Poll: Mobile Phone as a Presence Device with SmartThings

Mobile Device: Droid Maxx
Mobile device OS version: 4.4.4
If Android: GPS level: (high accuracy vs. battery saving) high accuracy
Level of Geo-Fence accuracy: (High, Medium, Low) IDK
Does your phone connect to your wi-fi: Yes
SmartThings App Version: 2.0.3

Since presence is so key to activities, if it sometimes gets it wrong, doesn’t that equate to unreliable? I can’t rely on it because it does get it wrong a few times a week, and when it’s right, it does delay upwards of a minute a majority of the time. For instance, I’m writing now from my home office…but not according to ST - my phone is not present. I opened the ST app to see if presence would update, I started Google Maps to make sure my location was correct (it was), but I can’t get my presence to flip to present. I’m sure if I remove the device or uninstall/reinstall it will correct, but who wants to do that? I should say, I typically see it fail in recognizing my return home, than leaving. In other words, it’s usually correct when I’m away, but like today, it still shows me away while I’m sitting at home.

Same inconsistency with the Mrs’ Samsung Note? - The big phablet, don’t recall the model.

I intended on using ST for security, but I dare not add a siren, and cameras seem like a waste if I can’t trigger them consistently. So, I’m just using the bare minimum tools and getting alerts on my phone at strange times. Since ST has grown in capabilities, you now link to all the ‘things’ I’d love to use, but not with phone presence so flaky. More hassle than worth.

Is there a phone-based alternative that has proven reliable other than geofence? Our phones connect to wifi well outside our house. Is there anyway to trigger ‘presence’ based on wifi alone?

Not that I know of natively within SmartThings. That being said, if you are a tinkerer, you could use Tasker + SharpTools (an app I developed) to setup a custom presence device on Android:

Mobile Device: Galaxy S3
Mobile device OS version: 4.4.2
If Android: GPS level: (high accuracy vs. battery saving) high accuracy
Level of Geo-Fence accuracy: (High, Medium, Low) ?
Does your phone connect to your wi-fi: Yes
SmartThings App Version: 2.0.3

presence has almost always been solid. I had 1 issue just a few days ago.

Any other issues (outside of what I assume was platform update derived) were either due to my phone having issues or something I did (resetting my phone cause 2 instances with ST for example).

is Level of Geo-Fence accuracy subjective or a setting somewhere I can’t find?

Subjective


Both myself and fiance have iPhone 6 Plus. Geofencing has been flawless Until two weeks ago. Her phone constantly shows her arriving at home multiple times in a row, despite her being out of the house with me. I had to disconnect my door lock from my “I’m back” routine.

Ben:

I just upgraded to the V2 hub last weekend.
Mobile presence doesn’t seem to be working at all - it always shows me as present.
Mobile Device: Samsung Galaxy S5 Active on AT&T network
Mobile device OS version: Android 5.0
Does my phone connect to my wifi: Yes
SmartThings App Version: 2.0.5 (although it also says 3.6 in the app store)

Thanks!

Eric

Looks like the poll is closed, but I stumbled across this when searching for info about presence having issues. Because, for the past week and change, it hasn’t worked at all. Yes, I’ve rebooted the hub.

Mobile Device: iPhone 6S Plus
Mobile device OS version: 9.1
If Android: GPS level: (high accuracy vs. battery saving)
Level of Geo-Fence accuracy: (High, Medium, Low) Medium?
Does your phone connect to your wi-fi: Yes
SmartThings App Version: 2.0.4 (1189)

@April @tslagle13 @Ben I am tagging a few folks from ST on this. Will there be any action items as a result of this poll which clearly shows a deficiency in the ST Mobile Presence feature?

Using this thread as information collection :smile:

Need to update this. The HTC One was replaced with a Nexus 6P.

