WTH: Device Tracker Template

Archive Month of "What the heck?!" (2020)
#1

I have mentioned it a few times in other thread so after some prompting from @CentralCommand here it is.

Even with the device_tracker.see service, I have often wondered WTH is there not a device tracker template? I have been around long enough to understand the history and complexity around the device tracker domain, so I guess I had gotten past my WTH moment after considering it.

A device tracker template advantage is giving users the flexibility to create device trackers from other sources like input booleans, binary sensors, etc… While you can do this with the device_tracker.see service and some templated automations it’s not very apparent at first glance, even with this, I device tracker template would be wonderful!

WTH, why do I need a complex template the get the number of persons home
#2

I agree! I’ve gone looking for this option a few times and always been surprised it is missing.

Also I think adding this option would eliminate (or at least reduce the need for a fix to) this WTH issue. I also rely on device_tracker.see because there’s no other way to make a custom device tracker out of other state info. But then you have to wait for that state to change after restart in order to trigger your automation and recreate your device tracker. Having a template tracker fixes that since the template can be auto calculated on startup and on entity change.

#3

That would be fantastic. I used MQTT device trackers in the past, which worked quite well, but I had to configure an MQTT device tracker and an automation that publishes to the MQTT topic of this device tracker whenever the sensor changes state. Currently my whole presence detection system is handled by AppDaemon, but I’d prefer a native HA approach.

Manual device tracker in 2022?
#4

Just wanted to share my disappointment when I saw this example from the doc: Template - Home Assistant and I naïvely thought I could have a device_tracker template based on a binary sensor that I could associate with a person…
The template sensor runs fine, but despite being a “presence” device_class, it cannot be associated with a person… It looks almost like a bug.
Could it be (re)considered, please?
(already requested in the past: Template device_tracker)

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