Presence Sensing option does not show up in google home app

[Powershow]

Hi,

I am having problems with the Google Home app.  I am trying to setup a "Home" and "Away" routine for my Nest thermostat for my entire family.  I have invited them to my "Home" already as members with full access and they have accepted.  Here are the issues:

1. In the Google Home app on my phone, the "Home" and "Away" routines show that the other members of the house have Location Access off.

2. When I go to their phones, and I go to Google Home app and settings and Home Features, the "Presence Sensing" option is not there.

3. When I go to their phone, and I go to Google Home app and Automations and click on Home or Away routine and then "Use Presence Sensing", I get an error that the phone has not enabled location services.

4. When I go to their phone and to the Settings app and then "Privacy & Settings" and then "Location Services", the Google Home app does not even show up.

All phones are Iphones (From Iphone 13 to iphone 15).

The Google Home app is up to date.

The iOS is up to date.

What do I do???????

I have read several posts on the issue but have not found a solution.

[GabrielaG]

Hi Powershow,

Thank you for reaching out to the community. I'm sorry to hear that you are having problems with the Presence Sensing option not showing up in the Google Home app for your Nest thermostat. Thank you for your effort and time performing the previous troubleshooting steps. But no worries, help is here.

You can check the steps below to activate the presence sensing on your thermostat.

• Open the Google Home app.
• Tap the thermostat. 
• Tap Settings 
• Tap presence sensing

The presence sensing feature improves the way the Google Home app determines the home or away status of the home structure, so it doesn’t rely on your location.

If you have more questions, please feel free to write in this post.

Regards,

Gabriela

[Powershow]

Hi Gabriela,

Thanks for your response.  When I go to Google Home app/Thermostat/settings, there is no such option as presence sensing.

Furthermore, what I want is for the google home app to do what it is supposed to do which is detect when my family members are home by detecting their phones joining the wifi network.  Seems like this function should work.  Any other thoughts?

[GabrielaG]

Hi Powershow,

Thank you for your response. It's my pleasure to continue helping you. I see that you want the Google Home app to identify when your family members are at home by recognizing their phones connecting to the WiFi network. Let's look for a few tips that can help.

Your phone's location and sensors in Google Home devices can help identify whether or not someone is home, meaning that these signals, when put together, can help determine presence within the home. Presence sensing can help your home devices adjust to your needs when you are at home or away. You can refer to this article about presence sensing and how to manage your data to learn more about this feature.

Regards,

Gabriela