Hi, I’m new to Homey and Home Automation.
Ever since I heard about home automation I have wanted to set up a flow/scene which incorporates geofencing. I think it’s a fairly Common idea but here goes. I want Homey to pick up myself and/or my wife’s car/iPhone when we are about say 300 metres away from home and open the garage door (if it is not already open) and if it is after sunset turn on the outside lights. Similarly if we leave the same 300 metre limit and the garage door is not shut I would like it to shut it.
Is this possible and how do I go about creating it?
Thanks
Glenn ( Australia )
Hey Glen,
What type of mobile device you got, Android or iOS?
And do you already have a Smart garage controller?
If you have an Andriod, then your best to wait until the new app is released, as the current Andriod geofencing isnt great.
If you don’t already have a Z-wave garage controller, you’ll need one of those too, your pretty limited in Australia : https://aeotec.com/z-wave-garage-door-controller
Then create a flow :
[when Glenn comes home] then [open garage]
[when Glenn leaves home] then [close garage]
You can make it as complex as you would like,
Sunset is similarly easy if you have the smart switch,
[when sunset] [turn on light]
[when Glenn comes home] and [light on] then (delay 5 min) [turn off light]
Hi Jamie,
Yes I run IOS and I do have an Iotec garage opener already, although not yet installed.
So it’s as easy as that, is it? The sunset/sunrise bit I get but what about the distance from home etc for geofencing. How does it pick up where I am down the road etc?
Thanks
Glenn
iOS When you enable geofencing in the Homey app it will send the location (taken from the location inside Homey) and range to iOS.
Whenever iOS senses you cross the geofence iOS will send the app a message and the app should send the message to Homey.
Android I have no idea.
Hi Danee,
Thanks for that. Excuse my ignorance but how do I enable geofencing as you say.
Thanks
No problem.
In the ‘old’ iOS app, click the hamburger icon top left, and select Settings. Then enable the Use home detection and adjust the slider to set the radius.
2 Likes
Great, thanks for that Danee. Much appreciated
Hi Danee,
I wasn’t able to get the geofence to work and now that Homey has been updated I can’t even find the home detection under settings. Any idea?
Thanks
Glenn
I wasn’t able to get the geofence to work and now that Homey has been updated I can’t even find the home detection under settings. Any idea?
Thanks
Glenn
You probably found it already, but under Privacy in the settings (new too)
I can’t find the slider for the radius in the iOS app either, like I used to in the old version. Cannot find “privacy” as @Martin_Verbeek mentions either. Any idea?
Pretty sure homey have removed all settings , making the built in presence obsolete.
I am using the app smart presence and tie each mobile to a static IP in my router.
However the downside is that iOS has annoying timeout and they tweak it in updates .
This means that if the phone isn’t used it only checks in on wifi about every 15-20 minutes.
Android has about 12 minutes.
So my alarm is automatic 20 minutes after my life leaves and 12 minutes after I leave.
Arming off works find and fast as soon as you enter the wifi range.
I haven’t found a better way for both Android and iOS yet and I don’t want to install a separate GPS tracking app , tried it, annoying and slow with ok battery settings , drains like a hose when turned on to update more than every 1 km 
Hopefully homey fixes their internal location and presence settings so it can be used again.
