BeaconThings - Beacons and SmartThings

I don’t know. :disappointed_relieved: i’ve started a new thread specific to android and maybe some of the experts will chime in there.

2019: Beacons + Android + SmartThings (or IFTTT) for Presence?

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@obycode will you ever update the iOS app so people can log into SmartThings?

In case it helps other people, my solution has worked great the last year. I have a Rad beacon in each of my wife’s car and my car, as well as at the entrance to our house from the garage. I use the Geofency app on iOS to detect the beacons and send a webhook to Stringify. My Stringify flows then talk to SmartThings. This has solved all my presence glitches and is working great. When I’m detected in the car, for example, I’m obviously not at home. Plus, it lets me trigger events as soon as I get in the car to head home from work (I turn the kitchen pendant light green so my wife knows I’m on my way home: helps her time dinner prep better). Anyways, that’s worked well for me without the need for BeaconThings.

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Cool! Thank you for the description. I just set up my old Radbecon Dot with Geofency via IFTTT. There is a lag of about 10s but that works great for what I need. I use the beacon to detect when I use the office. (vs. anyone else using it) .

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Hi Brad, you might know the answer to this. I downloaded BTrigger and set it for “request url in the background”.
There I typed my Webhooks url: https://maker.ifttt.com/trigger/home/with/key/nAHTGT7657vT9VfLF9-2. (don’t worry the key is not the one that I have)
I guess this is how it works, right? But when I want to save it says: URL Format is wrong.
Am I doing something incorrectly?
I also notice that when I scan, I can see the beacon that I configured, but it says Unknown, and it appears with a weak signal (far away), although it is just beside the tablet.
Thanks

Hi Mr. JDRoberts,
You have experience with the iOS app Beecon, or Beecon+ Is it still active?
It seems it was not updates since 2016

The developer is no longer supporting it.

I now use Geofency instead.

Geofency Time Tracking by Karl Heinz Herbel

Thanks, I purchased myself also the Geofency app, I configured the beacon, but I can’t find a way to Request URL, in order to specify the URL of the Maker Channel for IFTTT triggering
Can you help please? I’m lost

I’m sorry, I found the Webhook myself, the icon was just hidden

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I’ve made the stupid mistake to buy a FeasyBeacon (small colored triangle) from Amazon.
Although they say the working range is over 80m, in reality the range is below 8 meters, with the signal strength boosted at maximum. Besides that I noticed that Geofency for iOS is showing OUT, the IN and OUT repeatedly even when I was inside the house (and don’t imaging that I have a huge house). So this being said I will return the beacon back to Amazon.
I’m wondering what iBeacon are you using, or recommend, something that would work for real at 80-100m? Thanks in advance

Broadcasting Power directly impacts signal range. The more power, the longer the range. Increasing the power can also make the signal more stable, but keep in mind it can have a negative effect on battery life.

What you’re asking for would be considered very long range for an IBeacon. It’s not impossible, but you would generally need one of the more expensive brands. Or a plug-in model instead of battery.

I personally use Estimotes, which are one of the most popular brands for businesses, but they are more expensive. They have very good battery life, though, one reason that I use them.

Estimate also makes a style they call “stickers” which don’t have an adjustable range and are only intended for about 10 m. They’re less expensive, but with many fewer features and a six-month battery life. They don’t suit my purposes, but might somebody else’s.

https://estimote.com/products/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMInMyu6caq4QIVmCCtBh0HtAuyEAAYASABEgLz_PD_BwE

Radius Networks makes a good quality device at a lower cost. It’s also easily configurable to work with the android standard, Eddystone. Quite a few community members have used it. Battery life is not as good as the estimotes. But they are smaller with a nice flat shape that some people prefer even though it means changing batteries more often.

Radius also makes one which is USB powered, so you can just plug it into a wall charger and not have to worry about batteries at all.

Both companies have an SDK so you can do your own programming if you want.

Thanks. I like that the estimotes battery life seems quite good.
I wish they were smaller in size though, I will not be able to wear one at my key-chain.
Do you think I can leave the beacon always in the car, and have it detected when I arrive on the driveway?
At what distance is yours reacting at maximum power?
Do you have the BT 4.0 or 5.0 version?

I have the previous generation of the estimates.

In my use case I was trying to get a smaller detection range not a bigger one. So I only have them set to cover about 3 m. They have been very reliable for me for several years now.

As for leaving in the car, yes. Although it’s possible you may have to take it out of the glove compartment and put it near the windshield the way some fast passes are located in order to get a clear signal through the glass.

The other alternative is to put the iBeacon inside your house near a window, and just have the app on your phone. That’s actually what most businesses do. So the phone is tracking as it goes in and out of range of the IBeacon at your house. That way the size doesn’t matter as much.

I understand how other people use it. I personally just wanted to avoid being forced to carry my phone everywhere I go, but the keys I take them with me all the time.
I still don’t understand your 3m range in your case. How can this work?
What if, at one moment in time, your phone carrying the Geofency app and the beacon itself (both being inside your house) are at more than 3m apart one from the other? Then it wouldn’t this trigger a Webhook OUT to IFTTT (like a false positive) telling your ST you are away?

I have my system set up so that there are two separate devices triggered before I am counted as away. It’s explained in the following thread:

Does the RadBeacon Dot integrate with SmartThings?

No beacon integrates directly with SmartThings. :disappointed_relieved:

You have to find a receiving station app which can send web hooks and that way you can create an integration for yourself using webcore or Ifttt or the new cloud services. Or write your own code.

I used to use Beecon plus for this, but it is no longer supported so I can’t recommend it for anybody else.

I use Geofency now, but that’s only available for iOS.

@joshua_lyon might know of something for Android.

It’s been 5+ years since I played with Beacons (here’s an old blog post for reference), but there were a variety of options available including things that integrated with Tasker in the Android ecosystem. At the time, the interfaces were all unpolished and they were definitely tech focused utilities.

I took a quick look through the Google Play store and it looks like there are more options available today - many of which can directly run Apps, commands, HTTP calls, etc. If you try any of them out, be sure to report your findings!

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