Modes in groups
Modes answer one question at a time: only one of them can be active. Most homes have more than one question, though. Is anyone home? What part of the day is it? With plain modes you have to pick, because activating Night switches off Home.
Mode groups (1.20.0+) fix that. Each group has its own active mode, so you can track presence and the time of day next to each other, and combine them in your flows.
This example builds two groups and a few flows that use both.
What you'll get
| Group | Modes | Changes when |
|---|---|---|
| Presence | Home, Away, Guests | People arrive or leave |
| Daypart | Morning, Day, Evening, Night | The clock or the sun says so |
The groups never touch each other. Leaving the house at night sets Presence to Away, and Daypart stays on Night.
Requirements
- FlowBits 1.20.0 or newer
- The Presence app installed on Homey
- The Date & Time app installed on Homey
Presence group
There is no separate step to create a group. Type Presence into the group field of the first card and the group exists.
When someone comes home:
When the last person leaves:
Guests for the evening:
Start this flow from a button or a voice command. After four hours the group goes back to whatever it was before, usually Home.
Daypart group
The same idea, with time-based triggers. See Daypart-based modes for a fuller schedule with separate weekday and weekend times.
Combining the groups
This is where groups pay off. A trigger from one group, a condition on the other.
Evening lights, but only when someone is home:
Coming home after dark:
The flow above only runs at sunset. If you get home later, this one catches it.
Everything off when the house is empty:
Tips
- One question per group. If two modes can be true at the same time, they belong in different groups.
- Mode names belong to their group. Night in Daypart and Night in a Heating group are separate modes with their own state.
- One widget per group. The Modes and Current mode widgets have a group setting. Add one for Presence and one for Daypart to see both on your dashboard.
- Existing modes stay where they are. Cards without a group field keep acting on the modes you had before 1.20.0. You can add groups next to them at your own pace.