Yonomi can do some amazing things. Unlike any other app, our integration service can discover and connect to devices from dozens of different manufacturers - via either the Cloud or your local network.

“Cloud Devices”

Many of today’s smart devices for the home can be integrated with via Cloud-based APIs from the device vendor. These Cloud services maintain persistent connections to the end devices in your home. Whenever we can, we integrate with partners via the Cloud.

“Local Devices”

Some of the best smart devices are currently only able to be integrated with directly over a local network, they are not persistently Cloud connected. In our current partner portfolio, local devices currently include only Belkin Wemo devices.

“Virtual Gateway”

For Yonomi to be capable of reaching your local devices, our app runs in the background on one or more of your mobile devices (like your phone or tablet) — and relays messages to the local devices. We refer to this concept as the “virtual gateway”. While this enables Yonomi to talk to more great devices, the virtual gateway can only be successful if your mobile device is powered on and joined to the same Wifi network as your local devices.

Additionally, for both platforms — Android and especially iOS, there are some critical settings to verify are set correctly.

For iOS, make sure..

  • Yonomi is running on your device. Make sure you're not swiping it out of the app switcher. This will forcefully quit the app and prevent it from running in the background.
  • You are logged in to the app. If you are logged out, the app can’t authenticate with our servers to receive the correct data.
  • Notifications (via Settings > Notifications) are authorized for Yonomi.
  • Background App Refresh (via Settings > General > Background App Refresh) is on for Yonomi.
  • Your device is NOT in Low Power Mode (via Settings > Battery).
  • If you're on iOS 11, make sure you're using iOS 11.1 or newer.

For Android, make sure..

  • Yonomi is running on your device.
  • You are logged in to the app. If you are logged out, the app can’t reach authenticate with our servers to receive the correct data.
  • Battery Saver is disabled (via Settings > Battery > Battery Saver)

But even if these settings are exactly correct, there are times when the virtual gateway may not function properly, largely because the mobile OS is busy trying to optimize background processing which can deprioritize the Yonomi process. This issue seems to be much more prevalent since the arrival of iOS 11.

Multiple Clients

You can install the Yonomi app on multiple mobile devices signed in to the same Yonomi account. Adding more clients will improve the likelihood that of successfully relaying messages to your local devices, subject to the above mentioned Wifi connectivity and OS settings of course. With the app running on multiple devices, Yonomi will attempt to route commands through all of them to improve the chances of success.

Still having trouble?

If you’ve verified that your settings are correct, have installed Yonomi on multiple mobile devices, and yet -- frustratingly, your local devices are not being controlled successfully via automatic Routines or Alexa commands then there is one final (nearly) bullet-proof way to make it happen…

Dedicated Virtual Gateway Device

If you have a tablet or old phone that can be left at home, turned on and plugged in, it can act as a dedicated gateway. Just install Yonomi on that device, login to your Yonomi account and leave the Yonomi app running in the foreground. If you are using iOS, leaving the screen on (with Yonomi in the foreground) may be necessary to ensure that the Yonomi process does not get de-prioritized.

To do so on iOS tap Settings > Display & Brightness > Auto-Lock > Never