Flic latency with Lifx (but likely same for most smart lights?)

adamkoch8 · 19 May 2018, 13:01

Hi all,

I finally got my Flic switches and Flic hub and was excited to have a physical switch to control my lights. Setup was easy and it all works fine, but the latency isn't great and is quite unreliable in how long it takes. Just guessing, but it seems to take between 2 and 5 seconds.

I'm guessed this is because it has to go out to the the Lifx servers via their APIs and the round trip adds to the latency. So as an experiment I set up my own local web server and used a python library (https://github.com/mclarkk/lifxlan) to access the LAN APIs for Lifx. Then I set the actions on the buttons to hit my local http server instead.

This has reduced latency significantly and it is now down to 1 second or less (usually less!). The switches feel so much better with this level of latency.

Could Flic or Flic Hub integrate with the Lifx LAN APIs instead? This would mean they natively could have this level of latency as well.

Adam

adamkoch8 · 7 Jun 2018, 10:12

I just noticed the new LIFX Local Network and tried it out and it's working really well. Latency is now very low (same as my own setup). This now makes Flic the perfect light switch for my LIFX lights, super happy and thank you for getting that feature added!

djfatal · 4 Jun 2018, 08:36

@sawtaytoes I’m not sure. I was not aware there was a passive mode. How do I change that? I do have the same button controlling Philips hue lights and that always triggers instantly vs the LIFX even on the new lan api.

Sawtaytoes · 3 Jun 2018, 10:05

@djfatal Do you have your buttons setup in Passive mode?

djfatal · 2 Jun 2018, 05:33

@nadia I am trying out the LIFX lan connection and there is still an initial delay for me. The first few button clicks will not trigger it. But once it triggers it will work quite instantly. But after awhile I assume it goes back to sleep and the first few button clicks will not trigger it once again.

djfatal · 2 Jun 2018, 05:28

I am trying out the LIFX lan connection and there is still an initial delay for me. The first few button clicks will not trigger it. But once it triggers it will work quite instantly. But after awhile I assume it goes back to sleep and the first few button clicks will not trigger it once again.

adamkoch8 · 25 May 2018, 11:14

@nadia said in Flic latency with Lifx (but likely same for most smart lights?):

Hi,
Yes! The dev team is currently working on integrating the LIFX LAN API. We also really think this will solve the latency issues.
We'll keep you updated!
Thanks

That's fantastic to hear, thanks for the info Nadia. My current setup using a custom script is working really well, the buttons feel almost instant now which vastly improves the experience of Flic (and Lifx). It will be even better when I don't need to manage that component myself.

I should also add that I think (?) this should mean that Flic can control my Lifx even if my Internet connection is down which is another advantage of the LAN API.

adamkoch8 · 25 May 2018, 11:08

This post is deleted!

nadia · 2 Jun 2018, 05:33

Hi,
Yes! The dev team is currently working on integrating the LIFX LAN API. We also really think this will solve the latency issues.
We'll keep you updated!
Thanks