Google Pixel 7 Pro geolocation presence sensor in ST

Devices & Integrations
1

how does Smartthings’ native geolocation presence sensor work on Google Pixel 7 Pro? I would like opinions from who owns this device and uses Smartthings geolocation. Thank you

2

If opinion from a different Pixel helps:

I’ve got a Pixel 4a-5g running Android 13 and the native presence sensing works fine. You’ve got to go thru the settings for the app and be sure location is available all the time, use precise location is on, and prevent the app from being paused if unused.

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3

yes yes thank you, I know the procedures, but with many phones it does not work very well despite all the permissions given. Now with Oneplus 9 for example … the location is not working on my phone.

I really hope it will work fine on the Pixel 7 Pro

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4

I have a Pixel 6 Pro and it works well. One thing I’ve learned after getting new Pixels over the past few years–when you transfer settings/apps/etc. over (via cable)…any app that uses geolocation triggering (ST, Nest, etc.) doesn’t seem to have that working right unless you delete the app and reinstall. After I’ve done that, it seems to be much, much more reliable.

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5

thanks for the advice, I’ll do it then. now I have a OnePlus 9 and I’m thinking of doing the restore by cable.

6

Your post got me thinking … I am trying to study the situation to understand how to use geolocation when Life 360 will no longer work. I therefore have 3 virtual devices for each component (life360, Google Home, Smartthings). Not always everything works well, on the contrary … in my Oneplus 9 phone it seems to no longer update the position either on Smartthings or on Google Home, and perhaps right after the update to Android 13 which took place a few days ago. My new Pixel 7 Pro should arrive today, but this Oneplus will stay in the house for my wife, so I hope after a reset and new configuration with her account, it can get better. I have already tried to delete the google home apps and reinstall it, but despite the logs saying they have accessed the location, the status does not update.

7

It’s frustrating. sometimes, it just doesn’t work. I have noticed this with ST’s android auto triggers…most of the time it triggers, but not always.

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8

I switched from a Samsung S10 to Pixel 7 Pro 2 months ago and my geofencing triggers have been hit-and-miss. On a good day they would trigger at the same time Google Home does, on a bad day the app doesn’t even realize I am miles/kilometres away from home. I have four routines, one being manual that just changes the phone’s location mode to Home. Of the three geofencing-triggered routines, one changes the location mode to Away when everyone (me) leaves home with the precondition the location mode is Home. Of the other two routines, they both call the manual routine when someone comes home with the precondition the location mode is Away. The differences between these two routines is one has a second precondition of Sunrise-Sunset while the other has a precondition of Sunset-Sunrise and turns on a light.

These routines had worked very well until August when I changed phone. I have tried to uninstall and reinstall the app and cleared the cache and delete home address. The app has continuous access to location and unrestricted battery usage. Also, I notice that when I try to set home’s geofence the app gives the address of a specific unit in another tower (I live in a two-tower strata property). I have tried using that address but it didn’t fix anything. I am a very technical person but this has really stumped me.

I upgraded to Android 14 and thought the geofencing issues would be resolved but they haven’t.

9

The geofencing on my pixel 7 pro has been inconsistent, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. I have been troubleshooting with enabling and disabling access to my location in the ST app without any luck. What has been work for me is deleting my phone from the device list from Samsung account and then enable my location in the ST app.

10

After a month of hopes, frustrations, uninstalling and reinstalling of SmartThings, plus many different setting changes and theories, I have come to the sad the conclusion that geofencing is completely unreliable on the Pixel 7 Pro. While the Home trigger routine worked sometimes, the Away trigger routine hardly ever works. I have unstalled SmartThings after disabling getting location from phone, then deleting my home location in Advanced Web. I have left WiFi on for hours, removed phone case, and turned off pause app activity if unused. I have also given unrestricted data to Google Connectivity Services. And yes, location access is allowed all the time, and battery usage is unrestricted.

I can use the smart lock to change mode from Away to Home when it is unlocked with the precondition of location mdoe being Away now, but I have to manually change the location mode to Away when going out.

