and specifically needs to keep a permanent on/off state.

My current plan is to be able to set an "On Vacation" state and base my automations around that but other usecases are possible as well.

I used to have this using a virtual switch in Homebridge that ran on a Raspi but this thing was too maintenance heavy and I would prefer a less hacky solution.

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[–] Num10ck 2 points 2 months ago (3 children)

maybe a door sensor that isnt on a door? just secure the magnet. maybe replace the battery with AC.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

I actually thought about that as an alternative. Also unused socket switches could be used instead. I just wish there was a cleaner option. Even better would be if Homekit/Matter just added states as a global option without requiring a device for that. It has been on my mind since I started diving into smart homes and I wonder why I seem to be the only one.

Apple even added such a feature into iOS a few years ago with Focus, to my delight.

[–] Num10ck 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

maybe use an apple shortcut somehow?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

That won't work. It needs to be a state in the smart home so automations can check it and do things based on that. Same way they can check for current temperature or sunset/sunrise.