Configuration parameters for HA components are set up on the HA Settings > Devices & Settings > Integrations > iCloud3 Configuration screen previously discussed.
- Select ☰ HA Settings > Devices & Services > Integrations
- Select iCloud3 > Configure
- Select Configure to open the menu screen on the left below.
The parameters are grouped into categories and updated on various screens introduced in the Configuring iCloud3 with The Configurator chapter earlier.
-
iCloud Account & Location Data Source - Enter your iCloud account username/password and indicate where the location data comes from.
-
iCloud3 Devices - Set up and configure the devices you want to track or monitor.
-
Sensors - Over 25 sensors can be updated with device information, more if you are tracking from multiple zones. This screen lets you select the sensors you want to use.
-
Display Text As - The Event Log can show information related to a device that you may want to hide (email addresses, phone numbers, etc.). This screen lets you specify a display_as text that will replace the real text ([email protected] instead of the real email address, [email protected]).
-
Action Commands - Commands that let you control iCloud3 operations (Restart, Pause Tracking, Resume or Restart Tracking, Enter Apple Verification Code, Reset iCloud Interface, etc.). These commands are also found on the Event Log custom card.
-
Event Log Configuration - Specifies how information should be displayed on the Event Log (zone names, times, unit of measure)
-
Waze Route Distance & Time, Waze History Database - Waze can be used to provide travel time and distance information to a tracked zone. The results can also be saved in a database. This screen is used to configure how Waze should operate.
-
inZone Intervals - Different types of devices can have different polling intervals (time between location requests) when they are in a zone. You may want a Watch to have a short interval since it can not use the iOS App for zone enter/exit triggers and an iPhone to have a long interval since it can use the iOS App. The default interval times for the different devices are set up on this screen.
-
Special Zones - There are two types of special zones that are set up on this screen.
- Pass Through Zone - A Zone Enter trigger delay to prevent entering a zone when you are just passing through it.
- Stationary Zone - A special zone created by iCloud3 when you are at the same location for an extended period of time (friend's house, doctors ofice, work, store, etc).
-
Other parameters - General parameters that do not fall into the other categories that you will probably never change.
This screen is used to enter the iCloud account username & password parameters. It was described in the Installing and Configuring iCloud3 - Step #5 chapter.
Notes:
- Location Data Source - Normally, both the iCloud account and the iOS App provides location data. If, however, you are not using the iOS App on any device, and have no plans to do so, set the Location Data Source to iCloud data only.
- Password - This is stored in the configuration file in an encrypted format.
- Username & Password - These fields are obscured on this screen. Select Show/Hide username/password to and select Submit to display them.
This screen is used to:
- Add a new device (iPhone, iPad, etc) to be tracked.
- Select a device to be updated.
- Delete a device from the iCloud3 configuration. Also delete it's device_tracker entity and all sensor entities from Home Assistant.
To stop a device from being tracked without deleting it, set it's Tracking Mode to Inactive on the Update screen. It's parameters are kept but it's device_tracker and sensor entities are not created and it is not tracked.
This screen is used to:
- Update the device's parameters.
- Select the iCloud account Family Sharing and Find-my-Friends (FindMy app) devices providing location information.
- Select the iOS App device_tracker entity that will be monitored.
- Select the picture image that is displayed on the device_tracker entity and sensor.[devicename]_badge entity._
- Select the zones to be tracked from.
Notes:
- Picture - Image files (png, jpg and jpeg) in the config/www/ and config/www/icloud3/ (or config/www/[your_event_log_card_directory]/) directories are listed.
- Tracking Mode - specifies how the device should be handled.
- Track - Full tracking, iCloud3 requests it's location.
- Monitor - Report the devices location or battery status using data provided when a tracked device is updated
- Inactive - Not tracked or monitored. The device's parameters are kept but it's device_tracker entity and sensors are not created.
This screen is used to:
- Select the sensors that will be created for a device.
- Select the additional sensors that will be created for devices that are being tracked from other zones.
- Select the sensors that are created for a monitored device.
Notes:
-
Zone Distance Sensor - This shows:
- The distance to the Home zone if tracking from only the Home zone, or
- The distance to the Home zone when tracking from more than one zone and not close to a tracked from zone, or
- The distance to the tracked-from-zone when tracking from more than one zone and close to it
-
travel_distance Sensor (Breaking Change) -
- This sensor has been renamed to moved_distance since that is what it is actually shows. Lovelace cards may need to be updated to the new name.
