Mobile phone location tracking using Home Assistant iOS app

New to Home Assistant but I have some automations working and I thought I would dab into running automations based on location. Such as switching off devices if I leave home.

I notice that after installing the iOS Home Assistant app it can use my location and send it to home assistant.

I have then created an automation but when I leave my home it doesn’t run. I notice when I try to log into the app when not at home it is unable to connect to the instance. Which makes me wonder… if I don’t have a connection directly to home assistant instance then automations based on my location will not work. I thought perhaps using the app there was some back end location tracking but that isn’t happening.

I read life360 is an option but I was hoping I could do it all natively with the home assistant app on my phone.

If I have got the complete wrong end of the stick with this can someone point me in the right direction?

You need either to set up remote access manually (SSL + DNS + port forwarding), or subscribe to the NabuCasa cloud service. Without one of those, there’s no way for any software on the phone to report home.

The cloud service is $5/month but trivial to set up. Manual remote access is free, but you have to set it up (it’s not hard).

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Thanks very much I thought this was the case, but having moved away from HomeKit where the backend as wall automatic I forget that with Home Assistant most this is all happening local.

I also guess that if I have automations to send notifications to my phone, they won’t work either without a remote access connection (if I am out of the house that is)?

Not at all, no need for remote access to HA for it to send notifications. You could use Telegram or many others for that.

Ah cool. Thats good to know. Its a bit overwhelming how customisable it all is… coming from just being able to use very basic automations in HomeKit…