Device Behavior

Device State Synchronization

The Upstairs Smart Stairs app syncs the actual device state to Homey every 30 seconds. This ensures that Homey always displays the correct color and brightness of the stairs, even if changes are made outside of Homey (for example, via the remote control or the official Upstairs app).

If Persist Colors is not enabled, the stairs will follow any active schedules. This means colors may revert or change automatically, for example when motion animations occur or when the stairs are powered off and on. Motion animations are the step-by-step lighting effects triggered when someone walks up or down the stairs.

This synchronization only updates Homey’s representation of the stairs. It does not change the actual stairs’ color or brightness unless a Homey command is sent.

How Colors Are Updated

When a color change is triggered in Homey, the stairs update in a two-step process:

1. Immediate Color Update: The new color is applied to the stairs right away, so you see the change almost instantly. (This is referred to as “Live Color” in the official Upstairs app.)

2. Optional Persistence: If Persist Colors is enabled, Homey also updates the stairs’ schema to store the color permanently. This ensures the color remains consistent even after power cycles or when schedules and motion animations occur.

Technical Note: Updating the schema is slightly slower than the Immediate Color Update (typically around 2 seconds). To prevent conflicts when changing colors quickly, the schema update is debounced for 5 seconds: any new color change during this time cancels the previously queued persistence update, so the final color is always applied correctly.

This approach also explains why checking the stairs’ schemas in the official Upstairs app may show a slight delay after Homey changes, even though the stairs themselves update immediately.