Location in the app: from the phone, an address or a pin on the map
Smart rules that follow the sun need to know where the installation is. The app would take the location from the phone during setup, find it by address or let you place a pin on a map, and warn while the default location is still in use.
A draft of the setup screen: one tap on Use this phone’s location, the phone asks for permission once, and the address with a small map appears. Nobody types coordinates. The pictures are a draft and the details may still change.
Why and how you would use it
Smart rules that follow the sun calculate it for the location of the installation, whether it is a home, an office or a shop: Blinds adjustment according to sun, Sunrise / sunset, Presence simulation, and schedules with sunrise or sunset times. Until someone enters the location, a TapHome installation uses a default location in Vienna, Austria, and nothing in the app says so. Today the location is two numbers, latitude and longitude, in My location, and many installers never open them.
A typical case: an installer in Košice, in eastern Slovakia, sets up sun-tracking blinds in an office. The installation still uses Vienna, almost 5 degrees further west. On 1 November the rule then expects sunrise at 6:38 instead of 6:20 and sunset at 16:38 instead of 16:17, and the slats follow a sun that stands somewhere else. Far from Vienna, for example in Asia or Australia, the difference grows to hours.
A sun-based smart rule while the default location is in use, and the same rule after the location is saved, with the new sunrise and sunset time.
| Today | With this idea | |
|---|---|---|
| Location comes from | Typed latitude and longitude | Phone, address or map |
| Default location | Not visible | Warning until set |
| During setup | Not asked | One tap |
What will be possible
We are evaluating this idea. Nothing below is scheduled yet, and the details may still change.
- One tap during setup. The setup screen of a new location gets a Location item. Use this phone’s location fills it in, because during setup the phone is usually on site.
- Permission asked once, only when needed. The phone asks for location access when you tap the button, not before. Approximate location is enough: a few kilometres move sunrise and sunset by seconds.
- Search by address. When you are not on site, type the address and pick it from the suggestions.
- A pin on the map. The pin stays in the middle and you move the map under it, so it is easy to put it exactly on the building. One button returns it to the phone’s location.
- The same item in My location. The Location item replaces the two coordinate rows, with a small map and the address. Change opens the map.
- A warning while the default is used. My location and the smart rules that follow the sun show a warning with Set location until the location is set.
- A check when you are away. When the phone is connected remotely, the app asks whether you are on site before it uses the phone’s location.
- Coordinates stay available. The exact latitude and longitude are still there, behind a small Coordinates row.
What will not be possible
- Address search without a TapHome account. The search goes through the TapHome cloud. With a local account on the control unit, use the phone’s location or enter the coordinates.
- Tracking the phone. The location is read once, when you tap the button. The app does not follow where you are.
- Setting the time zone from the location. The idea sets where the installation is. The time zone stays a separate setting.
- The phone’s location on a device without location services. A wall panel or a computer without location services offers the address search and the map.
How to solve it today
- Enter the location by hand. In Settings, open My location and set Latitude and Longitude. See Settings.
- Find the coordinates. In a map app, press and hold on the building and copy the two numbers. Enter latitude and longitude separately, with a dot as the decimal separator. South and west are negative.
- Check the result. The Sunrise / sunset smart rule and sun-based schedule times show the next sunrise or sunset at your installation’s location. Compare it with a weather app for your town. See Scheduler.
How it could look
Placing the pin on the building, searching by address, and the Location item in My location after the location is set.
Learn more
- Blinds adjustment according to sun turns and tilts blinds by the position of the sun.
- Presence simulation plans its events around sunrise and sunset.
Do you set the location of your installations today, and how do you find it? Vote for this idea, follow it for updates and tell us in the comments.
Requirements
- TapHome app; new features arrive first in TapHome Next
Related
Status history
- Nov 1, 2026 Gathering interest Published
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