I have an automation set up to unlock my door when either my wife or I get near our home. I also have an automation to lock the door when we leave.
The locking automation works perfectly when we leave, but it is never activated when we arrive.
Any ideas why?
The geofence function is still in the laboratory stage and various smartphone settings can interfere with it. Take a look here:
Do you use an iPhone or Android?
Apart from that, a function like this doesn’t work perfectly with GPS alone. It works much better with a Bluetooth beacon. However, I’m unsure if the U50 reliably transmits a continuous Bluetooth beacon and if Aqara has plans to integrate this feature.
Thanks. I have an iPhone.
I’ve switched it up so that HomeKit locks the door when I leave. No issues there. I’m only using Aqara geofencing for unlock because HomeKit won’t unlock without confirmation each time. They say it’s a security issue.
I’d like to explain the technical background a bit more clearly, in case it helps. You might already know some of this, but it often gets overlooked.
Every smartphone has a system interface that apps use to request the device’s location. Each request consumes battery power, so both iOS and Android limit how often apps can ask for your position. Especially when they’re running in the background. This works the same on iPhones and Android devices.
The reason for this limitation is simple: not all app developers manage location requests responsibly. When you use an app built by Apple (for iOS) or Google (for Android), you can assume the developers know their own ecosystem very well and may use additional internal methods to improve location accuracy. That’s why system apps often perform better than third-party ones.
Another factor is battery level. When you leave your home, your phone usually has plenty of power, so location services run more freely. But when you return, the battery may be low or the phone might be in power-saving mode. In that mode, location requests are heavily restricted or even blocked. This often leads to the impression that “leaving works better than coming home.”
Accurate location becomes especially important when you arrive back home. Smartphone location accuracy depends on several factors: the reception of satellite systems like GPS and Galileo, which can be heavily impacted by buildings, trees, or terrain; and the use of Wi-Fi networks, Bluetooth signals, and cell towers to refine the position. For that reason, mobile data, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth should generally remain enabled. Hardware quality and built-in motion sensors also influence the final result.
In real-world conditions, most iPhones and Android phones achieve somewhere between 10 and 100 meters of accuracy. Sometimes worse. Because of that, you cannot expect a smart door lock to unlock exactly the moment you stand at your door. This is also why Apple considers automatic unlocking unsafe without a user confirmation. In the worst case, location detection may fail completely, and your door could unlock even though you’re not actually near your home. By the way, it is also not possible to ask Siri to open the door without first unlocking the smartphone.
This is why proper smart-lock systems rely on a Bluetooth beacon near the door. The technical logic usually works like this:
From a security standpoint, this is roughly as safe as a physical key: a thief would need to steal either your key or your smartphone to get inside.
But if you rely solely on location, as you currently do, a thief could simply wait until you’re close to home and grab valuables from the entrance area before you notice. That can even happen while you’re home. For this reason, you should never store valuables, car keys, or similar items right next to the door.