Before using the skills in Alexa and Google Home app, you need to link BroadLink skill
first. There are 2 options to link account:
This is preferred option for all users. Open BroadLink app, go to "Me" > "Add voice assistance",
then you can choose linking to Alexa or Google Home here.
Tap "Alexa" to start the linking of Alexa.
For Android users, in Alexa app you need to sign in the BroadLink account in the page,
while in Google home you have no need to sign in again;
For iOS users, the process of quick account linking is much easier, no matter to link
Google home or Alexa, just one simple tap, then all is done. Device will be discovered
automatically. You will find that all devices are shown in
the device list.
For Google Home it's almost same. Go to "Me" page and tap "Add voice assistance".
Then choose Google Home and tap "Link now" at the bottom.
BroadLink app will automatically call Google Home app and what you need to do is just a
simple tap of "Agree and link" button. Google Home will help you link your account without
any attendance. Your device will automatically show up.
You can assign rooms to newly found devices.
This option is not recommended but always available for pro users.
First, open Alexa or Google Home app and go to adding skill page. Search and enable "BroadLink"
skill. An account linking page will show up. Make
sure here the region selection is the same as you set up your account in BroadLink app.
Then choose "BroadLink Account" and input your credentials for BroadLink app and sign
in. If you forget the password for BroadLink account, you can also use "Sign in via verification
code". The next page will let you link your Alexa
or Google Assistant account with your frequently used Apple ID or Google account so you will
be able to use fingerprint or facial recognition on phone for quick login. You can also skip
this and complete the account linking. Then you need to wait for some time to discover
devices in Alexa and Google Home and put them in rooms.
If you already have BroadLink app, once you tap "Agree to Link", Google Home will finish
the account linking automatically. Very easy!
Here are some things you must know to
manage IR or RF devices in Alexa or Google Home:
All IR or RF devices or we call virtual remotes added under the hub are considered as sub-devices.
Alexa and Google will recognize all sub-devices but not the hub itself.
If you use sensor cable with 4th generation of the hub (RM4 pro or RM4 mini), you need
to also name the two sensors (for example, "temperature" and "humidity") during setup
or in device settings, so Alexa and Google Home can discover them. Alexa doesn't support
humidity while Google Home supports both. The names of sub-devices will be synced to
Alexa or Google Home. If you changed the names in BroadLink app, the changes will be synced
in Alexa or Google Home automatically after a while. You can also slide down the device
list to force syncing. But the change of name in Alexa or Google Home cannot be synced to
BroadLink app reversely. So, we highly recommend you change the name in BroadLink app if it
needed. The hub supports dozens of device categories
such as TV, air conditioner, lamp, etc. Depending on the definition of device types and traits,
some devices support both Alexa or Google Home app control and voice control while some
only can be controlled or accessed by voice. You need to make sure all buttons in the virtual
remote are functional in BroadLink app before controlling with Alexa or Google Home – because
Alexa and Google Home will just pass the command to BroadLink for processing. Especially for
entertainment devices, sometimes the IR code is not complete even your brand is in the
list. So, you need to pay attention to the buttons displayed in gray in BroadLink app.
If they are in gray, you need to learn the buttons manually.
Now you can control them by voice or some from the app. But you may still have a question:
How I should say to Alexa or Google as a command?
Here we use TV and Air Conditioner as examples to show what functions are supported by Alexa
and Google and how we should say the command.
Please mute your Echo or Google Home speaker so they will not be wake up by voice commands
we say in this video.
The TV category supports: Power control, such as "Alexa, turn on TV"
Extra controls, such as "Alexa, turn on MENU" Volume controls, such as "Alexa, volume up
on TV" Channel controls, such as "Alexa, change channel
to 12". If you already preset the channel name, you can also say like "Alexa, change
channel to Fox News" Multimedia controls, such as "Alexa, fast
forward on TV" Input controls, such as "Alexa, set TV to
USB"
Most of other entertainment devices like set-top box and audio have similar capabilities as
TV as you can use TV as reference.
For air conditioner, there are two different circumstances.
If you chose the remote from preset brands, it supports:
Power control, such as "Alexa, turn on AC" Mode control, such as "Alexa, set AC to FAN-ONLY"
Temperature control, such as "Alexa, set AC temperature to 25"
Fan speed control, such as "Alexa, set AC speed to AUTOSPEED"
If you couldn't find the brand from list and created the remote manually, it only supports:
Power control, such as "Alexa, set AC to mode 2"
There are also some things we need to explain here:
Why we have two different remote templates for AC but not for TV?
When you use TV remote, the remote just need to send a step control command, for example,
when you press "volume up", it sends a "volume +1" command not specifying a value of volume.
So, it is very easy to learn two buttons (volume up and down) for complete volume control.
But for AC, every time you adjust temperature, it sends a complex command combined with different
values. In case now the set temperature is 27℃, when you press "temperature up" button,
it sends a combination of "power on + cooling mode + low fan speed + 28℃". So, basically
it will be a huge workload to learn all temperature levels and it is impossible to learn a "fan
speed" button as actually it should go with other values.
So, if your brand is fully supported in our list, you get complete functions. Otherwise
a simplified template will be provided for you just to learn only a few very frequently
used functions – but no more setup. Also, you need to pay attention to the voice
commands as those ones for manual learned remote are different.
Alexa will use the default measurement units according to your region. For example, in
US, when you say "Alexa, turn down AC temperature by 2 degrees", it means turning down 2 degrees
Fahrenheit. If you want to change the units between Fahrenheit and Census in Alexa, please
go to "More" > "Settings" > "Alexa on this Phone" > "Measurement Units".
We prepared a complete voice command list with button match for all supported categories.
If you need please click the link under video to get the file for your reference. This file
will be updated once our skill is updated.