HOWTO: Replace the August Auto-Lock feature with Indigo

Posted on
Fri Aug 17, 2018 12:32 pm
vtmikel offline
Posts: 628
Joined: Aug 31, 2012
Location: Boston, MA

HOWTO: Replace the August Auto-Lock feature with Indigo

Here I'll explain a basic recipe to replace the Auto-Lock feature from the August app with Indigo

Why this is helpful: The August provided feature is rather dumb. It locks at the designated interval without any consideration for other factors. For example, it doesn't consider basic things like - are you frequently coming in and out; are you home (or not home); is the room that you enter the house into currently active; is the door open (unless you have the August Pro). Delegating the Auto-Lock to Indigo, you can consider your current scenario and alter the behavior of the Auto Lock.

What to do (basic version):
This assumes that your August lock is already set up properly in Indigo.
  1. Disable the Auto-Lock feature of your August lock
  2. Create a new trigger called Auto Lock.
    Device: Your lock
    State: Number of minutes that the lock has been unlocked
    Any change
  3. In the Conditions, consider something like:

    All of the following (hold the Option key to create these condition blocks):
    auto_lock_enabled is true - See below in the other ideas, if you want to add this variable.
    Device [LOCK] | On/Off State | is false

    AND
    Any of the following:

    All of the following:
    Device [LOCK] | Number of minutes the lock has been unlocked | Greater Than | 10
    Device [Motion Sensor] | On/Off State | Off
    Variable that tracks if someone is home in your house [Variable] | is true

    OR

    Variable that tracks if someone is home in your house [Variable] | is false

    Add more here as you'd like. Each "group" under the Or condition can offer different scenarios where you want to check if the door should be locked.
  4. In the Actions, set the device to lock

Other ideas:
  • If you have a door sensor, consider adding a trigger to reset the unlock timer (A plugin action that the August Home plugin supports) when the door is opened. This resets your auto lock to zero when someone uses the door. Also, add the door senor being OFF as a condition to the auto lock, as you dont want to lock the door when it's being held open.
  • Create a variable like "auto_lock_enabled" and set the value to "true". Add this as a required condition for your auto lock. Then, create action groups for "Disable auto-lock for 1 hour". Set the variable value of auto_lock_enabled to false, then back to true (with a 1 hour delay). This way, you have a easy way to manually trigger auto lock feature while automatically having it come back on.
  • Consider using the Group Lister plugin rather than basing your trigger on the changes to "unlocked minutes". This will be more efficient, and avoids creating multiple triggers for the auto-lock function.
  • Consider using a python script rather than using the built in conditions editor. This approach has several advantages such as: being able to compare the number of minutes that the lock has been unlocked to a variable that controls the auto lock function. I allow my door to stay unlocked longer during the daytime than the evening. I also increase the lock time when a "guest mode" is enabled a my house to avoid locking people out.

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