Presence issues

Questions & Help
1

Having major issues with Homey notifying when my family arrive or leave, I have even set up flows that are not working, Nothing has changed with the apple products. any ideas thanks.

2

Is the toggle “Use Home/Away Detection“ still turned on when you go to More → Account?

3

Yes, on both devices it knows.

4

Are you sure the flow is enabled?

5

Yes they are enabled.

1 Like
6

This is all Homeybot returned when I asked “What to check when Homey presence is not working using Android phone”.

It seems to cover most issues

Key checks on Android

  • Enable Home/Away Detection in Homey
    In the Homey app: Your Avatar → My Account → toggle Home/Away Detection ON.

  • Grant Location Access correctly
    On Android, set Location permission to “Allow all the time” (not only “While using the app”).
    Note: In Homey’s Permissions screen it may still show “Allowed” even if it’s only “While using”—set it explicitly to “Allow all the time” in Android settings for best reliability.

  • Verify app permissions in Homey
    Homey app → More (…) → Permissions. Ensure:
    Location: Allowed
    Notifications: Allowed (so you can see presence-related notifications)
    Critical Alerts: Optional, but useful for urgent Flows

  • Android system settings to review
    – Location services: Turned ON globally.
    –Battery optimization: Exempt Homey from battery optimization/background restrictions so it can check location in the background.
    Settings → Apps → Homey → Battery → set to Unrestricted (naming varies by brand).
    –Background data: Allowed for Homey.

  • Precise location: Enabled for the Homey app.

  • Test the geofence
    Move outside/inside your Home’s radius and wait up to 2 minutes; Presence may take a short time to switch.

  • Check Homey app → Timeline for any Presence updates or errors.
    If using Critical Alerts on Android,
    Confirm Notification permission, channel, and full-screen intent are enabled if you rely on high-priority alerts.
    If Critical Alerts show:
    –Not Allowed: enable notification and channel permissions via Homey → Permissions → Allow → Open Settings.
    –Partly Allowed: enable Full-screen intent via the same path.
    –Allowed but no alerts: verify the “Critical Alert notifications” channel exists; if not, usually the Flow hasn’t triggered a first alert yet.

  • Samsung-specific note (One UI 6.1 and newer)
    Samsung may disable notification channel controls by default.
    Enable via Settings → Notifications → Advanced settings → Manage notification categories for each app.
    If using Do Not Disturb, add Homey as an exception: Settings → Sound & vibration → Do Not Disturb → Exceptions/Apps allowed to interrupt → add Homey.

If Presence still won’t update:

Toggle Home/Away Detection OFF and back ON.
Reinstall the Homey app, then re-check all permissions (especially “Allow all the time”).
Restart your phone and Homey.
Ensure only one Home location is set and the radius is correct.

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A couple of quick questions to narrow it down:

Which phone model and Android version are you using? (e.g., Samsung S23 on One UI 6.1)
In Android app settings, is Location set to “Allow all the time” and Precise location ON for Homey?
Is Homey exempt from battery optimization/background limits on your device?