Open Radar

 
Summary:
I was happy to see the sunset and sunrise options under automation in the new Home app, but in practice it doesn't work well for me. The back of our house faces west, which means our main living areas get dark well before sunset. I have two automation rules where this is a problem:

1. I want the lights to turn on when it gets dark, set up using Create New Automation > A Time of Day Occurs. If I choose the sunset option, I usually end up turning the lights on manually well before they turn on automatically. If I choose a specific time, I have to adjust it several times throughout the year.

2. I want the lights to turn on automatically when I get home, but only if it's dark. This is set up using Create New Automation > My Location Changes. If I check the "Only after sunset" option then the house is often very dark when I come home. If I don't, the lights will turn on if I come home in the middle of the day.

Automation would be far more useful if I could have the lights turn on "2 hours before sunset", or when I arrive home "Only if it's 2 hours until sunset or later". This could be accomplished with either an offer for each automation rule, or at least a global option where I can specify how many hours/minutes before sunset my home gets dark.

Steps to Reproduce:
Situation A:
1. Open the Home app
2. Tap Automation
3. Tap "Create New Automation"
4. Tap "A Time of Day Occurs"

Situation B:
1. Open the Home app
2. Tap Automation
3. Tap "Create New Automation"
4. Tap "My Location Changes"
5. Select "Home" and "When I Arrive"
6. Tap Next
7. Select a Scene
8. Tap Next

Expected Results:
Situation A:
There should be an option "X hours before sunset"

Situation B:
There should be an option "Only if it's X hours until sunset or later"

Actual Results:
Situation A:
The only options are specific times, or sunset. Neither of these has the effect of turning on my lights when it gets dark in the house.

Situation B:
The only option is "only after sunset". This assumes my house is dark at sunset, but it's dark well before that.

Version:
iOS 10 (14A5309d)

Notes:


Configuration:
iPhone 6s, AT&T, 128GB