--- title: The best smart home upgrade for renters costs nothing... description: Using the Home Assistant Companion app, you can turn your smartphone into a free presence sensor for smart home automations — no hardware installation... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/the-best-smart-home-upgrade-for-renters-costs-nothing-and-leaves-no-holes-in-the-wall-xz0irem3u twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: The best smart home upgrade for renters costs nothing and leaves no holes in the wall | daily.dev og:description: Using the Home Assistant Companion app, you can turn your smartphone into a free presence sensor for smart home automations — no hardware installation... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/the-best-smart-home-upgrade-for-renters-costs-nothing-and-leaves-no-holes-in-the-wall-xz0irem3u og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/xZ0irem3U.png og:image:alt: The best smart home upgrade for renters costs nothing and leaves no holes in the wall og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # The best smart home upgrade for renters costs nothing and leaves no holes in the wall **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 5 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Using the Home Assistant Companion app, you can turn your smartphone into a free presence sensor for smart home automations — no hardware installation required. The app tracks whether you're home or away using GPS and Wi-Fi, enabling automations like turning off lights, fans, and AC when you leave and restoring them on return. The setup requires only the Companion app connected to a Home Assistant server with background location access enabled. For accuracy, combining GPS with Wi-Fi/router-based tracking is recommended, along with a short delay before triggering departure actions. This approach is ideal for renters since it requires no physical installation and leaves nothing to repair when moving out. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How do I use my phone as a presence sensor in Home Assistant without extra hardware? Install the Home Assistant Companion app, connect it to your server, and grant background location access. The app automatically creates a device tracker that updates when you enter or leave the Home zone. In Automations, add a zone trigger using your Person entity, select Home as the zone, and set events for Leaves and Enters to control lights, plugs, fans, or AC accordingly. _Developers building renter-friendly smart home setups share tips like these on daily.dev._ ### Why does my Home Assistant phone presence sensor incorrectly mark me as away while I'm still home? GPS drift and Android battery restrictions are the most common causes. Fix this by granting the Companion app unrestricted battery access and enabling background location. For added reliability, combine GPS tracking with Wi-Fi or router-based tracking so Home Assistant only marks you away when both signals agree. Adding a short delay before departure actions also prevents false triggers from temporary GPS errors. _Home Assistant automation edge cases like this get discussed regularly among smart home developers on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [The best smart home upgrade I ever made cost $5 and required zero apps](https://daily.dev/posts/the-best-smart-home-upgrade-i-ever-made-cost-5-and-required-zero-apps-hmyfzntjo) · XDA Developers · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [Home Assistant solved three annoying problems I didn't know sensors could fix](https://daily.dev/posts/home-assistant-solved-three-annoying-problems-i-didn-t-know-sensors-could-fix-hqehpr5t2) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Smart homes don't need your phone — they need physical switches that actually work](https://daily.dev/posts/smart-homes-don-t-need-your-phone-they-need-physical-switches-that-actually-work-wwiuaznx8) · XDA Developers · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Aqara’s cord-free presence sensor runs for up to three years on battery power](https://daily.dev/posts/aqara-s-cord-free-presence-sensor-runs-for-up-to-three-years-on-battery-power-dt9lb8eju) · The Verge · 3 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#tech-news](https://daily.dev/tags/tech-news) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/the-best-smart-home-upgrade-for-renters-costs-nothing-and-leaves-no-holes-in-the-wall-xz0irem3u) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"The best smart home upgrade for renters costs nothing and leaves no holes in the wall","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-best-smart-home-upgrade-for-renters-costs-nothing-and-leaves-no-holes-in-the-wall-xz0irem3u","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-best-smart-home-upgrade-for-renters-costs-nothing-and-leaves-no-holes-in-the-wall-xz0irem3u"},"datePublished":"2026-08-11T21:00:32.571Z","dateModified":"2026-08-11T21:01:11.337Z","description":"Using the Home Assistant Companion app, you can turn your smartphone into a free presence sensor for smart home automations — no hardware installation...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/543144af3dfbd1de183f62f80894442c?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/543144af3dfbd1de183f62f80894442c?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"XDA Developers","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"XDA Developers","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--kCg6yyAP--/f_auto,q_auto/v1774964407/logos/xda-developers?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-best-smart-home-upgrade-for-renters-costs-nothing-and-leaves-no-holes-in-the-wall-xz0irem3u","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"tech-news","timeRequired":"PT5M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"XDA Developers","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The best smart home upgrade for renters costs nothing and leaves no holes in the wall"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/the-best-smart-home-upgrade-for-renters-costs-nothing-and-leaves-no-holes-in-the-wall-xz0irem3u#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How do I use my phone as a presence sensor in Home Assistant without extra hardware?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Install the Home Assistant Companion app, connect it to your server, and grant background location access. The app automatically creates a device tracker that updates when you enter or leave the Home zone. In Automations, add a zone trigger using your Person entity, select Home as the zone, and set events for Leaves and Enters to control lights, plugs, fans, or AC accordingly. Developers building renter-friendly smart home setups share tips like these on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Why does my Home Assistant phone presence sensor incorrectly mark me as away while I'm still home?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"GPS drift and Android battery restrictions are the most common causes. Fix this by granting the Companion app unrestricted battery access and enabling background location. For added reliability, combine GPS tracking with Wi-Fi or router-based tracking so Home Assistant only marks you away when both signals agree. Adding a short delay before departure actions also prevents false triggers from temporary GPS errors. Home Assistant automation edge cases like this get discussed regularly among smart home developers on daily.dev."}}]} ```