Erratic automation behaviour

[GreatOldOne]

Hi,

I'm quite new to shortcuts & automations. I’ve only really started looking at them as I wanted to use my HomePod mini as a clock radio… but the BBC being the BBC they aren’t available on the HomePod. Hence the hoop jumping with workarounds on my phone.

Here’s what I’ve set up:

This works if run manually. And the stand-alone shortcut I have with the exact same steps works, when i ask Siri to play radio 2. But the scheduling on the automation seems iffy. Sometimes it works, but mostly it doesn’t. Yet every day when I first pick up my phone in the morning the lock screen tells me it was running the automation at the set time.

Does anyone have any pointers on how to get these automations to work reliably?

Cheers,

Jason.

 

[reppans]

Does it work reliably with the screen unlock/on, and unreliably with screen lock/off?

 

[GreatOldOne]

No… my phone is placed on a charging mat each night, so it’s locked & charging when the automation is due to fire. It worked this morning, but didn’t the previous 2 mornings. And the shortcut that does the same thing - airplay the sounds app to the bedroom HomePod - works regardless of lock / unlock.

I wonder if the charging puck is interfering with the Wi-Fi signal. I also have DND set which turms off at 07:00... but of that where causing the issue, why did it work today? ?

 

[reppans]

Try adding the scripting ‘wait 4 seconds’ as the first DO… the rest of your DO steps following this. IME, Wifi <> home kit device sometimes drops while phone is off/locked. The automation trigger wakes the screen, the wait gives it a few secs to re-acquire wifi, and then the DO actions can execute.

 

[GreatOldOne]

Thanks - I’ll try this and see what happens.

 

[reppans]

Please post results either way, be interested to know if this solves it for you… it solved my smart plug automation issue.

 

[GreatOldOne]

Ok, so f0r the second morning on the trot it’s worked - that’s a 100% improvement so far, so I’m quietly confident that this has solved the issue - but I’ll keep an eye on it and give longer term feed back later. Thanks @reppans for your help. ?

 

[Moakesy]

Ok, so f0r the second morning on the trot it’s worked - that’s a 100% improvement so far, so I’m quietly confident that this has solved the issue - but I’ll keep an eye on it and give longer term feed back later. Thanks @reppans for your help. ?

Hi

Did this fix this issue long term?

Just stumbled across this thread whilst trying to resolve another issue.