Some observations of strange behaviours:

  • Location mode usuauly only changes to Away if I walk a few blocks away from home, but seldom when I drive or take public transit, even if to go to work and after arriving in another city over 10 Km away.
  • One time: Location mode changed to Home from Away after I had turned on WiFi while standing outside my door. Yet stays as Home even when I am at work and connected to workl’s WiFi for a long time.
  • One time: Location mode stayed as Away but History showed routine to change to Home location mode had been triggered, then location mode changed to Home. Synching issue?
  • Routines always take one or two seconds to show up on phone’s screen.
  • SmartThings and other apps that support geofencing always identifies my home address as a specific unit number in the adjacent building. And the longtitude/latitude of my actual homne address shown in Advanced Web is incorrect.
  • Used work address yesterday as home address and saw location mode automatically changed back to Home after I had manually changed it to Away, indicating the Home routine worked.

Today I started fresh again while at work and the Away routine still wouldn’t trigger (Precondition: Home location mode [removed later], Condition: When all members [me] leave, Action: Change location mode to Away).

11

Have you checked in Google Maps or Waze to see if the problem is with your phone?

I have occasional issues where the phone itself is reporting the wrong location to apps.

12

I have. Google Maps shows my location correctly.

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13

My impression has long been that is the crossing of the geofence that is key and that if you have poor GPS or data connections at that time there isn’t really any sanity checking later. Method of travel can certainly make a difference but it doesn’t make the same difference everywhere.

I only ever use mobile presence to set virtual presence sensors and then use those in automations. That allows me to manually or automatically apply corrections. For example I can use non-overlapping ‘linked places’ to help out. If I am present in place A then I can’t be present in B or C or at home.

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14

If the issue is strictly in the SmartThings app you may want to consider some other method of reacting to location changes.

The Alexa app has the ability to do geolocation. You can even create multiple Alexa Routines with different boundaries.

The Google Home app can detect Home and Away based on a single boundary and run a script.

A number of people use Alexa to control SmartThings virtual devices which can then be used to run SmartThings Routines.

Google Home is more limited so may or may not be able to trigger a suitable SmartThings device. You may need to sign up for the “Public Preview” of the Home app.

15

I found ST geo-tracking to be completely unreliable after trying it when the Life360 integration was discontinued earlier this year. I now use Alexa for tracking to trigger ST virtual presence sensors which are used in all my presence based Routines. It works great and separates the presence state from the underlying tracking mechanism. Explanation of that setup here.

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16

I’ve been using Alexa location tracking with about a 75 mile radius to track when we’re really away traveling. It just sets a SmartThings location mode by triggering a SmartThings Scene.

I just now eliminated SmartThings location tracking. In its place I added Alexa location routines with a 500ft radius that set a virtual presence on or off. When I get more time I’ll set up my wife’s phone along the lines you’ve done. I’m never sure what apps she has set up so it’s always a bit of a struggle.

Now that Google Home is supporting our Nest Outdoor cameras, I have that app doing its own location tracking to turn cameras on and off based on presence.

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17

My impression has long been that is the crossing of the geofence that is key and that if you have poor GPS or data connections at that time there isn’t really any sanity checking later. Method of travel can certainly make a difference but it doesn’t make the same difference everywhere.

I had a similar theory that SmartThings, for whatever reason, has simply given up.

18

The Alexa app has the ability to do geolocation. You can even create multiple Alexa Routines with different boundaries.

Unfortunately, geofencing on Alexa is not supported in Canada.

The Google Home app can detect Home and Away based on a single boundary and run a script.

I used to have both Google Home and SmartThings doing different geofence checks but stopped using it in Google Home as I had suspected it was interfering with SmartThings, and its geofence automation was not very reliable either. I started using SmartThings because I needed a light turned on after sunset when I arrive home. I could use Google Home to turn off lights when everyone is gone but again, I am trying to keep all the automations to one app.

19

So Thursday night I increased the radius of the geofence from 150m to 200 and the Away routine triggered yesterday when I went across the street to the mall, then drove 35+ Km away. I did notice a few minute delay. Yesterday evening the Away triggered also happened but a few minutes late.

Today, the Away routine did not trigger at all when I walked to the recycling depot, then to the public market – well out of the geofence. So much for getting my hopes up yesterday.

20

A noble goal but probably not achievable.

I try to keep as much of my automation as possible in SmartThings but

  1. I have several Routines in Alexa that turn off a large number of lights. This isn’t reliable for me in SmartThings. Doing them in small batches with a 5 second delay works perfectly in Alexa.

  2. My 5yo Nest Outdoor cameras can only be controlled by Google apps. The recent Public Preview of the Google Home app has finally allowed me to script them for home/away.

  3. Like you I’ve now given up on SmartThings geo-location and redone my home/away boundary setting using Alexa location routines (sucks that you can’t access this)