Many people find Android and even certain phones arevery aggressive about killing apps to preserve battery life. There may or may not be a way to get around that. Maybe post what phone brand and model these are and someone will have an idea if this power saving feature can be disabled.
The other suggestion I would make would be to use one of the combined presence community based apps. You can use phone Wifi and Phone Hubitat app, and get a much better idea if someone is home by evaluating both presence methods.
Do you have a device that stays at home that can be a HomeKit device? (Apple TV, iPad) I have been using that as my presence detector and it works very well. Let me know and I can provide more instructions.
Maybe using shortcuts and either location or WiFi trigger and hitting an (post or get) HE Maker API URL to flip a virtual switch?
edit: I have NOT done this (I have an iPad but not an iPhone) so cannot say whether this will work as intended. It looks like there are some possibilities though.
I do have an Apple TV and an iPad. The iPad is at the house about 90% of the time. I've seen references to HomeKit and it's use an a presence sensor, but have not researched it. Any instructions you could provide would be much appreciated!
I'll have to get back to you on this later today. The Apple TV will work if it 3rd gen or later. Ipad at home 90% of the time won't work. It must be at home at all times, or the automations won't work.
I just had an issue with my wife's device. It did not show her presence correctly when she arrived at our second home. I'd rather not give any directions until I get this figured out.
@jameslslate I having the same exact experience ad the OP, and would love if you could share your approach using home kit as I’m in the apple ecosystem and have a recent apple tv which can act as a hub. Thanks!
In the area below the screen shot (scroll up on your Maker API instance) you will see the instructions for how to use the commands. You will want to look at the section labeled Cloud URLS: Here is an example of mine.
Get Device Info (replace [Device ID] with actual subscribed device id https://cloud.hubitat.com/api/Really long hex number 1/apps/709/devices/[Device ID]?access_token=Really long hex number 2
The Device ID is replaced by the identifier of the Virtual Presence Devices. It also can be determined by looking at the URL when viewing the device. http://192.168.123.60/device/edit/646
Now on the Home App, create a new Automation. You will need one Arriving and one Departing automation for each user. In my case that is 4 automations. One of mine looks like this - https://cloud.hubitat.com/api/Really long hex number 1/apps/709/devices/647/arrived?access_token=Really long hex number 2
I'm sure I glossed over some of it, but I did it so long ago I kind of forgot the process for the HomeKit part.
