December 01, 2025

Play music when you come home

Coming home to a house with lights on and music playing feels welcoming. It’s the little touches that make a house feel like home.

Use cases

Daily Arrivals

After Work Greeting - Welcome yourself home after long day
Morning Wake-Up - Greet you as morning routine starts
Energy Boost - Uplifting music when arriving home

Atmosphere

Pleasant Atmosphere - Create welcoming ambiance automatically
Guest Welcome - Music plays when guests arrive

Products needed

Essential Equipment

Smart Speaker/Music System

Popular brands: Sonos, Amazon Echo, Google Home, Apple HomePod
Single room or multi-room audio • WiFi connectivity • Streaming service integration

Presence Detection

Phone app/GPS location services, Smart lock unlock detection, OR Garage door sensor
Platforms: Home Assistant, SmartThings, Life360

Optional Enhancements

Multiple Speakers

Music in entry, kitchen, and living room for full-home welcome

Smart Lights

Also turn on lights when arriving for complete welcome scene

Basic automation setup

IF person arrives home AND time between 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM THEN play welcome playlist on main speaker AND set volume to 35%

Triggers

Home goes into Home mode (when first person arrives)
OR specific person arrives home
OR morning routine starts (wake-up music)

Conditions (optional)

NOT between 7 AM - 10 AM: If you don't want morning music
Time is after 4 PM: Only afternoon/evening arrivals
Music not already playing: Don't interrupt existing playback

Actions

Play music on selected speakers
Set volume to appropriate level
Optionally announce "Welcome home"
Optional: Turn on lights, unlock door

Platform-specific examples

Home Assistant

Trigger Home mode changes from 'Away' to 'Home'

Condition Time is after 4 PM

Action Activate welcome scene, Set volume 35%, Play playlist

SmartThings

IF Home mode changes to "Home"

AND Time is after 4:00 PM

THEN Turn on welcome scene, Play music, Set volume 35%

Hubitat

Trigger Mode changes to "Home"

Condition Time is after 4 PM

Action Set volume 35%, Play welcome playlist

Setup: Use Mode Manager for presence detection

Apple HomeKit

When First person arrives home

Condition Time is after 4:00 PM

Do Welcome scene, Play music, Set volume 35%

Alexa

When You arrive home (location-based)

Condition Time after 4:00 PM

Action Turn on lights, Play music, Alexa says "Welcome home"

Google Home

Starter When you get home (location)

Condition Time after 4:00 PM

Action Activate welcome scene, Play music, Adjust volume

Advanced features

Speaker selection by time and arrival

Smart grouping:

Adjust which speakers play based on arrival time:

Afternoon arrival (4-7 PM): Entry, kitchen, living room speakers play “after work playlist”
Morning routine (6-10 AM): Bedroom, bathroom, kitchen speakers play morning news radio
Evening arrival (after 7 PM): Living room and dining room only play “evening relaxing” playlist

Use conditional logic based on current time to select appropriate speakers and content.

Time-based volume levels

Adjust volume based on time of day:

Morning (6-10 AM): 20% volume
Daytime (10 AM - 6 PM): 40% volume
Evening (6-10 PM): 35% volume
Late night (after 10 PM): 15% volume

Use template logic to check current hour and set appropriate volume.

Auto-stop after duration

Stop music after certain time if no interaction:

Create automation:

Trigger: Music has been playing for 30 minutes
Condition: Welcome music flag is active
Actions:
- Stop music playback
- Turn off welcome music flag

Voice announcement

Combine with greeting:

First: Play voice greeting “Welcome home, [name]!”
Wait 3 seconds for greeting to finish
Then: Start playing music playlist

Troubleshooting

Issue: Music plays every time door opens

Causes:

Triggering on door sensor instead of presence
No condition to check if already home
Triggering when leaving and returning briefly
Family members arriving separately trigger multiple times

Solutions: ✅ Use home mode change (Away → Home) not door sensor ✅ Add condition: Only if music not already playing ✅ Add delay: Only if away for at least 30 minutes ✅ Use cooldown: Only play once per 2-hour period ✅ Track automation: Set flag when music plays, reset after time

Cooldown example: Add condition to check that automation hasn’t triggered in last 2 hours (7200 seconds) by checking last triggered time.

Issue: Music volume inappropriate

Causes:

Fixed volume doesn’t suit all times of day
Previous manual adjustment not considered
Room acoustics vary
Other household members affected

Check:

✅ Use time-based volume (shown in Advanced Features)
✅ Lower volume for late arrivals (after 9 PM)
✅ Higher volume for afternoon (4-7 PM)
✅ Consider who’s home - quieter if kids sleeping
✅ Test volume in actual conditions (with people talking, etc.)

Fix: Use template logic to set volume based on hour:

If after 9 PM: 15% volume
If after 6 PM: 30% volume
Otherwise: 40% volume

Issue: Presence detection unreliable

Causes:

Phone GPS inaccurate
WiFi-based detection has delays
Router drops phone connection
Battery saver mode disabling location
Multiple phones not synchronized

Solutions: ✅ Use multiple detection methods (GPS + WiFi + Bluetooth) ✅ Set arrival zone radius appropriately (100-200m) ✅ Combine with garage door sensor or door unlock ✅ Disable battery optimization for home automation app ✅ Use Life360 or similar reliable presence app ✅ Add short delay (2-3 minutes) to allow all sensors to update

Multi-method example: Use multiple triggers for reliability:

GPS arrival
OR garage door opens
OR front door unlocks

This ensures music plays even if one detection method fails.

Related automations: