Is OwnTracks needed since HA has its own tracking?

Configuration
1

I am currently using HA and loving it

I am looking for a tracking app for the family that everyone can see everyone

I see that HA has its own tracking app

but

I also see OwnTracks is used to track devices

QUESTIONS
#1 What is the difference between the HA and OwnTrack, (apart from HA is a massive program that can do a lot of things and Owntracks just tracks people)

#2 Is OwnTrack not needed anymore since HA can track people?

#3 What are the benefits of running OwnTracks inside of HA if any?

Thanks in Advance

2

I used Owntracks for many years because it was the best option at the time to track devices and the app wasn’t available yet. However, I migrated all devices to HA tracking and am not using Owntracks anymore.

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3

I would like to be able to monitor myself and other people logged into HA, can i see other people moving using HA and can other people see me in HA just like owntracks does?

4

Yes, the mobile app creates a device tracker entity and you can then add that to a person entity. The challenge with any of the apps - HA, Owntracks and others - is to allow continuous location sharing, so you will have to check every now and then that the rest of the family is not accidentally turning off location sharing.

One more thing that you can do is to define zones (work, school, etc.) and persons will then appears in these zones, and of course you can run automations based on persons entering or leaving those zones.

5

I have continued to use own tracks, even though it cn be bitch to see up and keep going because I felt I could do more with it in zones and POI however they all go away when you close the app

6

I know it’s old thread but I will put my 50 cents here. Basically there is an approach to use as many device_trackers as possible and then add them under Bayesian device tracker to mathematically improve the quality of your system’s presence detection.

In this approach the OwnTracks still has a mathematical and logical value as a separate unique source of partial truth.

See this: Presence Detection Part 1: Home Assistant & Bayesian Probability - DIY Futurism

In the article they use a Bayesian Sensor but here is the hint how you can turn that into an actual device_tracker using automation and device_tracker.see service:

automation:
- alias: Presence - Set Bayesian device tracker states
  trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id:
    - binary_sensor.drew_bayesian
  action:
  - service: device_tracker.see
    data_template:
      dev_id: "{{ trigger.entity_id | replace('binary_sensor.','') }}"
      location_name: >-
        {%
          set mapper = {
          'on':'home',
          'off':'not_home'}
        %}
        {{ mapper[trigger.to_state.state] }}
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