Geo fencing only working with app on in back ground

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Tyz
Tyz
I have an iPhone XS Max with the latest iPhone software and the Tado app is updated also. Geo fencing on works correctly with the app on in the back ground.
Is their anything that a Tado can do to have it working without the app on in the background?
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Comments

  • rafm5
    rafm5 ✭✭✭
    edited January 2022
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    @Tyz Regretfully, it's a well known & common issue. One of the recent thread.

  • Andreplusplus
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    How else would you expect it to work? What way would your phone be able to tell the tado cloud service it’s whereabouts?

  • @Andreplusplus how does Home app works even when it is closed? How marginally that app understand I leave home and turns on cameras for me? Hmmm that’s a little mystery isn’t it now?
  • Andreplusplus
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    @FatihAyoglu That’s called running in the background. But you are saying that that doesn’t work for tado? And you have to leave the app open? Cause I don’t know as I don’t use geofencing.

  • rafm5
    rafm5 ✭✭✭
    edited February 2022
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    Apple has just released iOS 15.4 beta 2 for developers. Along with latest tado° App 6.32 beta the geofencing functionality has been restored (no app running in the background)


  • @Andreplusplus ok maybe I should be more clear. Home app works in the background whether it is actually open in the background or not. Like on your phone, you can swipe up to close it but it will still work for geofencing purposes. On the other hand tado doesn’t work if you close it and if it is on the background, it does work sometime and doesn’t work. My wife’s phone and my phone are in the same OS version, set up exactly the same. When we go out and about, my phone shows as out of home, her phone shows at home.
    Some apps are managing to work in the background whether they are open or not (like minimised int the taskbar or not) I don’t know what coding it requires. Think about iMessage. Whether it is open or not, you’ll always get a notification for iMessage (blue one) SMS works differently hence not a part of conversation (green one)
  • Andreplusplus
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    @FatihAyoglu Yes, what you say makes sense. It is odd that the same app on two identical phones behaves differently. Is is the same tado app version? Otherwise we might be facing a bug, and in that case it would be good to inform tado support.

  • rafm5
    rafm5 ✭✭✭
    edited February 2022
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    @Andreplusplus @FatihAyoglu Please can you try latest tado° app and let know whether it helps?

  • Andreplusplus
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    @rafm5 Thank you for the pointer, but I don't have an issue myself, I don't use the geofencing function.

  • @Tyz i have the same issue. Apparently it sees the position only when the app is on.
    It worked for years. Now no longer.
    This makes the difference. I feel like changing.
    I tried to talk to Tado but got no answer.
    Do you have by any chance two or more houses with tado? Because I am not sure but I feel it happened when I set tado also in the second house.
  • Rob2
    Rob2 ✭✭✭
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    You need to understand that while some things work for years and then suddenly stop working, that is not necessarily the fault of the app you are using.

    It may well be that the maker of the phone has "changed the rules". So things that worked in the past are not allowed anymore, and either one has to do a modification of the app or it isn't possible at all anymore.

    Did you try to talk to your phone maker? Did that work?

    Furthermore in a resource limited company it may well take several months before an updated app becomes available. It is not like Tado has a room full of programmers eager to take up every new challenge and write code before they go home. That has been clear in many aspects of the system, and the timespan for often requested modifications.

  • Well if a company writes a software for a platform, that given software should use the available kit (software codes) correctly to work properly. I don’t see any software company can go and say “hey we want to write the code this way so as the phone company you should accept it or we are not going to support you” Sorry but things doesn’t work like that. Apple announces beta version of the iOS for this particular reason that the developers can access and test their apps otherwise it is Apple’s right to change a kit as the manufacturer of the iOS. So your post is really absurd and pointless. Not to mention, my wife and my wife’s phone are on the same version of the tado and iOS and it works on 1 of them and doesn’t on the other one. So guess what, the issue is with tado then!

    @rafm5 I’ve downloaded the beta version from the link you’ve provided and tracked the geolocation of both devices from a 3rd device which is not geofencing for tado. The app has recognised the fact we left home and switched to away mode however when we come back, it shows my device at home hence switches to Home mode however my wife’s phone still seems outside. From practically view (not quite sure if this is doable) that if one connects to Home wifi, the app should recognise this as the person is at home. I know there is a section to adjust that but for some reason again tado on my wife’s phone does not recognise this.
  • rafm5
    rafm5 ✭✭✭
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    @FatihAyoglu

    ''[...] and it works on 1 of them and doesn’t on the other one. So guess what, the issue is with tado then!''

    All settings are exactly the same, are they?

    • background app refresh
    • location services / access: enabled
    • precise location
    • home area
    • device location: enabled
  • @rafm5 exactly. All settings are the same, which confuses me as well. As said, tado has tracked accurately that we both left home however when we came back, it has showed her phone out for a quite considerable time like 1 hour or so and then showed as at home. Also both of our phones are charged enough, no battery saving mode.
  • I can send app analytics if that helps
  • Kn0t3n
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    mine is working without problems since the iOS fix, because there were geofence problems
  • FatihAyoglu
    edited February 2022
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    So some update, my wife and I went out. Tado successfully tracked and move the status to away mode. We both came home, after 2 minutes tado confirmed I’m at home and after 35 minutes, it still shows as my wife is out of home. I am holding her phone right now while I’m typing this so something is not working
  • Kn0t3n
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    Thats an problem on your side, my wife and myself tested it and it is working flawless
  • Ok thank you, because yours is working, I guess we can shut down this forum.

    Well tell you what, don’t care if it works for you or not, for dozens it doesn’t. I’m on Beta 6.35 and now it doesn’t again. So if it does for you, don’t waste your time commenting on here as it doesn’t help anybody!
  • Kn0t3n
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    ok mr bad boy

    always blame companys or people when something is not working.

