The Home Assistant Companion app allows users to transform their smartphones into presence sensors, enabling automated control of smart home devices without requiring permanent hardware installations or landlord approval.

Key Points

• The Home Assistant Companion app tracks user location via GPS and Wi-Fi to trigger automations when residents enter or leave a defined home zone.
• This method provides a more reliable signal for whole-home automations than traditional motion sensors, which may fail to detect stationary occupants.
• Users must grant the app unrestricted battery access and background location permissions to ensure consistent tracking and prevent system errors.
• Multi-person households can manage automations by creating individual "person" entities for each resident, though pets require alternative detection methods.
• Integrating router-based tracking or adding a short delay before triggering departure routines helps mitigate issues caused by GPS drift or signal delays.
• Remote access to the Home Assistant server, via services like Tailscale or external URLs, is required for the app to report location updates outside the local network.

Why it Matters

This approach offers a cost-effective, non-invasive way for renters to implement sophisticated smart home automation without modifying their living space. By leveraging existing mobile hardware, users can improve energy efficiency and convenience while maintaining the flexibility to move their setup to a new location.