Creating Groups With SMART Life App

If you create a group of smart lights, you can turn all the lights on or off and change the brightness or colour temperature of every light at the same time, from a single control panel, instead of opening each light one by one.

What is a Group in the SMART Life app?

A Group is a virtual device that combines several real devices of the same type into one tile on your home screen. When you tap the group, the app shows one control panel, and every command you send is applied to all members of the group at once.

This is different from a Room, which is only a way of sorting devices into a list, and different from a Scene or Automation, which runs a saved set of actions. A group behaves like one large device: one on and off switch, one brightness slider, one colour temperature slider, one colour wheel.

Typical uses in a Perth home include:

• Six smart downlights in an open-plan living area treated as one light.
• All the LED strip lights in a kitchen kickboard run controlled together.
• A row of garden lights switched on together at dusk.
• Several smart plugs for a home theatre powered down with one tap.

Before you start

Each device must already be added to the SMART Life app and working on its own. If a light is not yet connected, add it first through the plus icon on the home screen, then come back to grouping. Make sure every device you want to group is online, on the same account, and ideally in the same home within the app.

How to create a group step by step

1. Open the SMART Life app and go to the Home tab.
2. Tap one of the devices you want to include in the group. Its control panel opens.
3. Tap the edit icon (a pencil) in the top right corner of the control panel. The device settings screen appears.
4. Tap Create Group.
5. The app lists every compatible device of the same type. Tick each device you want to include. The device you started from is already selected.
6. Tap Save.
7. Give the group a clear name, for example Living Room Lights or Alfresco, then tap Save again.
8. Return to the Home tab. The new group appears as its own tile. Tap it to open the shared control panel.

To edit a group later, open the group, tap the edit icon, and choose Edit Group to add or remove devices, rename it, or dismiss the group entirely. Dismissing a group removes only the group; the individual devices stay in the app.

Controlling a group

The group control panel shows the same features as the devices inside it. For a group of colour temperature downlights you can:

• Switch all lights on or off together.
• Drag the brightness slider to dim every light to the same level.
• Move the colour temperature slider between warm white and cool white for the whole group.
• Use the group in a Scene or Automation, so a single tap or a sunset trigger adjusts all lights at once.
• Ask Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa to control the group by name, once the app is linked to your voice assistant.

You can still open any single device inside the group and adjust it on its own. The next group command simply brings it back in line with the others.

What can be grouped and what the limits are

Groups only work across devices of the same category and, in most cases, the same product type. A few practical rules:

• Lights can be grouped with lights that share the same capabilities. A group of CCT downlights works well; mixing a single-colour light with an RGB light usually means the group only offers the features they share, or the app will not list them together.
• Wi-Fi devices group with Wi-Fi devices, and Bluetooth mesh or Zigbee devices group with devices of the same protocol under the same gateway.
• Smart plugs and switches group with other plugs and switches.
• Different product families, such as a light and a fan, cannot be placed in one group. Use a Scene to control mixed devices together.
• Each device can belong to more than one group, so a downlight can sit in both a Kitchen group and a Whole Downstairs group.
• Keep groups to a sensible size. Very large groups of Wi-Fi devices can respond a little slower because each device receives its own command over your network.

If the Create Group option does not appear, the device model does not support grouping, or there is no second compatible device on the account yet.

Tips for a tidy setup

• Name groups by location and purpose so voice commands are easy to remember.
• Keep the Wi-Fi signal strong throughout the house so grouped devices respond together. A mesh Wi-Fi system helps in larger homes.
• After creating a group, test it once with lights on, once with lights off, and once with a brightness change to confirm every device responds.

Grouping is one of the quickest ways to make a smart lighting setup feel effortless, and it costs nothing more than a few minutes in the app. Order today the Smart LED lighting products in Perth from Greenhse Technologies, or visit our showroom at 5/1 Locke Lane, Ellenbrook WA 6069. Call (08) 9297 2969 if you would like help choosing SMART Life compatible lights or setting up groups, scenes and automations for your home.