    I bet it is still a layer 8 (human) error / problem.

    it is working flawless since the new iOS update but told you already, have fun.
  • FatihAyoglu
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    Again don’t care if it is working for you. There are plenty of other users whose geofencing is not working. If it is not working it is due to tado, not to me as I set up exactly as they’ve said and surprise surprise so are the others. So if you don’t have anything to add, I’d suggest stay away from the forum.
  • Andreplusplus
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    @FatihAyoglu Ok, so we can only come here to complain and tell things are not working? Even when it can be helpful to know that for some people things do work (i.e. it is not a general failure, but some factors have come in to play that for some it works and for others it doesn’t. Now try to find the differences to get clues for the cause and possible solution)

  • rafm5
    rafm5 ✭✭✭
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    @FatihAyoglu It does help. It indicates that under some conditions the feature works well. Now it is up to developers to locate these factors and eliminate them. More info from users = more chance to completely resolve the bug. And isn't just tado°, but Apple who originally took some shortcuts in development causing the mess thereafter.

  • FatihAyoglu
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    @Andreplusplus I’ve never said it is only to complain however there is no point to repeat that it works for him, which doesn’t help to the post. This forum has multiple posts on geofencing does not work for quite some people, so of course it works for some doesn’t mean it would work for everybody.
    In a world where there are millions of configurations with different handset etc, it is up to tado to write the code complaint with full Apple ecosystem. We know tado does not do that as there is also a syncing problem with Apple Home. It is plain useless to say if it works for somebody it is due to human error but I also know there are always people like this in every forum where they think it should work because it is working for them.
  • FatihAyoglu
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    @rafm5 ok what I meant is, it doesn’t help to keep repeating that it is working for him. People open discussions in forums to raise an issue and obviously some other users might not experience that specific issue. Those users can obviously comment to say it is working for them but there is absolutely no need to repeat that and then blaming other users for their systems. I can count 3 specific posts in top 25 on this forum where users are having issues with geofencing.
    And I agree with you, Apple does change things and it is difficult to follow up but then finding a quick issue is up to the developer if they’d like to be present in that ecosystem.
  • MichielTado
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    Agree, how is it helpful if a user responding to another user says it works for them, and after that states that the issue the other user has must have surely be caused by doing something wrong, without providing any info on the specific setup, settings used or “some conditions”?

    The same goes for without proof stating that Apple took some development shortcuts. Seeing the plethora of unsolved, unacknowledged and ignored issues reported on this forum, I think Tado (and its moderators) should be somewhat humble before alluding to presumed development shortcuts by others, without providing any (visible) help or proof.

  • Rob2
    Rob2 ✭✭✭
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    "And I agree with you, Apple does change things and it is difficult to follow up but then finding a quick issue is up to the developer if they’d like to be present in that ecosystem."

    But in the case of Tado there is no active developer. They are hiring.

    So what do you expect?

  • FatihAyoglu
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    I mean, the bit that I don’t understand is, why tado coders cannot get their heads around on this issue when Apple Home app or IFFTT app works with geofencing flawlessly even when they are not open in the background. So that only tells me there is something not right with tado and it is very possible tado is not using the approved framekit
  • rafm5
    rafm5 ✭✭✭
    edited March 2022
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    @MichielTado Apple changed things under the hood of iOS Region Monitoring (geofencing) in iOS 15 and this mechanism stopped working reliably.

    https://developer.apple.com/documentation/corelocation/cllocationmanager/creating_a_location_push_service_extension

    More info:

    https://www.heise.de/news/iOS-15-kann-Probleme-mit-Geofencing-bereiten-6275097.html

    https://www.golem.de/news/iphone-probleme-mit-lokalisierungsdiensten-unter-ios-15-2111-161323.html

    https://www.appgefahren.de/ios-15-mit-problemen-beim-geofencing-mehrere-apps-betroffen-311227.html

    https://www.appgefahren.de/ios-15-mit-problemen-beim-geofencing-mehrere-apps-betroffen-311227.html

    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253247480?answerId=256538243022&login=true&page=1

    https://hueblog.com/2021/11/30/ios-15-causes-geofencing-problems-with-philips-hue/

    [...] If you have been wondering in the past few weeks why the geofencing of your Hue app no longer works properly, then I can tell you today: It’s not your fault and it’s not the fault of Philips Hue that your lights no longer switch on and off reliably when you come home or leave home. Geofencing no longer triggers any action. Our app is simply no longer being called, we can track that from our logs. It apparently only works if the app is still active in the background and has not yet been deleted from the system’s memory,” explains Stefan Göhler, the developer of iConnectHue (Philips Hue) [...]

    This issue has been reported by users, developers (including myself) and big players like Philips and is affecting many apps that rely on this mechanism. iOS 15.3 has been officially released on 26 Jan 2022 and according to user reports Apple have fixed the issues in geofencing.

    tado° and other devs have no influence on Apple’s performance. They rely purely on Apple to fix their software.

  • Rob2
    Rob2 ✭✭✭
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    As you can read many times on the forum, it worked ok until Apple upgraded IOS to version 15.

    So apparently what they are doing worked ok until Apple changed something. And in the situation where you do not have a development team sitting and waiting for others (Apple) changing things so you can adapt to that, it can mean that things stop working. Apple may have a good reason for the change, but they made the change. So you should call them about it.

    Requests for improvement classified as "high priority" easily spend two years in the waiting queue at Tado. My suspicion is that there is no development team at all, but all software work is still done by one of the founders that originally made the product, and is now in the board of directors. Of course he does not have a lot of time.

    They are hiring new people. Or at least they have open positions.