ESPresense v4: Devices not populating in MQTT (Pixel 9 & Redmi)

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some help troubleshooting my ESPresense v4 setup. I have my ESP32 running correctly, but I am struggling to get my devices to appear in the MQTT tree and on the ESPresence Fingerprint page.

The Issue: I am running ESPresense v4. I have set up the companion app/BLE broadcast on both a Pixel 9 and a Xiaomi Redmi. Despite this, my MQTT Explorer shows no devices or nodes sub-topics—only settings and rooms/main. I am also using an iPhone and that one is working fine.

Technical Uncertainty: I am a bit confused by the various identification methods discussed in different tutorials. I’ve read about IRK, iBeacon, but I'm not clear on which one I should be using for a Pixel 9 and a Xiaomi Redmi to get reliable room-level presence in Home Assistant.

  • Should I be relying on the companion app to broadcast a specific ID?
  • Is one method significantly more stable than the others for Android?

My Configuration:

  • ESPresense v4
  • Home Assistant Discovery: Enabled
  • MQTT Base Topic: espresense

Goal: I want to see my devices populate in MQTT so I can use them for room presence. Any advice on the recommended identification method for these phones, and why my MQTT tree might be failing to initialize the devices sub-topics, would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you for your help