Automatically pause unneccessary alerts from Ring devices as you get home
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
There are a number of settings you can change to get a better experience from your Ring Video Doorbell and cameras. You can set it up so live views appear on your Echo Show for example, change Quick Replies to Ant and Dec for a bit of banter when someone rings your doorbell and you can’t answer, and you can also change the ringtone inside if you’re sick of that classic Ring doorbell noise.
There are a few settings that are a little more hidden in the depths of the Ring app however and some of them are well worth knowing – like geofencing. A geofence is a virtual boundary set around a specific location, such as your home. If you set one up in the Ring app, your Ring devices will pause motion alerts when you enter that boundary for a time period you set. It means you won’t get a notification to tell you you’re coming down your path when you arrive home. Here’s how to set up geofencing on Ring and how it works.
What you’ll need
- A Ring Video Doorbell
- Your smartphone
- The Ring app
- Location services enabled
The short version
- Open the Ring app.
- Tap on the three lines in the top left.
- Tap on Settings.
- Tap on Modes and Automations.
- Select Geofence.
- Tap on Turn on Feature and follow the steps.
- Centre the circle over your property.
- Select the devices to snooze when you get home.
- Select the time you want alerts snoozed for.
- Decide if you want Arm and Disarm reminders.
- Hit Finish and Save.
- Allow location access to your device.
How to set up Geofence on Ring and what it does
It’s first worth noting that the Geofence feature within Ring needs you to have your smartphone’s location enabled. You will also need to grant the Ring app access to your device’s location in the background so you will need to ensure the access settings are set to ‘Always’ and they remain at that.
Even when you are asked by your device if you want to switch to sharing location only when you’re using the Ring app or never, you will need the access to remain as always as without access to your location, Geofence won’t work.
Once setup, the Geofence feature means you won’t get alerts when you are within the Geofence for the time period you set. That time period varies from 5 minutes to 3 hours and you can choose whatever works for you, whilst also choosing which Ring devices it affects. For example, you might want to snooze doorbell notifications as you get home, but not the back yard camera.
When you draw a Geofence using the Ring app, you can also be reminded to take an action like setting your Device Mode to “Away” when you exit the virtual boundary.
Time needed: 5 minutes
- Open the Ring app and head to settings
First up, you need to open the Ring app and head into Settings. You’ll find these by tapping on the three lines in the top left corner.
- Head into Modes and Automations
Next up, you need to head into Modes and Automations from the settings menu. It’s here you will find the Geofence option, alongside Home and Away modes, which we have explained in a separate feature.
- Open up Geofence and turn on the feature
Tap on the Geofence option and turn the feature on. You’ll be guided through a couple of slides to ensure you understand what the feature entails. After this, you’ll be prompted to make sure the circle surrounds your property, thereby setting the Geofence boundary.
- Select the devices and the snooze time
Once your Geofence is set, tap on Continue and then select the Ring devices you want to snooze alerts for when you enter the virtual boundary you have just created. You also need to tap on Snooze Time above the devices to select the length of time you want the alerts snoozed for when you enter.
- Choose if you want Arm or Disarm reminders
The Geofence feature can also send you reminders when you leave the boundary or enter into it. If your system is disarmed when you leave, the Ring app will remind you to arm it. If it is armed when you arrived, the app will remind you to disarm it. Remember to hit Finish and Save when you’ve picked all your settings.
- Enable location services
Last thing to do is enable access for the Ring app to location services on your smartphone. You might need to head to the main Settings on your phone to give full access.
Little paragraph here summing up everything that has been covered above. No need to waffle but handy to include some similar how-to links if needs be.
FAQs
It means you are granting the Ring app access your device’s location even when the app isn’t open. Even if the Ring app isn’t visible on your screen, it’ll be able to sense when your mobile device crosses the geofence boundary.
No, Ring says your location remains private from other Ring users.
Ring says: “Once an Owner sets up the Geofence for a Location in the Ring app, then any Shared User can activate the Geofence feature for themselves for that same Location. The Geofence entry or exit of one user does not notify nor impact the experience of another neighbour. Similarly, if one user chooses to deactivate Geofence for a Location in the Ring app on one mobile device, no other devices or users are impacted.”
