Homekit geofencing not working or not adapted to apple products !

I have a lot of problems with geofencing... some might be iOS limitations, others, just really poor implementation. OK, I see I can't change the radius. This is silly and the way around this is to select an address with a custom radius that will not overlap with home. (!)

Here is my setup:

Several lights, switches, and dimmers (Philips Hue, Lutron Caseta) that work well.

Able to config time-based automations

Scenes work well too.

In FindMy, my location is set based on my iPhone and Apple Watch.

HomeKit set to use my location.


What doesn't work:

Simple geofencing...

Automations configured as

(1) anyone arriving home at night: turn on the driveway light

(2) first person arriving at night: turn on several lights (also tried with an "arrival scene")

Those automations are never trigger.

The automation lists me / my iPhone as providing the location.


Before the latest update, the automation listed both the watch and iPhone under my name, now only my phone. Either way, no changes as it just does work - the automation is never triggered as if homekit never understand I'm away or arriving.


Further more, if I leave with only my Apple Watch and the phone stays at home, is homekit designed to figure out I left without my phone? (maybe this should be the subject of another post).


Has anyone experienced such lack of automation triggering with homekit? If so, have you fixed it?


Thanks.




iPhone 14 Pro Max

Posted on Jul 27, 2023 02:38 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jul 28, 2023 05:59 AM

Results from an additional test:

Created another "arriving home" automation, but instead of using Home, I used a nearby address and increased the radius (300m). I arrived home and the light had turned on.


So, here is a possible explanation.

The default, non-configurable, Home radius is too small and when I enter the boundaries of the perimeter, my phone is already attempting to connect to the home wifi. The signal being week, nothing really happens and the triggers do not occur. In this test, the radius was wide enough to allow the trigger to occur without wifi interference.

This is similar to the problems experienced when setting driving directions. If I have left the driveway (20m) and try to get directions, the app is unable to do anything as it's in between the dropping wifi and switching to cellular. If enter directions in the driveway or if I'm 60-70m away and no longer on wifi, that also works.


I can understand a small default radius for unlocking/locking doors, but if a residual wifi connection is preventing this to occur, homekit automations become useless.

Obviously, having to turn off wifi when leaving defeats the purpose of an automation.

Same goes for changing routers !

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1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jul 28, 2023 05:59 AM in response to B_Hebert

Results from an additional test:

Created another "arriving home" automation, but instead of using Home, I used a nearby address and increased the radius (300m). I arrived home and the light had turned on.


So, here is a possible explanation.

The default, non-configurable, Home radius is too small and when I enter the boundaries of the perimeter, my phone is already attempting to connect to the home wifi. The signal being week, nothing really happens and the triggers do not occur. In this test, the radius was wide enough to allow the trigger to occur without wifi interference.

This is similar to the problems experienced when setting driving directions. If I have left the driveway (20m) and try to get directions, the app is unable to do anything as it's in between the dropping wifi and switching to cellular. If enter directions in the driveway or if I'm 60-70m away and no longer on wifi, that also works.


I can understand a small default radius for unlocking/locking doors, but if a residual wifi connection is preventing this to occur, homekit automations become useless.

Obviously, having to turn off wifi when leaving defeats the purpose of an automation.

Same goes for changing routers !

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Homekit geofencing not working or not adapted to apple products !

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