Watchers: let Dropstone watch something
A watcher is a standing instruction that runs in the background: watch a price, a page, a story, your mail, your calendar, a repository, or a device, and tell you when something changes. Once or repeating, and how to manage them.
A watcher is a standing instruction. Instead of asking again tomorrow, you ask once: "tell me if this drops below 2,000", "watch this page and tell me when it changes", "call me if the front door unlocks at night". It runs in the background and reaches you when the thing happens.
What can be watched
| What | Example |
|---|---|
| A price | "Tell me if this drops below 2,000" |
| A web page | "Tell me when this page changes" |
| A story | "Keep me posted on this", which is also Track in News |
| Your mail | "Tell me when an invoice arrives from this supplier" |
| Your calendar | "Watch for a meeting with this client" |
| A repository | "Tell me when this repository has a new release" |
| A reminder | "Remind me tomorrow at 9" |
| A follow-up | "Nudge me if nobody replies to this by Thursday" |
| A smart-home device | "Tell me if the front door unlocks after 11" |
Those are examples, not the list. A watcher is a standing instruction rather than a choice from a menu, so describe what you are trying to catch in your own words: if Dropstone can reach it, it can watch it, and it reasons about the outcome you want rather than matching a keyword. Where an instruction could mean two things, it asks before setting it up rather than guessing.
They also combine. A watcher can watch one thing and act on another when it fires, such as watching a door and locking it, and anything Dropstone can already do is something a watcher can be built from.
Once, or every time
A watcher can fire once and stop, or keep watching and fire whenever the condition becomes true again. If your wording could mean either, Dropstone asks before setting it up rather than guessing.
How it reaches you
In the chat, by email, or by phone call. A call needs a verified number; see Verify your phone number. Ask for the channel you want when you set it up.
When a watcher acts
A smart-home watcher can also act when it fires: lock the door, switch something off. It can tell you it acted, or do it silently. See Control your smart home.
Managing them
Settings, under Watchers, lists what is running: pause one to stop its alerts without losing it, or cancel it to remove it. Events a watcher raised are listed with it, including any waiting on your approval.
You can also ask. "What are you watching for me?" lists them, and "stop watching the price" cancels one.
Not in an incognito chat
A watcher has to be saved to run in the background, and nothing in an incognito chat is. Ask again in a normal chat.
Related articles
- News: your daily briefA short brief built each day from what you work on and follow, a Trending feed, and Track, which turns a story into a watcher that reports back as it develops.
- Control your smart homeConnect SmartThings and Dropstone can see your devices and their live state, tell you when one is offline, and control them: TVs, monitors, ACs, lights, plugs, speakers, thermostats, and locks. Plus watching a device and acting on it.
- NotificationsThe bell in Dropstone Chat, and what arrives in it: a mention in a shared chat, or an announcement from the chat's owner. How to tell them apart, and what the browser permission changes.
- Verify your phone numberAccounts created with an email and password need a verified phone number before they can use Dropstone. Verification is an automated phone call that reads a six-digit code aloud. Here is how it works and what to do if the call does not come.
- Connect services to DropstoneOne table in Settings holds every service Dropstone can reach: built-in connections like Google and SmartThings, and remote servers you add by URL. What each one lets it do, and how to disconnect.