-
The Badge Sensor - The badge sensor displays the picture of the person associated with the device and:
- The zone name if the device is in a zone, or
- The distance to the Home zone
-
Zone Name Sensors - Zone name sensors provide different formats for displaying the zone name when the device is in a zone. The formatting rules are:
- _zone_name - A reformatted zone entity name without spaces and apostrophes (the_shores → TheShores)
- _zone_fname - The zone's friendly name
- _zone - The HA zone entity
-
Home Assistant History - Sensors with a lot of text or dates are automatically excluded from the Home Assistant history. This includes _info, _last_update, _next_update, _last_located, _trigger, _zone_date_time, _last_zone, _last_zone_fname, _last_zone_name, icloud3_event_log, icloud3_wazehist_map.
There may be text fields (account numbers, email addresses, etc) that should be considered private and not displayed on the Event Log or in the Event Log report.
This screen is used to:
-
Specify the actual text and the text that should be displayed instead.
Notes:
- Ten display_as text fields are available.
Action commands can be selected on the Event Log > Actions drop down list that control iCloud3's operations. Some of those commands can be also selected on this screen. This includes:
- Restart iCloud3
- Pause and Resume tracking
- Reset and Reauthenticate the iCloud interface to generate a new 6-digit authentication code
- Export the Event Log
- Waze History Database Maintenance
The Event Log shows the activity associated with tracking a device. This is used to:
- Configure various display fields (time, distance).
- Specify how zone names should be displayed.
- Specify the directory containing the icloud3-event-log-card.js file (default is config/www/icloud3).
Notes:
- iCloud Event Log Card Lovelace Resources Directory- The Event Log Card File (icloud3-event-log-card.js) file is stored in this directory (default: www/icloud3). When iCloud3 starts, the Event Log file version is verified and updated if a new version is available. To use a different directory, create it, then select it from the list of available directories and restart iCloud3. The Home Assistant Lovelace Resource entry is automatically updated.
Waze is used to provide the driving distance and travel time between the current location and the Home (and other tracked from) zones. The next location update time is determined using this information.
The distance and time returned from Waze is stored in the Waze History Database using the gps position with 4-decimal places of accuracy (11m/33ft). Over time, the database will contain the distance and time for many '11m blocks' along the routes normally driven. Accessing the local database is much more efficient than an internet request to Waze, resulting in faster updates and fewer delays when the Waze Route servers are busy.
This screen is used to:
- Specify the Waze server to use in your location and how the distance and time should be determined.
- Specify if the Waze History Database should be used and parameters defining it's operation.
Notes:
- Waze Location Map Display - This is described in the Other Features chapter.
The inZone Interval is the time between location requests when a device is in a zone. When a device is added, an inZone Interval is assigned based on it's type (iPhone, iPad, Watch, etc.).
- A longer interval (i.e., 2-hours) helps preserve battery life.
- A shorter interval (15-minutes) causes the battery to drain faster as it responds to a 'where are you' location request from iCloud Location servers.
Notes:
- Devices that do not have the iOS App installed will not receive an Exit Zone trigger. A shorter interval (15-minutes) helps identify that the device has left the zone.
There are times when you may be driving through a zone on your way to another location. However, the iOS App does not know this and issues a Zone Enter trigger when you enter the zone you are actually driving through.
The Pass Through Zone delay time prevents the Enter Zone trigger from being processed immediately. The Zone Enter trigger will be process if you are still in the zone when the delay timer expires. This only applies to non-tracked from zones, tracked-from zones (Home) are processed immediately.
A Stationary Zone is a zone that is created when the device has been in the same location for a period of time (at a mall, doctor's office, restaurant, friend's house, etc). The purpose of this zone is to reduce location requests when the device has not moved.
This screen is used to configure other parameters that do not belong on the previous screens.
Notes:
- Log Level - Several levels of logging are available to help provide information when trying to identify a problem. Records are added to the HA Log file (config/home-assistant.log). This is explained further in the Trouble Shooting Problems chapter.
- Debug - Basic information.
- RawData - Actual data values used when zones and devices are set up, the actual data received from iCloud Location Services after requesting a location or authenticating an account and the actual data being monitored from the iOS App.