Device: Nexus 6P
Mobile Device OS: Android 6.0
GPS Level: High Accuracy
Level of accuracy: NONE (Never present)
Does phone connect to WiFi: Yes, mostly on WiFi, but tried disconnecting and using 4G
SmartThings app version: 2.0.7

I hope for a good cause :smile:

I hope this is the right place for this as I have not messed with Presence in a while. Is there currently a way to add a smartphone as presence without that phone having access to all the Things? (V1 hub by the way)

Mobile Device: LG G3
Mobile device OS version: 5.0.1
If Android: GPS level: high accuracy
Level of Geo-Fence accuracy: medium. Unreliable for sure.
Does your phone connect to your wi-fi: Yes
SmartThings App Version: 2.0.6

I’m wondering if there are some additional steps that need to be taken when changing phones. I had 100% reliability with the HTC One (M7) and 0% with the Nexus 6P.

On the plus side my wife’s iPhone 4S was hit or miss, and her iPhone 6S Plus is 100% reliable now.

Mobile Device: Samsung Note 4
Mobile device OS version: 5.1.1
If Android: GPS level: high accuracy
Level of Geo-Fence accuracy: High
Does your phone connect to your wi-fi: Yes
SmartThings App Version: 2.0.8

I had issues when I first received my Smart Hub about 2 weeks ago. Location was horrible. It would show I had left my house about an hour later when I launched the app. However, about 4 days ago I decided to reinstall mobile app and now location is great. It shows me leaving about 5 minutes after I have left and shows me coming home just at the right time. I think logging out and re-installing app helped a lot. Also, I make sure never to force close the app.

Mobile Device: iPhone 5s
Mobile device OS version: n/a
If Android: GPS level: /na
Level of Geo-Fence accuracy: High
Does your phone connect to your wi-fi: Yes
SmartThings App Version: 2.0.8

I have an iPhone as well and the iPhone has always been working fine.

Mobile Device: Nexus 5 (2014)
Mobile device OS version: 6.0.1
If Android: GPS level: high accuracy
Level of Geo-Fence accuracy: noob to mobile presence, but it’s been 100% accurate so far on my phone and my wife’s (same phone)
Does your phone connect to your wi-fi: Yes
SmartThings App Version: 2.0.8

One thing to note that could be helpful or not for others… I also use Life360 on my phone, and it’s waking up and getting my GPS location every 15 mins. When I look at the ST activity for me/my wife and compare to Life360 logs, both apps trigger home/away at the same time. So… maybe the every 15 min polling that Life360 does helps me. But again… I’ve been using mobile presence for 3 days now… so I could be getting lucky!

I was having huge problems with using my wife’s iPhone 5s and my iPhone 6s as presence sensors. My main concern was that the Geofence was way to big, so my alarm would activate when I was a long way from home or deactivate also far from home. As you can see that is a problem when using the system. I had made my Geofence smaller, at least as far as the app allowed, with little to no help. I then installed Life 360 on my phone and my wifes and removed the iPhone from the presence device, and now my geo fence is down to 66 feet much more acceptable. I have very few problems with presence. I do find it to be better if I check in on Life 360 a few times a week on each phone when home. I am not sure this will wqork for everyone but it sure does for me.

Iphone 6, iPhone 5s
iOS 9

Mobile presence has been erratic since last 2 weeks or little more. Frequently left, arrived notifications and all my rules based on mobile presence has gone nuts. Today I had to remove all my automation based on presence and had to go manual. All this happens when the phone has not moved a place. I tried all options including expanding my coverage area to more than a mile. Nothing helps. Problem same on two different phone models listed above.

So… (replying to myself) it’s been a full week and I have some important information to share.
There was a day where my wife’s phone didn’t show as away until 60 mins after leaving the house. However, both ST & Life360 showed her away at the same time. As these are two independent applications, sharing the same behavior… I for one believe it’s an OS/device issue and not an application issue. My phone has had 100% accuracy on arrival/departure, to the point where I’m 3/4 of the way up my driveway (over 500ft long… so it takes longer than most to drive up) and my “I’m back” routine kicks on at the perfect time. So, overall I’m very happy with the performance of mobile presence so far… but I’ll reply back if/when I get frustrated.

FWIW - I use presence to turn on/off lights and adjust my thermostat… I live in a safe area (in the country), so locks could be part of it… but based on other’s feedback, I’ll wait a month/two before I think about integrating locks into my presence setup, for extra piece of mind.

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