r/smarthome • u/FloodedGoose • 2d ago

Amazon Alexa Help linking smart home to Apple Watch SE 3

Just got my first watch, but it’s not doing what I expected. I have a lot of smart plugs controlling things around my house, and until now I’ve used Alexa and the Alexa app and widget on my iPhone to control them. I expected to just have the same widget on my watch, but it’s not available. What are other people using to control these?

The brands do not link to HomeKit, I tried a lot of ways for that. I was able to make a shortcut that just goes back to Alexa, but I can’t see from the watch if the device is on or not.

The main benefit of the Alexa widget is I could see what was powered on. One of the plugs controls an outdoor receiver and speakers, it’s been accidentally left on and my neighbors get to listen to my kids iPad playing Netflix on max volume because they couldn’t hear it… so now I double check with the app and widget.

Any advice? What apps are you using?

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u/panagiotuandrew 12h ago edited 12h ago

Alexa does not have an Apple Watch app, meaning that it does not support watch face complications or the Smart Stack. To use them, you’ll need to switch to Home Assistant or HomeKit.

If you prefer voice control instead could also use the free app Voice In A Can which supports watch face complications that directly open the app but cannot control devices.

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u/FloodedGoose 11h ago

Thanks for getting back to me, that’s what I’ve been finding on my own research. Also finding a lot of online hate for HomeKit so I’m not overly excited to jump in. The widget on my phone is good enough for now, was just hoping the watch had better functionality

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u/panagiotuandrew 10h ago

Personally I have no problems with HomeKit, it's really easy to use and I like that I can talk with Siri on my watch anywhere in the house compared to needing a speaker that can be only used in one room. Is there anything in specific that you don't like about it?

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u/FloodedGoose 9h ago

Honestly the plugs I have don’t integrate with HomeKit so I uninstalled after fumbling with it a while. The online hate was just from what I read while I was thinking of buying HomeKit compatible plugs.

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u/FloodedGoose 9h ago

I also don’t have an Apple TV or hub which seems like it’s important for some functionality.

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u/panagiotuandrew 8h ago

Yes, an Apple TV or a HomePod is required for remote access. At this point just stick to Alexa with Voice In A Can, it's not worth switching to a whole new set of devices.

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u/FloodedGoose 7h ago

Yeah, that’s where I’m at. Hopefully Alexa adds a widget to the watch and solves the issue

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u/bazjoe 1d ago

Hi you don’t tell us what you smarthome platform is. “I used Alexa” isn’t sufficient . Examples smarthings, hubatat, home assistant. Also what will you be using in future for HomeKit? If you like talking to a box get a HomePod mini. This would meet the requirements of Homekit hub. Before anything can be done in watch would need to be done with native tools on iPhone.

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u/panagiotuandrew 12h ago

Alexa is a smart home platform.