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Geofencing - using detected but not connected WiFi?

Posted: 26 Apr 2017 07:06
by benbrown
It would be extremely useful if Automagic could implement something that lets me use "detected (but not necessarily connected) WiFi networks" in my flows. One thing that I haven't been able to make Automagic do (but the deprecated Llama app does very well) is to show a list of detected WiFi networks without connecting to them.

Sample use case: "If I detect my dentist's WiFi, put my phone in silent mode."
Obviously I can't connect to his office WiFi but my phone knows it's there so I should be able to use that information in Automagic.

Llama does this by a combination of areas and detected signals.
- On the Areas list, I can define whatever areas I like to use, and I can let an area "learn" by detecting nearby cell towers.
- On the Signals list, I see a constant stream of currently detected cell towers and WiFi signals, and I can touch any one and assign it to an area.

Re: Geofencing - using detected but not connected WiFi?

Posted: 26 Apr 2017 17:33
by Scotty
It works fine for me. Every evening, my phone "knows" that I am approaching my home because (using the action WiFi Scan) it detects neighbors' WiFi networks and then carries out actions based on their having been detected (even though the phone can't connect to them).

However, my phone is rooted; and in my flow the WiFi Scan action is preceded by another (root-dependent) action, Set Network Location State, turning that On. So far as I can tell, the success of the WiFi Scan seems to depend on Network Location State being on.

So, if your phone is rooted, try that. If it's not rooted, sorry, I can't help - maybe someone more knowledgeable can do so.....

Re: Geofencing - using detected but not connected WiFi?

Posted: 26 Apr 2017 18:38
by benbrown
Thank you! Yes my phone is also rooted, and I have tried the triggers+actions you mention and I do get a response -- for now it's just a toast message with the result list.

Now, I'll have to figure out how to elegantly fill a "silent list" with various SSID's that I come across (like dentist), so that a flow can check the silent list against the current results and set a silent profile if a match is found. Sounds like a FOR loop but I haven't dived into the scripting yet.

I am a bit surprised that nobody has shared similar flows that I could reuse or build upon.