How does mobile presence *really* work?

General Discussion
#1

Several months ago when I started using ST with a new V2 hub and only my phone (iPhone 6s), mobile presence actually seemed to work ok for a couple weeks. (ie. no false events, pretty accurate geo fence) But then after adding my wife’s phone (iPhone 5) and several app and ST platform updates, it’s gotten bizarre. Phone’s randomly leaving, very late triggers coming and going, etc.

I’ve never seen this with other apps that use iOS geo-fencing (Position Monitoring API in Core Location), which leads me to believe there is some additional logic going on that’s messing with things. Does anyone know if this is the case? Are they just leaving it to iOS or trying to get smart with wifi or other cues?

Or is it just me and I should make a fresh start :slight_smile:

Thanks…

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[SOLVED] Android reporting incorrect presence after wireless router or home location change
#2

Great question… with presence being the, dunno, 3rd or 4th most unreliable feature of SmartThings, it’s good Topic to discuss!

But it has nothing to do with Hub V2: Mobile presence status is updated entirely in the SmartThings Cloud, not in the local Hub. This is unlikely to change even when more processes are migrated to the Hub V2, as the App will “always” connect to the Cloud (and not the Hub … at least not for a very very very long time). I humbly suggest removing the “#HubV2” tag from this Topic, as it is not relevant. Thanks.

#3

Just checking, when adding your wife’s phone, did you log in with your account or make her a new one. That was my mistake and once I made everyone their own accounts I haven’t had problems aside from the girl child kept turning her GPS off to save battery.

#4

I can’t speak to iOS completely (on Android) but I believe a lot of the headaches comes from the phone when it decides to report status. Disabling wifi and GPS really impacts the accuracy and report time.

In standby mode the device wakes up every X minutes to check location, then that is when ST can get the update and forward it on. If the fence is too close you may get home in-between checks.

Android Marshmallow has Doze mode which puts in a deep sleep. I believe iOS has something like that too. So if you don’t use your device for XX min it goes to Doze, which increases the delay in-between wakeups. With Android going into Doze mode also cause ST to think the device left. I have not had that recently but for a few weeks it was an issue.

Great for battery life, not so good for accurate reporting. You can not compare iOS built in functionality to 3rd party apps. iOS allows its apps special privileges to increase performance, that other apps can’t access.

I got mine working OK, but I would never have it unlock the door or open the garage door automatically. Its not that reliable.

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#5

Just checking, when adding your wife’s phone, did you log in with your account or make her a new one.

She is on her own account. Sounds like things are working ok for you though, so I may just go for the fresh start here. :slightly_smiling:

In standby mode the device wakes up every X minutes to check location, then that is when ST can get the update and forward it on. If the fence is too close you may get home in-between checks.

Well, I’ve tried making the circle MASSIVE :slight_smile: (although it was already quite large since we’re on 20 acres out here), but still saw random phones leaving while at home! So it just seems like something else is at play beyond purely checking/reporting based on gps.

You can not compare iOS built in functionality to 3rd party apps. iOS allows its apps special privileges to increase performance, that other apps can’t access.

Well, I was really just comparing to other 3rd party apps that use iOS geo-fencing api, like IFTTT. (They show up with the geo-fence icon like Smartthings does in Privacy > Location Services.) I’ve just never seen things randomly “leave” my home circle though, other than SmartThings.

Thanks guys! I’ll give it some more testing…

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#6

I think IFTT may default to last known, while ST only reported present if it knows they are present. I actually think they may have fixed/changed this recently, because I have had less problems. About 4-6 weeks ago it was happening every time wifi went into standby.

Being in a less dense area you may be having other issues. Not a lot of wifi or cell towers to help with locations, especially in standby mode since its next to free in battery cost (using cell towers). It usually gets you within city block or so.

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