Our system will parse any iCal link and will function according to the information we receive. For example, most of the booking channels (Airbnb, VRBO, Booking.com) all only send a check-in date and check-out date, so our system uses check-in and check-out times that you configure for each calendar.

Any iCal that also includes other information (i.e. guest phone number, etc.) we can also support but you may need to request that we parse for something specific. Feel free to request an integration if you have questions or would like an additional feature.

We currently only support the SmartThings ecosystem, with plans to add support for Hubitat and Home Assistant (as well as others) soon.

Luckily, SmartThings can be utilized to integrate with a number of different systems so it can be used with the majority of the smart devices and systems out on the market today.

Rental Home Automator needs an internet connection to your location in order to send the commands at the times you schedule in your calendar settings. So far we haven’t been able to figure out a way to have the system work offline for long periods of time.

Since devices do go offline from time to time (especially battery operated door locks), our system is designed to monitor for this and catch the device up once it comes back online. This way if you do have an internet outage, the system will automatically change to the state it should currently be in (according to your calendar) when it reconnects.

As we decided on what integrations we wanted to support, SmartThings continues to be one of the largest ecosystems on the market, and the integrations they offer with devices is extensive.

We understand SmartThings may not be for everyone, which is why we plan on adding additional integrations in 2025. However, most devices will work with SmartThings! For certain special cases like Google Home devices, we have Knowledge Base articles with instructions on how to get them to work.

No, we currently to not have an Edge Driver for SmartThings. For the use of our system, this really isn’t necessary. We are exploring this as a concept to add in the future, among many other new features.

Currently, using all stock drivers, Rental Home Automator recognizes when devices are offline and will update the device when it comes back online.

Yes, we use individual access tokens for each SmartThings account you want to connect to our system, so you can use multiple SmartThings accounts.

This is especially advantageous since SmartThings started limiting the number of locations per account to 10. With Rental Home Automator, you can add an unlimited number of accounts into one RHA account and manage all your locations centrally.

No, a hub is not required to use Rental Home Automator. You can create a location in SmartThings, connect your devices to this location via Wi-Fi or Matter, and then integrate that location with our system, no hub required.

However, we recommend using a hub so you can take advantage of Z-Wave, Zigbee and Thread communication protocols to avoid using Wi-Fi, but a hub is not necessary for the system to operate.

We chose to integrate directly with SmartThings because of the flexibility it gives us. It allows us to receive and send information directly to SmartThings and also allows us to keep our costs low, passing that lower cost on to our customers.