That sounds like a good approach. A hello home action can change the mode, so if you’re triggering a hello home action, you should be able to have that hello home action put it into the mode “baby sleeping”. You shouldn’t need to write your own smart app to do that, although you can, of course.
Okay the last couple days it’s been working very well, and it is really nice to have when it is working. So as long as I treat it as a convenience, meaning I always have to have a Plan B available, I like it.
Here’s how I have it set up. Everything is done with hello home actions. There is no custom code except for the creation of one virtual switch. And I’m using that switch for some other things in IFTTT, not for the actual arrival events in smartthings. You could leave the virtual switch out, and still get the improvements regarding network drop offs.
I usually wear my hat when I go out, so I leave my hat In the cupboard with a motion sensor under it. When I’m ready to go I pick up the hat which triggers the motion sensor. This sets the mode to “JD Leaving.” This motion sensor is onl…
The following might also be relevant:
If I understand something @Ryanh told me in another topic, if you have a Hello Home Action that changes the mode and uses a motion sensor through “Things Start Happening,” that hello home action will not fire if the house is already in the mode the hello home action is going to change to.
If I’m understanding this correctly it appears to be undocumented ( @Jim ? ) .
More importantly, it might explain why so many community members report their motion sensor triggered actions “just stop working,” because the problem might be a mode change in a completely different action/smartapp.
It might also explain the unpredictability of the sensor “failures.” Because it wouldn’t really have anything to do with the sensor device itself, but rather other things that set the mode. But it would only show…