New Google Home device tracker Component - Introduced in HA 0.83

vjmindlab · February 25, 2019, 3:33am

If it is of any use for some i found how to activate bluetooth constant advertising on the Galaxy S8 running Oreo.

You go in setting on your android phone. (Galaxy S8)
Go in Connections
More connections setting at the bottom of the page.
Activate nearby device scanning.

and voila it will broadcast like any other bluetooth tag.

DavidFW1960 · February 26, 2019, 5:28am

That will be fun for battery life…

zoogara · February 26, 2019, 5:35am

Yeah, I appreciate the effort the team expends in getting things like this working and I can see it may be useful, but I turned it off when I got to 2,400 entries in my known_devices.yaml

vjmindlab · February 26, 2019, 6:06am

No impact on battery life it’s low energy scanning maybe Apple will catch up on this eventually

DavidFW1960 · February 26, 2019, 6:07am

My iPhone/iPad are detected by GH without enabling broadcast

vjmindlab · February 26, 2019, 6:09am

So it does the same thing low energy scanning no need for the bluetooth to be activated congratulation i did not made this post to start an argument about tech but more to help people who want help

DavidFW1960 · February 26, 2019, 6:11am

chill out… it’s all good.

vjmindlab · February 26, 2019, 6:17am

Next time be constructive in your comment i’m always chill have a good day

baz_12312 · February 26, 2019, 9:53am

The random Mac address appears to be an issue / feature (depending on how you look at it) of BLE. Unless there’s an option to disable it, you’re a bit stuck.

I think pairing the device to your Google home should allow it to find the real address. I can’t test it myself unfortunately.

dmitry.mukhach · February 26, 2019, 10:27am

interval_seconds: 3
consider_home: 20

Where did you get these variables? In manual no
https://www.home-assistant.io/components/googlehome/

botts · February 26, 2019, 10:31am

sparkydave · February 26, 2019, 10:39am

You can’t use the config options of one component with another like that. Only the config options listed in the googlehome: doc are valid for the googlehome: component… I’m surprised it passes validation

botts · February 26, 2019, 10:42am

Screenshot_20190226-214105__011080×1386 179 KB

sparkydave · February 26, 2019, 10:52am

That doesn’t mean you can mix and match the config variables…

In saying that, the docs for the new googlehome components are terrible. Both the googlehome device tracker, and the hub links go to the same page

botts · February 26, 2019, 11:00am

Yes they are definitely not clear, and the new changes have been implemented without any real testing. And is now unusable in its current state. So the more constructive input/reports we can make on GitHub the better. Because this component has a lot of potential and am greatful it exists. It just needs some refinement! (Stop the known_devices.yaml from being 60k + on lines!) First…

ludeeus · February 26, 2019, 2:57pm

I could not have said it better byself

There is already a issue where options are being discussed.
https://github.com/home-assistant/home-assistant/issues/21357

0.89.0 will also have the option to turn off tracking completly if you just want alarms/timers.
https://github.com/home-assistant/home-assistant/pull/21335

vjmindlab · February 26, 2019, 3:22pm

Since i set all my devices to track only LE option 2 my know device file stopped being overpopulated and the tracking became faster and more accurate even on the rssi reading.

mcqwerty · February 27, 2019, 9:04pm

@vjmindlab how did you do that?
I tried:

googlehome:
  devices:
    - host: 192.168.1.50
      device_types:
        - 2
      track_alarms: true
    - host: 192.168.1.51
      device_types:
        - 2

and

googlehome:
  devices:
    - host: 192.168.1.50
      device_types: 2
      track_alarms: true
    - host: 192.168.1.51
      device_types: 2

but neither seem to have the desired effect.

enghult · February 28, 2019, 8:32pm

I have the same issue.
In history it look like thea are all present for 17 minutes and start at reguar intevall so it must be some kind of “mac-spam”

gremblin · March 1, 2019, 4:47am

I tried that. Didn’t work for me. The real address is identified only if I manually force my phone to do a scan, then it broadcasts it’s real BT mac address. I’m using a Pixel XL on Android 9.