Presence on mobile broke with Android Marshmallow?

IF you are plugged in, Doze doesn’t trigger…so that’s one way to get around it. Not perfect, but also means you aren’t waiting for ST to fix the app as an interim fix.

I had a few weeks of no issues, but now this is happening to me again on 6.0. Leaving the phone plugged in is a good tip though

Is there a way to avoid the phone from going into deep sleep?

I’m testing turning doze mode off for some apps, including ST and Life360, to see if it helps. Here’s how to do so:

I did this about a month ago and it worked for a while.

Now that’s not the case.

I only solution is moving back to lollipop. I will do some research tomorrow if they are any stable marshmallow custom room that allow me to disable dose move.

Is it possible to use tasker as a present sensor? For example connect and disconnect from WiFi.

Yep I’ve done exactly that because presence fobs in the UK are broken AND I’m on Marshmallow…

There is a community written device called WiFi Presence that is a basic manual presence sensor:

Then you just need a simple app to expose an endpoint for presence:

Finally, create Tasker tasks to call the endpoint when connecting and disconnecting to your SSID.

Note: no need to mess about with OAuth on the endpoint. You can also use Basic Authorisation header with just requires your username and password.

It works pretty well. Once and a while leaving the house failed because Tasker tried to call the endpoint after the WiFi has dropped but before network data is ready. I fixed that with a retry. Tasker is pretty ugly, but its amazing powerful!

I can show some screenshots of how to set up Tasker if you need help…

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This seems like a really cool use of Tasker, Peter! If you wanted to simplify things, I developed an app called SharpTools which provides widgets and Tasker integration for SmartThings. (And yes, it works for UK users!)

Here’s an example showing how to implement a custom presence device using Tasker and a virtual presence device (very similar to what you’ve done!):

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Thanks Josh.

Tasker is a great tool, but not the most intuitive UI in the world when starting out.

That’s a great post.

Same problem with my Nexus 5.
False positives on Presence.

I use Tasker SSID NEAR detection for Presense…works well.
I can issue my own “I’m Back” & “Good Bye”.

How can I turn off the Android ST presense?

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Hey guys,

Any solution yet?

I too experience false leaving with my nexus 5 running marshmallow.

I hope this gets fixed. Submitted a ticket last week… Crickets. It is a very, very annoying issue.

Really the only solution I have right now is to use Life360 for presence. Sometimes it stops updating too, but I blame that on memory management, and it hasn’t toggled back and forth between away / home / away / home / etc. for me.

As noted above earlier, I am using Tasker SSIDNEAR feature to detect Presence. It is working very well. Since the last post, I have used the ST web site to modify my Device Settings for my Android Smartphone. I changed the Type setting to “Z-Wave Controller”. I also deleted 2 parameters - related to arrival & departure. The phone is now a Controller ONLY, not a Presence device. All false presence detection has been eliminated. My Tasker issued “Good Bye” and “I’m Back” Routines work well. I added a WiFi range extender to my garage to increase my WiFi range.
On the downside, my approach is probably unorthodox…modifying the Device Settings. I’m not sure about the long range effects. ST support indicated I was OK doing it. Also, Tasker takes a little getting used to. And it is not self documenting. A non technical user would probably not succeed using Tasker.

Instead of changing the device type to “Z-wave controller”, have you considered changing it to “Simulated Presence Device”?

Instead of using “on” and “off” to control the device, you would use the commands “arrived” and “departed”.

This would have the added benefit of being treated more like a traditional presence sensor. Many SmartApps look for device types based on their capability… so some SmartApps might only work with Presence devices.

Also having issues with mobile presence on Android Marshmallow. This definitely is not related to Doze alone, as I’ve had my presence go ‘away’ while actively using my phone. My location history also shows no evidence of me leaving the geofence area setup in the SmartThings app.

Really not sure what’s causing the issue, but something has changed substantially for the worse recently.

I have discovered a fix for this, at least for the last 24 hours or so…If you go to the smart things API https://graph.api.smartthings.com/ and log in, then delete you phone from the devices menu, it may tell you it is associated with actions and cannot be deleted…if so then open up your phones device and look at the last section that says (In Use By ----> Notify Me When) and delete all actions that are associated with it. Then delete the phone from your Hub…Then reopen the smart things app and re-add your phone under the Presence Sensors ----> Mobile Phone, and it will begin to work again!

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Still seems to be working
Nexus 6
Marshmallow 6.01

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My Nexus 6P never shows as present. The HTC One before it worked flawlessly. I have removed and re-added the phone. I have turned off Doze. I have turn on and off WiFi. No love :frowning:

Girlfriends Nexus 5X suddenly is always “Present” after working fine for the past two months. I guess some update broke stuff?

I couldn’t take it anymore and disabled my presence alert that sends an SMS to my husband when I arrived at home. He got three alerts in the middle of the night, with doze off and plugged in.

This really needs fixed. Nexus 6p