Presence sensor with manual override?

[carmp3fan (Nathan H)]

First off, I haven’t looked too much into this or how to write it. It’s something I intend to do, but haven’t yet. Right now I’m just looking for some quick pointers so I can fix some issues I’m having.

I use my iPhone (SmartThings app and Life360), my roommates Android phone (Life360), and a few Wireless Tags as presence devices. My SmartThings app tends to be pretty accurate and quick, but Life360 can be minutes or hours delayed. The Wireless Tags are also delayed by a few minutes. With all of these delays, I can’t use them for much.

I want to write (or find) a “simple” device handler that acts as a presence sensor, but that I can toggle like a switch. I can create a simulated presence sensor and use CoRE to set the status, but to update it manually I’d have to create a separate simulated switch also. I also want to have my door lock update the presence upon entering the right code (in case Life360 doesn’t), which I’d also need a separate simulated switch for.

Is this possible and how simple? Having the device appear as a switch that can be toggled Present or Not Present would be quite helpful in a few situations I’ve run into.

[JDRoberts]

These already exist.

Use the quick browse lists in the community-created wiki and look at presence DTHs. There’s one there with switch capability.

http://thingsthataresmart.wiki/index.php?title=How_to_Quick_Browse_the_Community-Created_SmartApps_Forum_Section

There are also a couple of older ones in the forums if you want some additional variants.

Also, if you have an android device you can do this with sharptools and Tasker.

If you’re feeling really ambitious, you can also set up your own presence sensor using your own Wi-Fi, but it requires some technical skill.

All of these options are discussed in the presence FAQ:

FAQ: The Many Ways of Detecting Presence (2020)

Presence, regardless of the device you use, is one of those features that works great for some people, not at all for other people, and is randomly flaky for still others. It’s very much affected by local conditions. So some people will find that phone presence works much better than the SmartThings-branded presence sensor. Other people will find the reverse. Still other people, myself included, find that they have to use a combination of two devices in order to get reliable presence indication. So if this feature tends to work differently for different people, where do you start? 1. Using a Smart Phone as a Presence Indicator [image] Well, since most people who have SmartThings have a smart phone, it’s worth starting there. This method has changed significantly in the change fro…

[infofiend]

Change the DTH to presenceDeviceTile - it provides the exact functionality that you’re looking for.

[carmp3fan (Nathan H)]

@infofiend

Change the DTH to presenceDeviceTile - it provides the exact functionality that you’re looking for.

That is exactly what I wanted. Thank you for that.

[infofiend]

It was a lucky guess - but as dear ol’ Uncle Jesse used to say, even a blind hog finds an acorn now and then.