How to Configure the Stream Deck to Control Home Automation

How to control anything with the Stream Deck

If you like all the gadgets, you surely know the Stream Decks by elgato. These devices offer control based on different buttons with an interesting feature: they have a small LCD screen that can be personalized. Thanks to that you can place an icon / image that helps to better identify the function that activates when you press it.

Well, this had and has as its main purpose to make it easier for streamers to control their live shows, so that they can launch specific sounds, activate or deactivate a video signal and many other effects and actions related to the subject of audio live shows. and video.

But this small accessory, of which there are three versions plus an application that allows you to convert any smartphone into a Stream Deck, has gone further. To start with, there are users who are using it in their day to day with creative tools such as video or image editors, assigning specific actions that give them a plus when it comes to optimizing their workflow.

They are also using them for the recording of podcasts, although this use does not differ much from the original, that of video broadcasts through the Internet. But if there is a very interesting use for these small devices it is the control for the smart home. Through your software’s own options and the use of the IFTTT service, you can control practically any connected device.

For example, you can assign a key to turn all the house lights on or off, activate a specific scene or, as we say, even activate the vacuum robot so that it goes out to do its cleaning functions. Everything you can imagine is feasible if there is a way to integrate it via IFTTT.

How to create a recipe in IFTTT for the Stream Deck

Creating a recipe in IFTTT and then launching it through a Stream Deck is not complicated, you just have to follow a series of steps and repeat them for each new action.

1. The first thing is to go to IFTTT.com, log in
2. Click on your user icon and then Create
3. Now hit the + This button
4. Search for Webhooks and activate this action
5. Now assign a name to the action / event and click create trigger
6. Then tap on + That
7. On the next screen look for the service you want to connect. For example, Philips bulbs and connect if not done
8. Complete the following steps and you’re done

Now that you have done all that, the next thing is to assign this action to one of the keys of the Stream Deck that you are using. For this we are going to use Webhooks.

Webhooks

1. Go to My services within IFTTT and search for Webhooks
2. At the top right click on the Documentation button to get a unique URL
3. Copy that address
4. Open the Stream Deck application and when you select a key drag over it the use of a web command (System / Website)
5. In addition to assigning the icon and name, you will see a URL field where you will paste the previous address
6. Check the access box in the background

Done, you already have the Stream Deck correctly configured and integrated with IFTTT to control anything you can think of. Here you can research everything you want, you know (if we do not tell you) that IFTTT offers many possibilities. Some are more basic and others more complex, it’s just a matter of seeing what level of control you need. But combining the elgato device and this service you can control your home from a single point.

If you have been interested and do not have one of these gadgets, you can try the Stream Deck application. This app is paid, but offers a few days of free trial. You can assess and then decide whether to buy the normal Stream Deck, the XL or the mini.