Trusted places

[Dismaster]

I have my home as a trusted place and it works well but I find that when I leave home and then I get back home, my Pixel 4a 5G with Android 11 doesn't realize that I am back. Is there some setting that I can use to have my location "pinged" or something so it recognizes my location change better?

 

[B. Diddy]

Trusted Place hasn't ever worked reliably for me on any of my devices. I've tried various solutions, including turning on Bluetooth and Wi-fi Scanning, and creating the Trusted Place based on GPS coordinates (and not address), and it still doesn't work.:-\

 

[Dismaster]

It works great after I restart my phone, not so much when I leave home and return.

 

[J Dubbs]

Yep it's never worked well for me either... so I just quit using it. In fact I forgot it existed till this thread. Thanks alot lol.

 

[Daveya]

Try going into into Smart lock and clicking the greyed cell at the top marked Home, it's the home used by Google Home and I think has a bigger range

 

[Daveya]

Oh and check the pin position in Google Maps first, I had to edit my home address

 

[B. Diddy]

Oh and check the pin position in Google Maps first, I had to edit my home address

I did that, and it still didn't work consistently.:'(

 

[mustang7757]

I have my home as a trusted place and it works well but I find that when I leave home and then I get back home, my Pixel 4a 5G with Android 11 doesn't realize that I am back. Is there some setting that I can use to have my location "pinged" or something so it recognizes my location change better?

Try reset it up

 

[Jeff Rueckgauer]

It has never worked consistently. Smart Lock doesn't, period. On any device I've had. I can be at home, put the phone down for a few minutes, and it will lock. Other times, I have pressed power to lock; or left it on a desk or table for a good half hour or longer, at home or elsewhere, and just swipe it open without credentials. "Hey Google" unlock is also flaky as heck.

Android security cannot be trusted. Period.

 

[mustang7757]

It has never worked consistently. Smart Lock doesn't, period. On any device I've had. I can be at home, put the phone down for a few minutes, and it will lock. Other times, I have pressed power to lock; or left it on a desk or table for a good half hour or longer, at home or elsewhere, and just swipe it open without credentials. "Hey Google" unlock is also flaky as heck.

Android security cannot be trusted. Period.

I agree through the years I've seen people struggle with this , some reset and worked while others same problem. It's like Android Auto never ending issue

 

[B. Diddy]

Android security cannot be trusted. Period.

Well, at least it seems to err on the side of NOT unlocking, rather than unlocking when it shouldn't! As far as being secure, I trust Android. As far as it having "smart" features that work all the time, not so much.

 

[Jeff Rueckgauer]

Well, at least it seems to err on the side of NOT unlocking, rather than unlocking when it shouldn't! As far as being secure, I trust Android. As far as it having "smart" features that work all the time, not so much.

I said it is just as prone to not locking regardless location, the power button being used to lock; or the claimed "4 hours of inactivity" policy.

Keep your apps locked-down and hope for the best.

 

[B. Diddy]

I said it is just as prone to not locking regardless location, the power button being used to lock; or the claimed "4 hours of inactivity" policy.

Keep your apps locked-down and hope for the best.

Sorry, I missed that for some reason. Although I've never experienced that. Was this even without Smart Lock turned on?

 

[Jeff Rueckgauer]

Sorry, I missed that for some reason. Although I've never experienced that. Was this even without Smart Lock turned on?

It doesn't matter how it's configured. I did a factory resets and behaved exactly the same before I added any apps or changed settings.

I chimed in on several discussions of this on Google's developer forums over the last 7 years. Lots of people have raised alarms about this as a major security risk. Crickets from the official team other than routine "best practices" guidelines. Best Practices are meaningless if the backing APIs or OS aren't participating or enforcing as advertised.

 

[B. Diddy]

Has this been on phones from different manufacturers, including Pixels? Just wondering if it's a problem with the Android code itself, or if it could be related to device-specific firmware.

 

[mustang7757]

As far as I know this been issue across manufacturer including pixels , looks like a Google issue.

 

[B. Diddy]

I'm going to test it out on my Pixel 3 XL.

 

[mustang7757]

Ok

 

[Daveya]

Yes I think it Google, Ive just walked upstairs and Nest Thermostat which I've now set to use the mobile phone and it regularly thinks I'm out ( I set a light to come on so I know )

I've tweaked Google Maps a it's out with my address, I've tried everything wit Nest and Google and it still trips.