HomeKit HomeKit Automation Geofence Triggers

[dsaponaro]

Anyone have issues or experience with running Home app automations using Geolocation? For instance setting a scene or activating an accessory when leaving home?

I recently bought a Level Lock (Which I love and cant recommend enough) and seem to be having issues with scenes activating when I come home or leave my house. I don’t neccisarily think the issue is specific to the lock though as prior to adding the lock my scenes seemed to be pretty unreliable and wouldn’t activate consistently either. I always chalked it up to bad WiFi (Using an old Airport) with a lot of devices (Often showing device unavailable in the Home App) but recently upgraded to a new Eero mesh system which has now given me near perfect WiFi performance. Homekit And Home app now seems to be working flawlessly too EXCEPT for the Location based automations.

I’ve done all of the basic troubleshooting from Apples’ support site. Double checked location services for both mine and my girlfriends iPhones/Apple Watch to make sure the correct device was sharing our locations Etc... I‘ve also reset our Apple TV’s and Homepods that are acting as Home hubs as well. Still no luck on the reliability.

To give an idea of what we’re working with we have the following:

2 iPhones
2 Apple Watches
2 Apple Tv’s (One connected through ethernet and the other through Wifi. Only ethernet is a Home Hub.)
2 Homepods (Both are enable as Home Hubs)
Several Philips Hue Lights
Several Wemo Smart switches and outlets
1 iHome Smart Outlet
Level Smart Lock
Ecobee Thermostat

Anyone have experience with this issue of late? Ideas or solutions?

Thanks!

-Dom

 

[Itinj24]

I see you mentioned the Level Lock specifically. My question is, do all your scenes and automations that you want triggered With geolocation involve the Level Lock? For a secure device like a door lock or garage door, HomeKit will send you a notification instead of performing the task automatically as a security net. Is it possible maybe you’re missing the notification and are notifications set up for HomeKit on your phones? There is a workaround for this if that’s your issue. Let me know if you’re interested and I’ll be happy to post this workaround for ya.

Also, when you go to the Maps app or Find My, does it actually have you at home? I just moved and had an issue with my location due to poor cellular service in my town. I had to increase the geofence radius of my house to ensure it had me at home because my location in Maps would wander me off down the block lol.

 

[TonyC28]

When I first set up a “when I get home” automation it took me several tries to get it working. The problem in my case was there is more than one place I had to turn that particular location setting on. I can’t remember what they were but I can try to find it again.

 

[dsaponaro]

I see you mentioned the Level Lock specifically. My question is, do all your scenes and automations that you want triggered With geolocation involve the Level Lock? For a secure device like a door lock or garage door, HomeKit will send you a notification instead of performing the task automatically as a security net. Is it possible maybe you’re missing the notification and are notifications set up for HomeKit on your phones? There is a workaround for this if that’s your issue. Let me know if you’re interested and I’ll be happy to post this workaround for ya.

Also, when you go to the Maps app or Find My, does it actually have you at home? I just moved and had an issue with my location due to poor cellular service in my town. I had to increase the geofence radius of my house to ensure it had me at home because my location in Maps would wander me off down the block lol.

Much thanks for your reply. Same issue with automations without the Lock as well. My Geolocation triggers where flaky and inconsistent well before I purchased the Lock. I’ve only brought myself to troubleshoot the issue more thoroughly now after getting the Lock because I’d really like it to auto lock/unlock when I leave/arrive.

I am familiar with the secure device confirmation as well. When the geolocation works correctly and actually triggers the automation I do receive those notifications. Problem is the trigger doesn’t go off consistently. I actually read your work around of tying the automation to a spare smart outlet first in another thread as well and tried setting it up but since the location trigger is the issue it still Doesnt really matter. Once I get the geofenciong working properly I do plan on setting it up that way though. Do you have any issue with this? For instance what happens if you were to manually unlock the secure device? Would the outlet become out of sync with the automation etc...?

Thanks again for taking the time to read and respond!

-Dom
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When I first set up a “when I get home” automation it took me several tries to get it working. The problem in my case was there is more than one place I had to turn that particular location setting on. I can’t remember what they were but I can try to find it again.

Thanks! Yeah, if theres another setting I have to toggle I’d love to know about it.
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Also, when you go to the Maps app or Find My, does it actually have you at home? I just moved and had an issue with my location due to poor cellular service in my town. I had to increase the geofence radius of my house to ensure it had me at home because my location in Maps would wander me off down the block lol.

I checked this and all looks good as far as my location on the map. My “ping” radius definitely overlaps my address. Though I will say I cant find how to change the radius of the actual location. I can move the pin when “refining“ the address but cant change the size Of the active zone. I can do that with any other addresses though... for instance if I was to manually enter another locations address to trigger an automation it then drops the pin with a radius adjuster allowing me to enlarge etc... Just not an option with “Home”.

 

[Itinj24]

Much thanks for your reply. Same issue with automations without the Lock as well. My Geolocation triggers where flaky and inconsistent well before I purchased the Lock. I’ve only brought myself to troubleshoot the issue more thoroughly now after getting the Lock because I’d really like it to auto lock/unlock when I leave/arrive.

I am familiar with the secure device confirmation as well. When the geolocation works correctly and actually triggers the automation I do receive those notifications. Problem is the trigger doesn’t go off consistently. I actually read your work around of tying the automation to a spare smart outlet first in another thread as well and tried setting it up but since the location trigger is the issue it still Doesnt really matter. Once I get the geofenciong working properly I do plan on setting it up that way though. Do you have any issue with this? For instance what happens if you were to manually unlock the secure device? Would the outlet become out of sync with the automation etc...?

Thanks again for taking the time to read and respond!

-Dom
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Thanks! Yeah, if theres another setting I have to toggle I’d love to know about it.
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I checked this and all looks good as far as my location on the map. My “ping” radius definitely overlaps my address. Though I will say I cant find how to change the radius of the actual location. I can move the pin when “refining“ the address but cant change the size Of the active zone. I can do that with any other addresses though... for instance if I was to manually enter another locations address to trigger an automation it then drops the pin with a radius adjuster allowing me to enlarge etc... Just not an option with “Home”.

As for the automation workaround, I have it so that when I am home, the outlet turns on (makes mores sense since then I can use the outlet when I’m home) thusly unlocking/opening everything I need with the automation. The outlet stays on as long as I’m home. Usually enter through the garage but I also have my door lock to auto lock after 10 mins or I can just manually lock it after I get in or close the garage with the wall button as I enter my house. The outlet is also set to turn off when I leave. This turning off triggers the garage door to close and the door lock to lock. It’s more of a safety net in case I forget to do it when I leave. I have a few of these outlets controlling automations for my wife and family members in areas I rarely use. You can always add a smart power strip like Voccolinc or Incipio which is what I plan to do so all these “virtual switch” outlets will be condensed into one. I have another one for my Aqara security system and this one is a little more complex because I have to make sure it doesn’t arm when my wife leaves but I’m still home. The automation consists of things like “when the last person leaves” or “when the first person arrives” etc. Takes some trial and error to fine tune it but that’s the fun in it 🙂. All this worked great before I moved but I haven’t started anything on the new house yet. If I manually lock or unlock anything, the outlet stays the way it is. It only triggers based on if I’m home or not.

As for the radius change, I actually did that in Find My now that I think about it. I have perpetual notifications for my wife and I when we leave and arrive at home and it was there I was able to adjust the radius. Could’ve sworn I did that in the past with my work location but I’m having trouble figuring it out. I’ll do some more digging and post it if I figure it out again. It might’ve been after a pin drop since Apple Maps had my work address messed up.