Normally I love the Open on Arrival app, however sometimes it doesn’t open soon enough so I do so manually, only to see the garage door start to close as I’m coming up the driveway. Is there a way around this? I was thinking it should be possible to only open if it detects that it’s closed by the reflector.
If it’s been addressed, a link would be appreciated - I did try searching first.
Anyone know of a workaround or another way of handling this?
It happens to me all the time but not always comes down. It takes time for the sensor to see it not closed. You could put a (door opened) switch on the door and wire it to the unit and then program it.
The issue with the timing of “Open on Arrival” has to do with the IFTTT app detecting the locations.
You can experiment with the size and location of the detection area to get better results.
It is possible for the phone to continually monitor the location with high precision using GPS, but that quickly drains phone’s battery. Instead the apps may rely on low power low precision location tracking based on cellular connection data and WiFi connections. This is likely the case with IFTTT’s app and your geo-fencing triggers including those used for Garadget may not be consistently accurate.
I guess my line of thought was that since garadget has a sensor (of sorts) to know if the door is open or closed, it would be possible to program it in to not send a signal if the door is found to be open already.
If you use IFTTT the door to send “open” command while the door is already open then the door will just remain open. You can test that with the applets using a widget buttons as a trigger.
If the door closes when you want it to remain open then there is some other factor at play. See your activity history in IFTTT to see what triggered the additional commands.
Yeah, I guess that’s where my question here comes from - I “manually” hit open with my factory remote because I’m sitting at the end of my driveway. As I start puling up, the door then starts to close (I assume because a signal was triggered based on my location).
Sometimes the laser detector see my driveway in bright sunlight and thinks the door is closed. I pull in the driveway knowing the IFTTT didn’t trigger yet I am ready with my finger on the door remote just in case it triggered. In the past 12 months it did it twice. Not bad odds but I’m always conscious about what could go wrong. It would be great if the laser sensor read the laser with out fail.
Michael,
You have option to install the reflective tag on the wall right above the door’s top edge so instead of sliding away with the door it is blocked by it when opens. This may reduce the effect of the otuside light on the sensor.