Mode changes to Away

My question is about Modes. When I set ST to Armed (Away) using the Armed (Away) button on the Dashboard page, the system arms but a check of the Mode through the hamburger (3 line) menu shows the system is still in Home. If I arm the system using a Routine, then the Mode changes to Away because the option to change the mode is available in the routine.

Why wouldn’t the system always go to Away if Armed (Away) selected on the Dashboard?

Nope. Modes and SHM are two separate entities. Modes are basically conditional variables for use in Routines and smartapps (Trigger/Don’t Trigger based upon mode (Away, Home, Night, etc). SHM doesn’t take Modes into account and doesn’t set them.

I would suggest using the Routine Director smartapp to set your modes automatically. You can find it in Automation > Add a SmartApp > Presence & Modes.

1 Like

Basically SHM has three modes,…Home, Away, Disarmed, and to me represent a status of your security system, not the hub. I think SmartThings used that terminology in their SHM app to reflect the traditional setting of a wired system.

You can have many modes for the SmartThings hub…Home, Away, Asleep, Vacation, Morning, Evening,…etc., and these are independent of SHM. Typically they are used by SmartApps and/or routines to initiate a specific action. If you only wish to have those two modes, then you can keep them in sync by arming via a routine that sets the SHM mode/status and the hub mode at the same time.

TG