Smart switch to control Tapo bulbs
Recently I bought 10 x L530E bulbs to replace old E27 bulbs, so that the light could be dimmed & its color could be changed. A very common problem I face is that all rooms where they are installed still have traditional wall switches to turn on/off lights, and people is still used to push the switch to turn on/off, so anytime someone turns them off the bulbs are no longer available to be controlled through voice assistants or the app.
Very few manufacturers have addressed this issue. Installing smart switches like Shelly 1 or Sonoff Mini is not a solution, as they would still remove power from the bulbs. So a new wall switch would be required which, rather than turning power on/off, it could activate or trigger different 'scenes' or automations, like for example, one click would turn lights on/off, one long click would act s a light dimmer, 2 consecutive clicks would turn light to red color, and so.
Shelly has something similar with its new Shelly Plus i4, but it cannot work with Tapo bulbs since they are not compatible with any open protocol like MQTT or automation software beyond voice assistants, like IFTT or Home Assistant.
Thanks & regards,
Antonio López