If youβre going to create any kind of home automation network, then your system needs to recognize when you arrive home, and when you walk out the door.
Whether you want your security camera to start recording when you leave for work in the morning; the front door to unlock when you pull up outside; or your lights to turn on and off intermittently while youβre away on holiday, then SmartThings needs to be able to track your movements.
In this article, I cover everything you need to know about SmartThingsβ Presence Sensors, including how to setup additional sensors, which is crucial if you live with other people, or have friends and family who visit regularly!
Iβll also show you how to use Presence Sensors to create more powerful home automation rules, by teaching SmartThings to recognise when the house is completely empty, and then notify you of any suspicious activity that happens while youβre away.
What youβll need
In this tutorial, Iβm assuming youβve already completed the following:
- Installed the SmartThings Hub somewhere in your home.
- Setup the SmartThings Classic app on your smartphone or tablet.
- Added a Multi Sensor to your SmartThings network.
- Setup the Multi Sensor to detect door open events. Weβll be expanding on this rule throughout this tutorial.
If you havenβt completed all of these steps, then check out the following articles:
You already have a presence sensor!
When you setup the SmartThings Classic app on your smartphone or tablet, SmartThings began using this device as a presence sensor automatically.
To see this in action:
- Launch the SmartThings Classic app on your smartphone or tablet.
- Select the βMy Homeβ tab along the bottom of the screen.
- Make sure the βThingsβ tab is selected.
This screen displays all the smart devices that are currently connected to your network: including the smartphone or tablet where you installed the SmartThings Classic app. Assuming that youβre currently at home, this should read βPresent.β
Select your smartphone or tablet, and youβll see some basic information that SmartThings has logged about you, based on your presence sensor, including the time when you last arrived home.
Assuming you take your smartphone or tablet with you every time you leave the house, this is the only presence sensor youβll need to create a home automation network that behaves differently depending on whether youβre home, or away. However, if you live with other people, then youβll need to setup some additional presence sensors. You donβt want SmartThings switching off all the lights and setting the alarm when you leave for work in the morning, if your roommate is still in the building!
If you need to setup additional presence sensors, then you have two options: you can either install SmartThings Classic on the other personβs smartphone or tablet, or purchase a dedicated Presence Sensor.
1. Setting up a second smartphone or tablet as a presence detector
Today, most people have access to either a smartphone or tablet, so one of the quickest and easiest ways to detect whether another person is home, is to use their device as a presence sensor.
The downside is that youβll both need to be logged into the same SmartThings account, which may be impractical if youβre sharing your home with people you donβt know too well, for example if youβre in student accomodation or recently acquired a new lodger, or you live with someone who canβt be trusted not to tinker around in the app and break all of your carefully-crafted home automation!
To setup an additional smartphone or tablet as a presence sensor:
- Install the SmartThings Classic app on the new device; youβll find this app in both the Google Play Store and on iTunes.
- Launch the SmartThings Classic application.
- Tap βIβm a SmartThings User.β
- Enter the login details for your existing SmartThings account.
- Tap the βMy Homeβ tab along the bottom of the screen.
- Make sure the βThingsβ tab is selected.
- Tap βAdd a Thing.β
- Select βAdd Device Manually.β
- Choose βPresence Sensors.β
- Tap βMobile Phone.β
- Tap βConnect Now.β
- Give this device a name, and then tap βSave.β
After a few moments, this new device will appear on your network, and you can use it as a second presence sensor.
2. Using a dedicated presence detector device
Samsung also sell a dedicated Presence Sensor. At this point, you may be wondering why anyone would pay for a dedicated device, when you can simply use your smartphone or tablet, but thereβs several scenarios where you may benefit from purchasing a presence sensor.
While many people wouldnβt dream of leaving the house without their smartphone, there are still people who arenβt glued to their mobile phones 24/7 β and some of them may even occasionally venture outside without their mobile device! In particular, vulnerable adults or children may regularly leave the house without their smartphone or tablet, or may not own a compatible device. In these scenarios, attaching a presence sensor to their keys, bag or backpack can be a more reliable way of tracking their movements.
If youβre a pet owner, then attaching a presence sensor to your beloved petβs collar can also help warn you when theyβre up to no good, for example SmartThings could sound an alarm whenever it detects that your dog is no longer on your property. You could even use this sensor to track your petβs movements around your home, so you get a heads-up whenever your cat is sat at the back door waiting to be let in, or when your dog has found a way into a room they know theyβre not supposed to be in.
You can purchase a Presence Sensor separately, or as part of the SmartThings Starter Kit.
To setup the Presence Sensor:
- The sensor should come with a βRemove to Pairβ tab; pull this tab to activate the Presence Sensor.
