"Virtual" meaning it's not real.. you have to set it present/not present via a Rule because of something else. Maybe you have a Pico mounted to the wall next to the door and you routinely press a button coming and going. That button can set a virtual presence switch and then THAT can be used in places where you want a presence symbol (dashboard) or in an App that explicitly wants Presence.
I use it with my iPhones which tell HomeKit, which is seen by Homebridge and signals Hubitat to set the virtual presence switch...
Another way that users interact with virtual devices (and actual devices really) is via the Maker API. This allows other systems to issue commands directly to devices without having to go through another system or rule.
Locative
[NOT MAINTAINED] This was a home automation project I did a couple of years ago. Only here for reference but not further maintained nor developed.
Although its no longer supported it works great.
Load that app on your mobile device.
Create a virtual presence device.
Then use the built in HE makerAPI to define the 'GET' in the locative app.
You will need a virtual presence sensor for each location you wish to define.
Geofency, which works basically the same way as described in the Locative thread, is another option. It’s a few bucks, unlike Locative, which is free, but Geofency is still supported. And I’ve actually found it to be a little better than Locative, which for some reason is usually good but sometimes drops arrival/departure events for me.
The specific person/s that created Locative has moved along, allowing anyone else to pick it up.
Under the heading of Hearsay: I have read that someone recompiled it and verified that the existing code still worked under the latest mobile OSs. I got the impression the writer would have attempted to fix any problems found.
And Oh By the Way... if you use iPhone, it supports multiple geofences, which I found out a week ago.
In Hubitat - can I make a virtual switch that is updated from ifttt and use that switch to change presence in hubitat?
i.e i use google wifi on off ifttt trigger to turn on switch in smartthings right now. WHich i have a webcore rule setup that sets presence to home away etc...
Thanks to Ryan's driver I don't need this ability right now but is there a way to change a virtual presence devices state using Rule Machine? I haven't been able to find a way yet.
Thanks.
If you use @ogiewon's Virtual Presence with Switch as the virtual presence driver, then it is is easy. You can control the switch in RM to change presence status.