Cync smart home integration, free and open source
Control your Cync (GE Lighting) bulbs, light strips, switches and plugs from Gladys.
Published by prohand
- Devices
- Version 1.0.1
- Requires Gladys >=5.1.0
- ★ 0
This integration connects Gladys to your Cync account (formerly C by GE, GE Lighting): bulbs, light strips, downlights, wall switches and dimmers, smart plugs and the fan controller you set up in the Cync app.
Before you start
- Your devices are set up in the Cync mobile app, not in Gladys. Check they work there first.
- Each home needs at least one Cync device with Wi-Fi that stays powered: a Wi-Fi bulb, a plug, a switch. Bluetooth-only bulbs are reached through it.
- Gladys needs internet access: Cync devices are driven through the Cync cloud (see Cloud only).
Configuration
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Cync account email | The email you sign in to the Cync app with. |
| Cync account password | Its password. Stored by Gladys as a secret, never written in the logs. |
| Add the Cync rooms as lights | On by default: every room of the Cync app also becomes a light in Gladys (see below). |
| Full state read (s) | 300 by default. Changes arrive instantly anyway; this read catches devices that went offline. |
| Detailed logs | Off by default. Turn it on only to diagnose a device: every frame is logged. |
Signing in: the verification code
Cync usually protects the account with a code sent by email. Signing in takes three clicks, once:
- Fill in the email and the password, then Save. The status says that a code is required.
- Click Send a verification code. Cync emails a code to the account address.
- Click Validate the code, type the code, confirm.
The answer says how many devices were found, and the status turns connected. The integration then keeps its session in its own storage: a restart of Gladys or of the integration does not ask for a new code.
A new code is only needed if you change the email, or if Cync ends the session (after a password change, for example). The status says so.
Devices
After signing in, open the Discovery tab of the integration and add the devices you want.
| Cync device | In Gladys |
|---|---|
| Bulb, strip, downlight | Light: on/off, brightness, white, color — as the model supports |
| Wall switch / dimmer | Light: on/off (and brightness for a dimmer) |
| Switch with motion sensor | Light, plus a motion sensor |
| Plug, outdoor two-outlet plug | Switch (one device per outlet) |
| Fan controller | Switch: on/off and speed (0–100 %) |
| Room or group of the Cync app | Light: drives all its lights at once |
The white temperature goes from 2000 K (warm) to 7000 K (cool).
Cameras, thermostats and other Cync products are not supported: they are left out, and the logs name them.
Rooms
A room switches all its lights with one order: they turn on together, instead of one after the other. A room only offers what all its lights can do: a room mixing color and white bulbs has no color setting. It shows as on when at least one of its lights is on.
A room without any light (plugs only) is not added. Turn Add the Cync rooms as lights off if you do not want rooms at all.
The connection badge
Every Cync device shows a cloud badge while the Cync cloud reaches it, and unreachable when it does not: the device is unpowered, out of range of the other devices, or the integration lost the cloud.
Actions
On the integration page:
- Send a verification code / Validate the code: the sign-in above.
- Test the connection: reads every state now and answers with the number of devices online, and of homes that have a Wi-Fi relay.
- Reload the device list: reads the homes again from the Cync cloud, after adding, renaming or moving a device in the Cync app.
Scenes and dashboard (Gladys 5.1+)
Scene triggers
- A Cync sensor detects motion: fired once per detection by a switch or sensor with a motion sensor. Filter on the sensor, or leave it empty for all.
- A Cync device goes offline or online: the Cync mesh stops hearing a
device (power cut, wall switch turned off) or hears it again. Filter on the
device and on the change; the following actions read the change in the
statusvariable (onlineoroffline).
Scene actions
- Set a Cync light in one go: power, brightness and white temperature in a single order. A light turned on this way goes straight to the target, without first flashing at its previous setting. Works for rooms too. Its output Order sent is false when the light could not be reached: use it as a condition if the rest of the scene depends on it.
- Read the Cync states now: asks every home for the state of its devices. Outputs: Devices online and Devices in total.
Widgets
- Cync status: the cloud connection, the devices online, the Wi-Fi relay of each home, and two buttons: Read states and Reload devices.
- Cync devices: one line per device: on (with its brightness), off, or offline. The Show setting limits it to the devices on, or to the offline ones — handy after a power cut.
Good to know
Cloud only
Cync devices have no local API: the Cync app itself drives them through the Cync cloud. The integration does the same, over one permanent connection:
- your orders go to the cloud, which hands them to a Wi-Fi device of your home (the "relay"), which passes them to the other devices over Bluetooth;
- every change — from Gladys, the Cync app, a wall switch, a voice assistant — comes back the same way, within a second.
So without internet, or with the Cync cloud down, Gladys can no longer drive the devices. The integration reconnects by itself as soon as possible.
The Cync server certificate
The Cync server presents an expired certificate whose name does not match. The integration tries a strict check first; when it fails, it connects anyway, like the Cync app does, and writes a warning in the logs. The traffic stays encrypted.
What is stored
The integration stores its Cync session (tokens, not the password) in its own storage, readable by the integration only. The password stays in the Gladys configuration.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | What to check |
|---|---|
| "Code required" again and again | Use Send a verification code, then Validate the code with the latest code: a code expires quickly. |
| "The Cync cloud refused this code" | Wrong or expired code, or wrong password: check the password, ask for a new code. |
| All the devices of a home are unreachable | No Wi-Fi Cync device of that home is online. Power one on; Test the connection shows the homes without relay. |
| One device is unreachable | It is unpowered (wall switch off?) or too far from the others. The Cync app shows the same. |
| A new device does not appear | Reload the device list, then the Discovery tab. |
| A device does not react, the others do | Turn Detailed logs on, try again, and look at the integration logs (frames sent and received). |
Configuration settings
These are the settings Cync asks for in its configuration screen in Gladys.
| Setting | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Getting started | section | No | Sign in with the account of the Cync app. Cync usually asks for a code sent by email: save the form, click "Send a verification code", then "Validate the code". The lights are driven through the Cync cloud, so at least one Wi-Fi Cync device must be online in each home. |
| Cync account email | string | Yes | |
| Cync account password | secret | Yes | |
| Add the Cync rooms as lights | boolean | No | A room switches all its lights with one order, without the ripple of one order per bulb. |
| Full state read (s) | number | No | Changes arrive instantly; this periodic read only catches devices that went offline. |
| Detailed logs | boolean | No | Logs every frame exchanged with the Cync cloud, to diagnose a device. Leave it off otherwise. |
How to install Cync in Gladys
- In Gladys, open Integrations: Cync appears in the catalog, next to the native integrations, with a community badge.
- Click Install. Gladys pulls the Docker image (
ghcr.io/prohand/gladys-cync:1.0.1), starts it in a sandbox isolated from the core, and generates the integration's interface (devices, discovery and configuration). - Open the Configuration screen of the integration, fill in the settings, and save.
- You can also install it directly from its repository URL: https://github.com/prohand/gladys-cync.
Cync requires Gladys >=5.1.0. The catalog inside Gladys refreshes every hour, so a new version becomes available at most one hour after its release.
Not running Gladys yet? It is free and open source: follow the installation guide to get started.
About external integrations
Cync is an external integration: a community integration packaged as a Docker container and published on GitHub, that Gladys installs in one click and runs in a sandbox isolated from its core. It is published and maintained by prohand, not by the Gladys core team.
- Browse all integrations, native and community
- Build and publish your own external integration
- Source code on GitHub — source of this documentation