# Routine to open garage door ONLY if in proximity? **URL:** \ **Category:** Automation Ideas\ **Created:** [April 27, 2019, 6:34am UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/routine-to-open-garage-door-only-if-in-proximity/162276 "2019-04-27T06:34:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BakaNeko59](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@BakaNeko59](https://community.smartthings.com/u/BakaNeko59)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2019, 6:34am UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/routine-to-open-garage-door-only-if-in-proximity/162276/1 "2019-04-27T06:34:32Z")
I have my garage door controlled by a Linear Go Control and a “button” on my phone. Unfortunately this button is easy to hit and on more than one occasion the garage door has opened when we aren’t near home. Is there any way to create a routine that can be used to open the door ONLY if one of our phones is close to home? I could do it in Stringify, but that is no longer an option, and IFTTT doesn’t offer an “if this then that but only if x” Thanks ---
**Author:** ![rontalley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e47774/32.png) [@rontalley](https://community.smartthings.com/u/rontalley)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2019, 10:42am UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/routine-to-open-garage-door-only-if-in-proximity/162276/2 "2019-04-27T10:42:03Z")
What App/Hub are you using? Phones can be added as presence sensors so the answer is yes. The rule engine to accomplish the task depends on what SmartThings App you are using. ---
**Author:** ![Glen\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@Glen\_King](https://community.smartthings.com/u/Glen_King)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2019, 11:58am UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/routine-to-open-garage-door-only-if-in-proximity/162276/3 "2019-04-27T11:58:55Z")
I know choice is good. But to me, this represents an instance where ‘smart’ is about choices we make, rather than about capabilities of systems. The button built into my car mirror opens the garage door… and does so only when I am within sight of the garage. All remote garage systems come with remotes that do exactly this task. So then. While I want the garage status to be reportable in Smartthings so it may trigger other actions, I do not see controlling it from ST to be desirable. Especially if I can accidentally open it from hundreds of miles away just by fidgeting with the phone in my pocket… and especially then if I have to try to come up wit a reliable presence detection scheme to prevent that accident!! Seems like a massive undertaking, given the system to accomplish that is already likely in your hands. ---
**Author:** ![jkp](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/smartthings/user_avatar/community.smartthings.com/jkp/32/117130_2.png) [@jkp](https://community.smartthings.com/u/jkp)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2019, 12:12pm UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/routine-to-open-garage-door-only-if-in-proximity/162276/4 "2019-04-27T12:12:24Z")
> [@Glen\_King](#): > > I do not see controlling it from ST to be desirable. What about the times you drive away from home and forget to close the garage door 😉 Choice is good ---
**Author:** ![AnubizDK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@AnubizDK](https://community.smartthings.com/u/AnubizDK)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2019, 12:42pm UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/routine-to-open-garage-door-only-if-in-proximity/162276/5 "2019-04-27T12:42:46Z")
If you use a routine to set “Home” mode when presence is detected, you could restrict the button to only work when mode=Home in the Smart Lighting app… ---
**Author:** ![Glen\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@Glen\_King](https://community.smartthings.com/u/Glen_King)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2019, 12:47pm UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/routine-to-open-garage-door-only-if-in-proximity/162276/6 "2019-04-27T12:47:41Z")
> [@jkp](#): > > What about the times you drive away from home and forget to close the garage door 😉 Let Smartthings report it to you… then go into the garage’s own app and close it from there. ---
**Author:** ![TonyFleisher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@TonyFleisher](https://community.smartthings.com/u/TonyFleisher)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2019, 2:22pm UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/routine-to-open-garage-door-only-if-in-proximity/162276/7 "2019-04-27T14:22:07Z")
The garage’s own app somehow prevents you from being able to “accidentally open it from hundreds of miles away just by fidgeting with the phone” in a way the ST app doesn’t? ---
**Author:** ![Glen\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@Glen\_King](https://community.smartthings.com/u/Glen_King)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2019, 2:42pm UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/routine-to-open-garage-door-only-if-in-proximity/162276/8 "2019-04-27T14:42:43Z")
Missing the point. You’d have to open the garage app to operate the garage. So you use ST to merely report on garage open/closed status. Then if you seek to change that status, you deliberately open the garage app and make the change you wish. Then you close the garage app. This is known as **reducing opportunities for error**. OP’s issue is he accidentally opens the garage because merely fiddling with the phone somehow makes the Smartthings button for opening that garage available. The process I describe eliminates that opportunity for error. Which is what ‘smart’ is all about - especially if opening that garage leads to unfettered access to the rest of the house (which IMO is another not-so-smart idea). ---
