I am sure this topic has been covered, but I can’t find it.
How do I set up a phone as a device in SmartThings / Groovy IDE?
I am trying to use my wife’s phone as a presence sensor or virtual switch.
v3 hub.
I’ll let other people go into the details because I can’t use the app now since it’s not voice navigable.
But the whole concept of presence has changed with the new V3 app. Your phone no longer shows up in the app as a device. Instead, presence is just an option on the If side when you create an automation.
The problem with this is you no longer have a tile you can look at to see whether someone is home or not. If you want that, you have to create a virtual switch and then set up an automation to turn that switch on when the particular phone arrives home. And another automation to turn it off when the phone leaves again.
No idea why they made this change, I personally think it’s less useful for the customer. 
There’s an option somewhere in the app (again, I’ll have to let other people give the details) that let you say “use this device for presence“ or something like that. So that’s how you get that particular phone to show up as an option for the Automations.
Menu > settings > get your location from this phone
1 Like
My wife and I purchased new phones a few months ago. I was able to set my new phone up in Groovy IDE as a device and I have since made it a virtual switch that is showing up on my SmartThing app on my phone. It appears that the phone must be a device in Groovy IDE to be able to create a virtual switch with it. Am I no longer able to make a phone a device in Groovy?
I have done as you suggested. I have 3 different locations that all say “Home” I have checked one of them. What is supposed to happen next?
Yikes… 3 Home locations?
Menu > settings (the cog) which is at the top
So at the top, you will see SmartThings on he top left then your profile, then the settings cog in the upper right.
Yes… Menu > Settings (cog).
In any event, what is supposed to happen after I check one of the (home) locations?
When you select a Home location… you will want to see your devices and Smartapps within the ST app.
Empty locations you may want to consider removing so to not cause confusion
It is OK to have multiple locations if needed
I have deleted 2 of the locations and have checked the geomapping to determine that the remaining Home is correctly placed. I have clicked on the only remaining Home, but still the phone is not showing up as a device. Any ideas?
It will not show as a device in the ST app but it will show in iDE. You will also be able to use it within automation when selecting member location.
If you want to see it in the app, that is where you need to create a simulated presence sensor in IDE > Devices > + Device > simulated presence sensor and use automation or webcore to sync that with the presence sensor.
I have refreshed my device page in IDE, but the phone is still not showing up.
It should show by your full name + phone
Sorry, not there. My phone is there, but not the one that I am working on.
That person has their own ST account and they are logged into that phone with their account? Just making sure you are not logged in
How do I confirm? When I click on the app icon, it just opens. When I click on Menu > (person button at top of page), my wife’s name and contact information appears.
With her name, you confirmed 
And you have me stumped at this point so I would recommend contacting ST support.
You may want to disable phone location in the app on her phone first and enable it once more and check in IDE. Just in case it was set up on one of those empty locations from earlier.
I am not at home now. Will I be able to enable the Home location when I am not physically there?
Yes, you can set up the “get location” anywhere
Wait… I unchecked Home then rechecked. Now I see her phone in IDE as a “placeholder” type.