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This was a 2021 rollout—not a new 2026 feature. Google’s current documentation focuses on presence-based automations, so the exact historical menu may not appear identically in every current Google Home app, account, or device setup.
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What Google added in 2021
The feature appeared under the Home and Away household routines. Alongside existing starters such as “When everyone’s away” and “When someone comes home,” Google added “When the user arrives/leaves.”
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The starter was user-specific and location-based. It was not a general trigger available to every Assistant Routine. Contemporary reports from 9to5Google and Android Headlines dated the rollout to October 2021.
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How the historical location trigger worked
In the reported interface, users could:
- Open the Google Home app or Google Assistant settings.
- Go to Routines.
- Open the household Home or Away routine.
- Choose “When the user arrives/leaves” under Starter.
- Select Arrive or Leave.
- Choose a place from Your places.
- Add actions and optionally enable a phone notification.
- Save the routine.
Home and Work were available by default, with an option to add another place. Because the trigger was tied to a selected location, it could be configured around a place near home rather than relying only on Google’s judgment that the household had become occupied.
Examples of what it could do
- Turn on exterior or hallway lights when approaching home.
- Turn off plugs or lights after leaving.
- Adjust a compatible thermostat before arrival.
- Start or stop compatible smart-home devices.
- Send a notification when the routine began.
A location trigger could be more configurable than automatic presence sensing, but “more precise” did not mean guaranteed or instantaneous. GPS, Wi-Fi, cellular service, operating-system permissions, background restrictions, and Google’s processing could all affect timing.
Location triggers versus presence sensing
These systems are related but not interchangeable.
| Feature | 2021 arrive/leave starter | Current presence-based automation |
|---|---|---|
| Primary logic | A user crosses a boundary around a selected place. | Google determines whether people are home or away. |
| Location scope | Home, Work, or another saved location. | Primarily the configured Google Home. |
| Household behavior | Focused on the selected user. | Can account for household members and “everyone away.” |
| Inputs | Phone location was the central concept described at launch. | Phone location, Wi-Fi presence, and eligible device activity may contribute. |
| Trade-off | More configurable for a particular place or person. | More automatic, but potentially less predictable. |
Google’s current documentation says presence can use phone location, Wi-Fi, and eligible devices. Depending on the product and configuration, device activity may include motion, touch, voice commands, media playback, or other signals. The first configured phone returning can indicate that someone is home; the last configured phone leaving can contribute to an “everyone away” state.
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- Keep your home comfortable – Control compatible smart devices like lights and thermostats, even while you're away.
- See more with the built-in camera – Check in on your family, pets, and more using the built-in camera. Drop in on your home when you're out or view the front door from your Echo Show 5 with compatible video doorbells.
- See your photos on display – When not in use, set the background to a rotating slideshow of your favorite photos. Invite family and friends to share photos to your Echo Show. Prime members also get unlimited cloud photo storage.
What Google documents today
Google’s current public help pages emphasize presence-based automations rather than clearly documenting the historical Home/Away “When the user arrives/leaves” menu in its original form. That does not conclusively prove the old starter has been removed everywhere. Availability can vary by app version, account, platform, home configuration, and Google’s continuing migration between older Nest and Home workflows.
Enable presence sensing
- Open the Google Home app.
- Tap your profile picture or initial.
- Tap Home settings.
- Tap Presence sensing.
- Enable relevant device sensors and the option to use phone locations.
- For each household member, enable location sharing for the phone they want to use.
Google’s setup guidance is available in its presence-sensing instructions and location and permission guidance. Google says location services should be set to always on for the Google Home app. Each person controls whether their own phone shares location, and each person can share one phone at a time. Location sharing cannot be active through both the Home app and Nest app simultaneously for the same phone.
Create a current presence-based automation
- Open Google Home and tap Add.
- Tap Automation and name the automation.
- Add presence as a starter or condition.
- Choose whether it should run when someone is home or everyone is away.
- Add actions and any other supported conditions.
- Tap Save.
Labels can differ between app versions and accounts. This documented route should not be treated as proof that every account still exposes the 2021 location starter.
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Compatibility and household requirements
You generally need the Google Home app, a Google Account, an appropriately configured home, persistent phone-location permission, and compatible devices. Nest users may need to migrate from a legacy Nest Account. Presence-sensing eligibility varies: not every Google Home-compatible or third-party device can contribute presence data. Google’s compatibility directory identifies supported product categories and integrations.
Automations also depend on internet access, Wi-Fi, Google services, and third-party services. Matter devices used for control and automation while away require a compatible Matter hub.
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Do not treat a geofence or presence automation as a guaranteed boundary event. A phone left at home, an old phone or tablet still associated with the household, stale location data, restricted background activity, or a household member who has not enabled sharing can produce unexpected results. Google says Home/Away works best when everyone in the home shares their phone location.
Device-based presence can also create false positives or delays. Pets, heat sources, a thermostat detecting activity, or a smart speaker, display, television, or streaming device remaining active may affect when Google considers the home occupied or empty. Google’s activity history guidance says relevant Home app activity from the past 10 days can help diagnose these changes.
Google says the Home app does not continually record exact phone location like a navigation app; it uses location to determine whether a phone has left or returned. Nevertheless, users should review location-sharing and privacy settings for every household member.
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Camera behavior
Google documents separate Home/Away behavior for Nest cameras. Cameras may turn on when everyone with shared access leaves and turn off when the first person returns, based on household-member phone location. Other Nest products may use both phone location and sensor data. Custom automations involving cameras can conflict with built-in camera behavior, so review the camera-specific guidance.
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Google warns that automations are for convenience and should not be used for safety- or security-critical tasks. Do not rely on a location trigger as the sole control for locks, alarms, garage doors, or other equipment where a missed or delayed event could cause harm.
If the option is missing or unreliable
- Update the Google Home app.
- Confirm that you are using the correct Google Account and selected home.
- Check Home settings → Presence sensing.
- Confirm that the relevant phone has persistent location permission and is not restricted by battery optimization or background-app settings.
- Verify that household members are sharing the intended phone location and are not sharing an old device.
- Check that the desired lights, plugs, thermostat, camera, or other devices are online and eligible.
- Review Home activity from the last 10 days for presence changes or automation events.
- Disable or remove misleading sensors and inactive phones.
- If the historical starter is absent or will not save, rebuild the automation using the current presence-based workflow where it meets the requirement.
For users who need a custom location, a personal geofence, or more advanced cross-platform logic and cannot access the old starter, alternatives such as Alexa, Apple Home, SmartThings, or IFTTT may be worth evaluating separately. Their current capabilities and limitations vary.
The practical answer
Google’s arrive/leave location starter was a genuine October 2021 addition that gave Home and Away routines a more granular, user-selected geofence. It differed from “someone comes home” or “everyone’s away,” which describe household presence rather than a chosen place boundary.
In 2026, Google’s officially documented model centers on presence sensing using phones, Wi-Fi, and eligible devices. Check the current Google Home app rather than assuming the historical menu is still present, and use these automations for convenience—not as guaranteed security or safety controls.
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