Presence in 2023, including multiple members and multiple locations

[h0ckeysk8er (Bruce Pinsky)]

@HalD

@TAustin

Right now I think the only way to accomplish cross-location automations is with a SmartApp or other 3rd party app

Alexa, which would be a third party of course, works great for this. My phone is set as the primary presence sensor for SmartThings with a radius slightly larger than my property.

I’ve also got the Alexa app on the phone and a routine that triggers a SmartThings scene when I get about 20 miles away.

I can confirm that Alexa solution works well for multiple household members as long as each member has a SEPARATE SmartThings account. While you can link separate Alexa accounts to the same ST account, one will always be the active and the other will timeout.

So here is my setup:

• Separate Alexa accounts (but in the same household) on each phone (one Android and one iPhone)
• Separate ST accounts on each phone (but members of the same location)
• ST Virtual presence sensors for each member using vEdge Creator from @TAustin
• An arrival and departure Alexa routine for each individual on their respective phones that turns the virtual presence sensor on/off for that individual
• ST Routines that react to the state of the virtual presence sensor for one or more individuals

While there are several moving parts here, I don’t think it’s anymore complicated than it was with Life360. ST also seems to receive the state change very quickly from Alexa making for a snappy SmartHome experience (I like my doors unlocked when I get home ) And by using a virtual presence sensor, it will be very easy to change out the underlying detection mechanism should Life360 come back or ST presence becomes more reliable, etc, etc.