SmartThings is somewhat unusual in that it allows customers to create “virtual” devices. This is just a software entry in your account, but once you have it set up the system will treat it just like a physical switch. It will appear in the list of all your switches, smartapps and routines can turn it on and off, etc.
These can be particularly useful as an interface between SmartThings and another system, including IFTTT. By having activity on the other system (including echo, harmony, IFTTT, Tasker, etc.) turn on the virtual switch, you can then have that switch coming on trigger other events under SmartThings control.
This can be very useful for presence. Not only can you have an outside system turn presence “on”, you can just tap the device tile in the mobile app to turn presence for that particular device “off.”
For people who haven’t used custom code before, here’s the FAQ on that. It’s basically just getting someone else’s code and using a copy and paste to put it into your own account’s library.
And here is a specific device type handler that one community member coded that is for a virtual presence device that also has an on/off switch.
You don’t have to use a virtual presence device if you’re using a physical device like your smartphone or the SmartThings arrival sensor. But if you ever find yourself in a situation where you wish that an event on another system could act like a presence sensor in SmartThings, a virtual presence sensor with switch capability is usually the easiest way to go.
