I’ve done the searching, I see lots of different options, but a lot has changed this year.
I have 3 kids who have iPhones. We had been using Life 360 but that obviously is broken and won’t be fixed.
I have a Samsung phone, so I was using Routines / Modes of Samsung to use Life 360 notifications to change a virtual switch which would change a virtual presence sensor. That was until a couple weeks ago when Life 360 changed their notifications. Now instead of saying “Person is home” it says “Person” then next line" is home." that breaks the way the modes / routines sees the message. Thanks Life 360.
So, I am looking for other options. Any ideas?
I read I could invite them to Smart Things, then restrict their access to only specific items but I haven’t tried that. Anyone have good success with that?
I can absolutely feel your pain, i thought we were going to have an issue due to 360 changing the notification layout but ours seems to be working ok, however we use a couple of Bixby routines to trigger arrival and departure which in turn triggers a Smartthings switch which in turn changes a virtual prescence switch, so far it seems to be working ok
Using the ‘Notification recieved’ option in the IF part at the top select the app the Notification is from (,360) and then use the ‘notication with keywords’ type the required keywords hitting the + sign to add the keyword
You can type (name left home) and add that as a sentence but you can also break it down by adding relevant parts of the sentence/notification
Once done the then part of the automation select a smartthings option of your choice
Using the ‘Notification recieved’ option in the IF part at the top select the app the Notification is from (,360) and then use the ‘notication with keywords’ type the required keywords hitting the + sign to add the keyword
You can type (name left home) and add that as a sentence but you can also break it down by adding relevant parts of the sentence/notification
Yes, that’s how I have it now. However with the name on a different line, it seems to not be working properly.
i.e. Jane
Arrived at home
I will play with it more tonight. Maybe I need to fix the virtual device or something else.
Bixby routines are only available on Samsung phones, though. Not iPhones.
Yes, I have a Samsung for my device so I can process the notifications on my phone. At least that’s how it worked in the past.
I actually have my Guest Lock access setup to do stuff with these too. i.e. “John unlocked the front door” notification triggers specific items in Smart Things, all done through Bixby Modes/Routines on the Samsung phone.
It’s not perfect, and it doesn’t work right if my phone is offline or not getting notifications for whatever reason, but it’s a work around for the lack of SmartThings Edge capability in these areas since Groovy sunsetted.
I thought i was the only one using Bixby with ST and noticing the change in notification layout
I initially thought we were going to have issues but prescence does seem to have kept going
I am constantly looking for alternative methods for prescence, JDs link to the other thread is helpful for some but not all thats why i continue to use Bixby routines, such a shame they are not available in ST as they do give some much needed flexibility
I’d be lying if I didn’t say I followed your lead. I just used it for the door lock and some other automations too after I followed your Life 360 hack for the presence.
You can invite them to join your home, but the limits you can use are only capability to add or delete devices(all your devices will be shared), then you need to install SmartThings App on the iphones clic on get location on this phone and when ask you to allow location you have to select “all the time” (this is important as if you don’t allow location all the time to their phones, ST wouldn’t know when the devices arrive), then you can create routines like the one attached (sorry is in Spanish but I think you can get the point). Now, many people said location services doesn’t work in their phones, I never had any issues in my phone’s only when battery is low and battery saving is activated doesn’t update, but normally will do.
