Hi everyone, I’m new to SmartThings but have been experimenting with home automation for a while now. One feature that’s been on my mind is setting up a guest mode, and I’d love to hear your thoughts or experiences on how to achieve this effectively.
Here’s the scenario: My family and I often have guests over, like babysitters or friends, and I’d like to ensure that our security system doesn’t trigger an away mode when we leave but leave someone inside. Currently, I’m using presence tracking from our phones to switch modes, but it doesn’t account for guests.
I tried creating a guest mode with some basic logic—if both my wife and I leave and movement is detected within five minutes, switch to guest mode. Similarly, if the front door opens and closes without movement for 10 minutes, it should switch back to away mode. It’s not perfect, but it seemed like a good start. However, I’m struggling to implement this logic using the built-in functionality. I even tried SmartRules, but it didn’t work either.
I’m wondering if there are any third-party rule engines that could handle this or if there’s a smarter way to approach it. It doesn’t feel overly complex, so I’m hoping someone can guide me in the right direction. Any suggestions or tips would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance for your help.