ObyThing Music App Reviews

Doesn’t work at all !! wait for a later version.. Glad it wasonly 4 bucks

This app, combined with SmartThings, is exactly what I needed. I had a bunch of Airplay speakers and wanted to integrate them into my home automation setup. However, I didn’t want to go out and buy a bunch of Sonos speakers…too much money! This app does exactly what I needed, which is awesome, since I have a Mac Mini that is always on already. I emailed the author asking about some additional features and they have already been submitted to the App Store…awesome! There are a few quirks, some of which are currently limitations with SmartThings, such as an issue with updating within the SmartThings app. But, it sounds like there are solutions on the way. I can’t wait to see where this app goes.

I can’t believe this app is in the store. I basically just got a Sonos lite system with SmartThings integration for $4! Works flawlessly. Great help videos on the site for getting it up and running. Absolutely worth the money. Thank you thank you thank you!

Quite a while ago, I invested in Airport Expresses for my existng stereos to create a sort of “poor-man’s Sonos” setup. I had always envied Sonos users that use Smartthings, but now I have it all. In fact, this provides more options than Sonos even provides. One caveat though. This version (1.1.1) on your Mac works perfectly. There is an updated version of the SmartApps on Smartthings that Smartthings has not yet published. When it does, the full power of this released will be unlocked. If you are a power user, you can get the source code from ObyThings, and compile the SmartApp yourself in order to get the full functionality. I am writing this review in anticipation of Smartthings publishing this, as I have been using the version I compiled myself for a while now.

Downloaded today and app not able to start … don’t waste your money :(((

This program use to work but after server updates I am having problems. I tried to uninstall and reinstall the smart things obyone smart app, but the Smarthings app is completely different from the one documented on the ObyThing site. I can no longer find an ObyThing app. :-( Looks like the only way to get music with Smartthings is to use Sonos now. bummer….

It would appear that the app is no longer working - expect for the taking of my money part. I successfully downloaded the app to my Mac Mini running OS El Capitan and… nothing happens. I click on the icon and the app will not start. The money was taken rom my account but my hopes of integrating this app with my new SmartThings hub have been dashed because it doesn’t work. Yes, this app is mentioned in the SmartThings forum but it appears that the developer hasn’t updated his app in over a year and it is now just running on fumes with no support. Do Not Purchase...

With the SmartThings v2, this can permit SmartThings control of play, pause, previous, next, mute and volume control of iTunes running on a Mac, along with a few other tricks. It also has an AirPlay toggle feature which I didn’t test as the machine seemed to hang when I tried that. While there are manual workarounds to get SmartThings actions to trigger on your Mac, this app is a reasonably-priced way to trigger actions in iTunes on your computer. Probably more appropriate for desktop machines, but should run on any Mac. In order to get it to do really neat things you need to install other SmartThings smart apps, like Mood Music or speaker control. Mood Music will be able to trigger specific tracks in your iTunes library based on home automation triggers, e.g. motion detection etc. Within the SmartThings mobile app on iOS, you’ll need to install the ObyThings Music app as if it were a new home automation device (under Things, Connect New Device). I believe in order for that to appear though, you need to find out the IP address and port that ObyThings Music is running on — just click on the new ObyThings menu bar icon with the two concentric circles — and input them into the blank space that SmartThings asks you to enter them on. Apple, you seeing this? HomeKit should have this already. In the meantime, SmartThings users, rejoice. This app should have come bundled with SmartThings, but given their new ownership by Samsung, it’ll remain just a decent investment of 6 or 7 bucks in the meantime.

money taken app downloaded icon appears in Applications nothing happens, will not open

I’m pretty certain the bad reviews that say things like “app won’t load” and “doesn’t do anything” are not noticing that ObyThing Music has launched successfully and done the TWO THINGS that it is supposed to: 1. It INVISIBLY exposes iTunes to SmartThings, making ST think your Mac is a $500+ Sonos player. 2. It puts a small circle icon in the menu bar that tells you the two bits of info you need to configure the ObyThing Music SmartApp in SmartThings. THAT’S ALL IT DOES FOLKS. THAT’S ALL IT **SHOULD** DO. There’s no splash screen. No fancy graphics. This is probably what confused the other reviewers. Maybe it needs an initial help screen to clue in users. I’ve run it on two different Macs, and on the first it ran flawlessly, though since that iMac was wirelessly connected iTunes stuttered over Airplay more than I liked. This wasn’t ObyThing’s fault though! I moved it to a wired Mac Mini, and I’m experiencing some iTunes unresponsiveness, but I’m not convinced this is ObyThing’s problem. Until just the other day, I had never used that Mini as my iTunes jukebox, and I think it may have issues independent of ObyThing. For $4.99, you get functionality only easily available in SmartThings previously using the very expensive Sonos hardware. With it, you can add a Music Player to your SmartTiles setup and control iTunes from any dashboard you want. You can have it read out a weather report for you. It enables SmartThings to TALK to you how ever you want from “The freezer door is open” to “Welcome home!" Obything is awesome. If you run SmartThings, and have an AirPlay setup for your iTunes, this is a no-brainer app. Get it.

The negative reviews are 100% user error. Good app.

I suspect that those leaving bad reviews for ObyThing aren’t setting it up right. I followed the directions and all works perfectly. I just wanted sound alerts for my SmartThings system when doors opened and closed and this app did the trick! Many thanks to the developer!

I have to agree with other reviewers. Follow the setup instructions from the website and it’s simple, it runs in the background on your Mac and doesn’t have an interface accept and icon in your toolbar. Had it running and iTunes connected to SmartThings within minutes. I would love it if you could add control of which Airplay speakers things could play on and more control of playlists.

Works exactly as expected. The website step by step is a little outdated due to the smartthings app changing so much lately but otherwise very easy to setup. Go to the marketplace in the SmartThings app, tap on SmartApps and add the the ObyThing Music SmartApp located in Music & Sound. From there add the IP address described as on the website.