Motion alerts when home even when mode is set to away

No, you are good. You forced the Routine to run by pressing it. It ignores the additional actions (trigger actions) when you make it run. So now when all those conditions are met on their own, the lights will come on.

One step at a time, but…

You may want to install the Smart Lights (it’s in the Market place under lighting) app because this will allow you to do something similar to a Routine but you can do between Sunset and Sunrise.

Edit: By using a routine to turn the lights on, you will need a 2nd routine to turn them back off.

However if you install the Smart Lights app I mention above (it’s similar to a routine) it will allow you to specify which lights to turn in, what the trigger is, time to perform between and then how much time after the motion has stopped, automatically turn the lights back off. Think you will be much better off using this. I use this a lot. When you get really comfortable with SmartThings, you are going to want to venture into webCoRE. I don’t recommend this yet. Get a lay of the land first.

1 Like

Thanks. Yeah i think i have that. Thats what allowed me to activate the lights with the sensor, i think

See my edit above.

Fyi: When you physically press the Routine you created, it just automatically runs. It didn’t care about the time or the motion sensor. It ignored the triggers. It allows you to manually run it if you press it.

So I think i have the smarts lights app , but i cant see a way within the routine to switch them back off. There’s no option for that, that i can see anyways.

Go into the Smart Lighting App.

Create New Lighting Automation

Then of course, if you are going to use this, then delete the Routine you created. Won’t be needed.

Yup, see it now. Thanks alot, again buddy.

You bet. Have fun. And read read read. Once you get into this, there are going to be a ton of things you will want to do and chances are anything and everything has been posted in the community and you can usually find the answer you are looking for with some searching. :slight_smile:

Yeah it really is such a learning curve, but good fun at the same time.
so i guess by creating that “routine” through the smart lighting app, they dont appear in the routines section of the app, as ive got it set to just run that at a specific time?

It’s not a Routine when you create an Automation Rule from Smart Lighting.

If you goto Things and select the Motion Sensor and then click on the Smart Apps tab, you will see every Smart App and Routine associated to that Motion Sensor so you can keep track.

1 Like

what happens when an automation rule ends? Like if you set one for 12 am to 6am, what happens after 6am, does it go to a default rule, or am i missing the point completely?

Ok I think i have a problem with the “routine” i created under smart apps, lighting automation.

I have it set to switch on all the lights in the house if my living room sensor picks up any motion, but only when in away mode. They seem to all be coming on randomly as if i were out, when im not.

I use my phone as a presence sensor. Perhaps that is the problem. It thinks im away?

Hey John, when you create an automation under Smart Lighting it’s not s Routine. Although it is similar to a Routine, it isn’t referred to as a Routine. That will create confusion when asking questions. A rule in Smart Lighting or an Automation rule.

So going back to Modes. Mode has nothing to do with your cell phone presence unless you have a Routine setup that when your gps presence device is set to Away (when someone leaves) and you are setting the Mode to Away and or the SHM to Armed (Away). Two different field values.

Troubleshooting 101. Do one thing at a time to test functionality. The automation rule you set up, simply have it run when motion is detected and then have the lights turn off after 1 minute with no motion. Then if that works. Add time criteria between 5 minutes ago and 20 minutes in the future to make sure that it is running in between the time expected, then add in the Mode and test, so on and so forth. You will be much more successful if you do things with small steps, especially when it’s new to you (that’s my experience). Your question about between Midnight and 6am. Nothing runs after that, period (no default rules) if you want something else to happen between 6:01 and 11:59 pm, you would setup another automation rule.

Happy hunting and Happy Thanksgiving if you celebrate!

Edit: FYI, when you say Mode, it is looking at the value you see in the screenshot from the dashboard (not the SHM status)

Hi buddy. thanks for the explanation. Im still trying to get my head around it all, but i will get there in the end :slight_smile: