Locative Presence app for iOS full setup

[steve.maddigan]

I only have one HomePod mini, purchased just for this integration, so I know exactly what device is operating as the integration ‘hub’.

Great idea and a little ashamed that I didn’t think of trying that before yelling help

FW could be an issue too. New to the home pod side of things. Googling that now.

[lairdknox]

@steve.maddigan

HomeKit is no longer working.

When that happens on my setup it turns out that the HomePods have switched to the StarLink network. If you have more than one SSID make sure the HomePod is on the same subnet as your phone. It is a bit of a rare occurrence but one that has bitten more than once.

[the-leafs]

Thanks for the setup guide, it seems to work well and looking forward to driving the wife crazy with announcements of my pending arrival and a cuppa needs to be put on!! Honestly that will last for one or two announcements and then I will be counselled on my poor choice of announcement.

[steve.maddigan]

re: Homekit presence no longer working for me ...

• power cycled HomePod mini
• verified FW was up to date
• Home app - Home Settings / Location Services = enabled (no idea if this toggles this or not)
• I have no idea how to see the HomePod IP from the Home app, but it's responding to pings on the IP it's supposed to be on and my netgear router is listing it as attached at the correct dhcp reserved IP.

Finally tested it this morning and still nothing.

[Grogu]

I agree, this is a great guide. While I've been using this Locative / Maker API setup for about two weeks, it seems to be rock solid. I hope more people come across this topic and realize this setup works great.

[DiverRich]

Great tutorial @steve.maddigan. I think I might add this since I can't find a way to change the geofence in the home app.

For those using HomeKit, I've been using the apple home app for presence detection using automations in a very similar way to how OP has set up Locative. The nice part is I don't have to confirm running the automation when I arrive and leave, it just happens magically in the background. More info on that topic here:

https://community.hubitat.com/t/arrive-home-iphone-presence/104581

[user2102]

Noob question here. Since Life360 is out, I wanted an alternative to know when my family member enter or exit a location.

I followed your great documentation and found it simplier than geofency.

My question, do I have to install locative to the other phones and create the locations which I already have on mine? Cant the locations I created on my phone be used by others?

Need help trying to find an slternative to Life360.

[marktheknife]

@user2102

My question, do I have to install locative to the other phones and create the locations which I already have on mine?

Yes. Each phone that uses locative needs to have geofence locations configured with the http request to send to your hub when the phone crosses the geofence.

[ogiewon]

@user2102

Cant the locations I created on my phone be used by others?

Remember, one of the benefits of Locative is that it is an app that only exists on your phone. There is no Locative Cloud service, whatsoever. Thus, your location data is kept 100% local to your phone. It allows multiple geofences to be created, and the webhooks for each as you enter and leave.

So, while a little less convenient than Life360 was, at least there is no third party cloud service between your phone and your Hubitat cloud endpoint (yes, Hubitat does run a cloud server to allow this to work, but unlike Life360, they aren’t trying to lock their own users out of it! )

[steve.maddigan]

@ogiewon

Remember, one of the benefits of Locative is that it is an app that only exists on your phone. There is no Locative Cloud service, whatsoever.

Bingo. Exactly.

[T-And]

I'm looking for another presence solution now the Life360 has stopped working. Is there a similar setup tutorial for HomeKit?

[dJOS]

@T-And

Is there a similar setup tutorial for HomeKit?

This is the post I used to get up and running a long time ago. The only difference is, now you don’t need HomeBridge.

How do I setup presence using Homekit and Homebridge?

I'm going to suggest "the long way" because it packs all the fiddly stuff to the end.. you'll see it work first, then at each step after, you'll know what you broke. Create a Virtual switch to begin with.. you'll swap out the driver later. "Jane Present" or similar. Add it to Homebridge and verify you can On Off from the iOS Home app and see the changes in Hubitat. If you get this far, you have it all working, just need to automate it and make it 'pretty'. On the iOS H…

[gmAU]

Thanks for the tutorial on Locative, will give it a shot. Apple/Shortcuts/HomeKit etc seems to be getting flakey.

[robertsonslodge]

@gmAU

Locative, will give it a shot

Just a word of encouragement, I gave up on Lif360 and have been using Locative about a week now, it's been spot on reliable. Enjoy.

[dJOS]

@gmAU

Apple/Shortcuts/HomeKit etc seems to be getting flakey.

I’ve found HomeKit controlling Hubitat virtual presence switches to new very reliable.

[gmAU]

Are you using Homebridge or Hubitat HK integration for the virtual switches?

[dJOS]

@gmAU

Hubitat HK

I used to use HomeBridge, but I’m using the native Hubitat HomeKit integration now.

[gmAU]

Thanks and virtual presence sensors or virtual presence with switches?

[dJOS]

@gmAU

virtual presence with switches?

These - the switch can be exposed from Hubitat to HomeKit so then you can use the HomeKit automation to flip the switch.

[alex79]

I was intimidated at first by this walkthrough, but it was perfect. Thank you. I do have a question: Locative is installed on 2 iphones, if 1 leaves and the other stays, how is the rule set up so the automation doesn't run unless both phones depart? And on the flip side, how what should the setup be to make the "someone's home" automation run when just one of the phones arrive and not have it run again when the 2nd phone arrives?
Thanks