- Launch the SmartThings classic app, and select the βMy Homeβ tab.
- Tap the β+β icon in the appβs upper-right corner.
- The app should now display a βLooking for devicesβ¦β message. After a few moments, it should detect the βArrival Sensor.β
- Tap βRename Device,β give this device a unique name and then tap βDone.β
- Tap βSave.β
- Read the onscreen message, and if youβre happy to proceed then tap βOK.β Your new Presence Sensor is now ready to use!
Monitor the doors and windows when youβre away
Weβve already seen how you can use a Multi Sensor to detect when a door is opened, and then send you notifications about any suspicious activity. Letβs combine this rule with our Presence Detector(s), so we only receive a notification when someone opens a door, if youβre not detected anywhere on the property.
If you havenβt previously setup the Multi Sensor, or created this rule, then check out our Securing your home with SmartThings article.
If you live alone, then you can setup SmartThings to warn you of door open events that happen while youβre in Away mode. However, if you live with other people then things become more complicated β just because your smartphone or tablet has entered Away mode, doesnβt necessarily mean the house is empty! When youβre dealing with multiple presence sensors, you need to differentiate between one sensor entering Away mode, and all registered presence sensors entering Away mode.
Letβs give SmartThings the ability to tell when the house is truly empty, by creating the following:
- A custom βEmpty Houseβ mode.
- A new βEveryone Leavesβ routine, thatβs triggered automatically when SmartThings detects the βEveryone leavesβ event. This routine will switch your home automation network to βEmpty Houseβ mode.
We can then edit our door monitoring rule, so itβs triggered whenever SmartThings enters βEmpty Houseβ mode. This may seem like a lot of work, but weβre laying the foundations for future rules, for example further down the line you might want to set an alarm, turn off all the lights, and monitor additional doors and windows whenever SmartThings enters βEmpty Houseβ mode.
Creating your first custom mode
SmartThings comes with several preconfigured modes, but you can also create your own modes, via the online SmartThings IDE (Integrated Development Environment).
- Head over to the SmartThings IDE website and click βLog in.β
- Enter the email address thatβs associated with your SmartThings account. Click βNext.β
- Enter your password, and then click βSign in.β
- Once youβre successfully logged into the IDE, select βMy Locations.β
- Find your location in the list (mineβs simply βHomeβ) and give it a click.
- Find βModes,β and select its accompanying βCreate newβ link.
- Give your mode a name; Iβm using βEmpty house.β
- Click βCreate.β
Creating your first custom routine
Now we have our mode, we need to ensure itβs triggered every time the house is empty. To achieve this, Iβm going to create a βEveryone Leavesβ routine thatβll run whenever the last presence sensor moves away from the property.
- In the SmartThings Classic app, select the βAutomationβ tab along the bottom of the screen.
- Select βAdd a Routine.β
- Name this routine βEveryone Leaves.β
- Tap βNext.β
- Select βChange the mode toβ and then tap βEmpty house.β Tap βDone.β
- Select βAutomatically performβ¦.β followed by βEveryone leaves.β
- Tap βWhich?β
- You should now see a list of all the presence sensors that are linked to your account; select every sensor in the list, and then tap βDone.β
- If you only want this routine to trigger on certain days, tap βOnly on certain days of the weekβ and then select your days from the list. Tap βDone.β
- You may want to create a delay so that the βGoodbyeβ routine doesnβt trigger every time you step out of the house for a few minutes, for example if you pop to the garage or your outside bin. To set a delay, tap βAction delay timeβ and then enter a value in minutes.
- When youβre happy with your selections, tap βSave.β
Monitor doors and windows every time the house is empty
At this point, when the last person leaves your house the βEveryone Leavesβ routine will run, and switch us over to βEmpty houseβ mode. The last step, is configuring our door monitoring rule, so that it comes into effect whenever SmartThings enters βEmpty houseβ mode.
- In the SmartThings Classic app, tap the βSmart Home Monitorβ card.
- Tap the cog icon in the upper-right corner.
- Select βCustom.β
- Select the rule that you want to edit.
- Tap βOnly when mode isβ and then select βEmpty house.β Tap βDone.β
- Save your changes.
You can test this setup right now, by manually triggering the βEveryone Leavesβ routine and then checking whether you receive notifications about door open events:
- Select the βAutomationβ tab along the bottom of the app.
- Tap βEveryone Leaves.β
- Tap the lined icon in the upper-left corner, and you should see that youβre now in βEmpty houseβ mode.
- Try opening the door thatβs being monitored by the Multi Sensor: you should receive a notification on your smartphone!
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