Current personal use: Tasker geofence and joelwetzel's iPhone WiFi Presence Sensor app on both of our Android phones, and a virtual presence device for each of us.
When one or the other indicates "home", my rules change the virtual device to "present"; when both indicate "away", the virtual device is changed to "not present".
Working without fail for us for over a year now.
I don’t use auto close only auto open, in saying this another member posted a laser device that prevents closing door on anything in the garage pathway, but I don’t see the value in this. I have alerts to the phone and also auditable alerts over Sonos if garage is left open, I also have a camera that can see the garage remotely so I can check if it is open and then remotely close it. So far we have had 0 false openings, with the exception of when we go walking with our phones and exit/enter the geo boundary (hence my request to Hubitat team to allow at least two geo boundary’s so I can prevent this with logic).
So, I didn't see any for a great price, then there's shipping-I was at the mall, yada yada, I paid list for two.
I'm wondering for a 1000 ft2 relatively open floor plan if one Mini would be able to pick up spoken commands? This is my first foray into smart speakers. Thanks.
Okay, here's the (fing) stupid solution I came up with. I changed one of the bulbs in the garage to an RGB bulb. When the garage door opens and location mode hasn't change to home, the bulb turns on and changes to red. If the garage door opens and location mode is home (meaning presence ACTUALLY worked), the bulb turns on and changes to green. I added an Alexa dot to the garage. I use a routine that allows me to tell Alexa to "change location mode to home" if the bulb is red (meaning presence detection failed yet again). All of this is done via WebCore. I have Alexa in the car and put a post-it on the dash that reminds me to verbally issue a voice command to change location mode to away when I'm leaving the neighborhood.
Again, it's fing stunning that no one at HE (or any other company that makes hubs) can actually crack the mysterious, ethereal, little-understood, black magic complexities of making a hub understand where a phone is located (even when the phone knows EXACTLY where it is located).
Thanks to all for the suggestions. I will explore them but for now a RGB bulb in my garage and my voice have become my reliable presence sensor.
We have a full size in the kitchen then 1 mini in each bedroom, 1 in each office, and 1 in the gym. Works out well.
Thanks.
I know we're getting off topic somewhat, but being new to Apple and now starting smart speakers, I was wondering if you have Siri listening on your phone and/or laptop as well? I'm thinking from a 'help I've fallen and can't get up' point of view, as in, crumpled up at the foot of the basement stairs. I live alone-my cat's not going to help. Then too, perhaps I could get away with fewer speakers-maybe the sound output will be good enough, but I'd still have voice coverage everywhere. Just trying to think about it before I do it. Thanks again.
My phone uses siri, but I hate talking to it. I only really use it for intercomming. (Though Alexa's intercomming if far superior). Anyway, presence is very good with it .
I have a HomePod mini in each room. I also have the phone, watch, and computer also ready to respond. It all works great EXCEPT for when the phone or watch picks up the command to "turn on the lights" instead of the one in the room, and then annoyingly lists every single room and asks which room I am referring to. 
Other than that, works great.
100% agreed. I got Alexas for UI into home automation AND intercomming. Replaced all with HomePod minis (fing Amazon Unlimited Music ads at 3 am!). Now a handful of Alexas relegated to making parallel announcements.
Regarding $15 Ikea button, which one is everyone talking about? I need to get a couple. I can't find the Tradfri, and the Rodret is only $8.
I am using a ZEN34 LR switch velcroed to the visor to open and close the gate and garage door, separately. Good range, can operate both from driveway entrance plus.
How do you change the geofence perimeter in Apple Home?
I can get the circle to change, but then it doesn't stick. It stays at 330'.
edit: Got it working. "Took" faster in the iPhone app that on the Mac. Will check out later today.
+1 for the HomeKit solution. The BIGGER get is that you will not get the nag notice of 'some app is tracking you' on the iOS device every couple of days/weeks/random. Huge WAF.
You're probably aware already, but the 'Home' geofence in Apple is somewhat fixed. What I had to do (I think I found the information on this forum or another) was create another geofence using an address and set the virtual switch to trigger when we entered that geofence rather than the default 'Home'
Yup. It seemingly wouldn't change when I put the address in, but then I quit the application, I think, came back, and voila, there it was.
Looking at the Virtual Presence with Switch device now. Potential?
Yes that's what I'm using. The automation in Home:
Yup that's it as I've just edited the post above to show an example of mine. The only hiccup I had was that I needed to set it up separately for my wife arriving/leaving on her iPhone even though she's in my Apple 'family'. I guess that's a privacy thing to stop me stalking her without her permission. If you use the generic 'Home' geofence I could do 'when anyone arrives/leaves' but once you create a separate geofence on a family members phone, that fence is specific to them.
15 posts were split to a new topic: Rules and Triggers for Homepods
My iPhone turned to not present at some point although it was indeed present.
I'll have to look into that.
edit: Apple automation was not correct.
Isn't Apple Homekit supposed to be able to use proximity to other Apple devices (like a home pod mini for example) to determine presence?
Download the Hubitat app