**Author:** ![BakaNeko59](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@BakaNeko59](https://community.smartthings.com/u/BakaNeko59)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2019, 3:16pm UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/routine-to-open-garage-door-only-if-in-proximity/162276/9 "2019-04-27T15:16:34Z")
Smart things 2 hub and Classic app. I use the Sharp Tools widgets to make the “button” ---
**Author:** ![BakaNeko59](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@BakaNeko59](https://community.smartthings.com/u/BakaNeko59)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2019, 3:19pm UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/routine-to-open-garage-door-only-if-in-proximity/162276/10 "2019-04-27T15:19:08Z")
I already have ST report when the door is opened. That’s how I knew my wife had accidentally opened it while 1000 miles away. ---
**Author:** ![BakaNeko59](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@BakaNeko59](https://community.smartthings.com/u/BakaNeko59)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2019, 3:21pm UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/routine-to-open-garage-door-only-if-in-proximity/162276/11 "2019-04-27T15:21:52Z")
The Linear Go Control does not have its own app. It is a z-wave device controlled by smart things directly. ---
**Author:** ![BakaNeko59](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@BakaNeko59](https://community.smartthings.com/u/BakaNeko59)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2019, 3:22pm UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/routine-to-open-garage-door-only-if-in-proximity/162276/12 "2019-04-27T15:22:47Z")
Thank you. I will give that a try. ---
**Author:** ![JDRoberts](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/smartthings/user_avatar/community.smartthings.com/jdroberts/32/56577_2.png) [@JDRoberts](https://community.smartthings.com/u/JDRoberts)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2019, 4:30pm UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/routine-to-open-garage-door-only-if-in-proximity/162276/13 "2019-04-27T16:30:20Z")
Different things work for different people. Not everyone arrives in a car: some are on bicycles; motorcycles; In wheelchairs; out walking with a stroller, a 4 year old, and a dog; jogging while wearing a smart watch but not carrying a phone; etc. Some people have a bad shoulder and find the button in the car hard to reach. And some just like the convenience. Choice is good. 🕶. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_DeFeo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7993a0/32.png) [@Paul\_DeFeo](https://community.smartthings.com/u/Paul_DeFeo)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2019, 5:06pm UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/routine-to-open-garage-door-only-if-in-proximity/162276/14 "2019-04-27T17:06:02Z")
> [@JDRoberts](#): > > Some people have a bad shoulder and find the button in the car hard to reach. I don’t think that person should be driving 😁 ---
**Author:** ![JDRoberts](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/smartthings/user_avatar/community.smartthings.com/jdroberts/32/56577_2.png) [@JDRoberts](https://community.smartthings.com/u/JDRoberts)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2019, 5:12pm UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/routine-to-open-garage-door-only-if-in-proximity/162276/15 "2019-04-27T17:12:26Z")
> [@Paul\_DeFeo](#): > > > [@JDRoberts](#): > > > > Some people have a bad shoulder and find the button in the car hard to reach. > > I don’t think that person should be driving 😁 **Many** people have restricted shoulder movement for various reasons, including sports injuries or arthritis. It doesn’t mean they can’t drive safely. In fact, all 50 states in the US allow a person who has had an arm amputated or was born with only one arm to still get a drivers license and drive as long as it’s an automatic. See, for example, this guy, who even has a video of how he drives. 🕶 > **[Driving One-Handed](http://www.livingonehanded.com/driving-one-handed/)** > > This is how I drive a car with one hand. Nobody was harmed during the filming of this video. As far as I am aware. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_DeFeo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7993a0/32.png) [@Paul\_DeFeo](https://community.smartthings.com/u/Paul_DeFeo)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2019, 5:15pm UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/routine-to-open-garage-door-only-if-in-proximity/162276/16 "2019-04-27T17:15:36Z")
I know it’s possible, I do it myself from time to time 🙂 But that good arm should also be able to press a button. 💪 ---
**Author:** ![JDRoberts](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/smartthings/user_avatar/community.smartthings.com/jdroberts/32/56577_2.png) [@JDRoberts](https://community.smartthings.com/u/JDRoberts)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2019, 5:20pm UTC](https://community.smartthings.com/t/routine-to-open-garage-door-only-if-in-proximity/162276/17 "2019-04-27T17:20:36Z")
> [@Paul\_DeFeo](#): > > I know it’s possible, I do it myself from time to time 🙂 > But that good arm should also be able to press a button. 💪 Sure, but this is what Glen described: > [@Glen\_King](#): > > The button built into my car mirror opens the garage door Being able to reach _that_ button while driving is not a requirement for being a safe driver. But again, the point isn’t about making rules for other people. As long as Public Safety is maintained, choice is good. 🕶