Bluetooth

Bluetooth

Ava supports Bluetooth presence detection and Bluetooth proxy features. Your Android device becomes a complete Bluetooth gateway, extending Home Assistant's Bluetooth coverage.

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Feature Overview

Bluetooth Presence Detection

• Detect if phones, wearables, and other Bluetooth devices are nearby
• Determine if user is home
• Trigger automation scenes

Bluetooth Proxy (Key Feature)

Ava can act as a Bluetooth proxy, forwarding Bluetooth device data to Home Assistant.

Features:

• Forwards all Bluetooth Low Energy data to Home Assistant
• Native integration with Home Assistant Bluetooth integration
• Extends Bluetooth coverage range
• No ESP32 needed - just use your spare Android device

Note: The Bluetooth proxy feature source code is not open source and is only available in release builds.

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How It Works

BLE Scanning

Ava uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) scanning to detect devices:

1. Periodically scans for nearby Bluetooth devices
2. Matches target devices by MAC address
3. Updates presence status to Home Assistant

Presence Determination

Status	Condition
Home	Target device detected (RSSI above threshold)
Away	Device not detected for configured away delay

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Settings

Go to Settings -> Bluetooth

Presence Detection Settings

Setting	Description	Default
Device Detection	Turn on Bluetooth presence detection	Off
RSSI Threshold	Signal strength threshold (left = near, right = far)	-
Away Delay	Time before marking as away	-
Add Bluetooth Device	Add devices to track presence	-

Bluetooth Proxy Settings

Setting	Description
BLE Gateway / Mesh	Turn on Bluetooth proxy feature
Device Name	Proxy device name
Device Address	Proxy MAC address
Scan Mode	Active or Passive scanning
Scan Power	High Performance, Balanced, or Low Power

Scan Mode

Mode	Description
Active Scan	Actively request scan responses, more data, higher power
Passive Scan	Listen only, lower power, less data

Scan Power

Power	Description
High Performance	Maximum scan frequency, best detection
Balanced	Moderate scan frequency
Low Power	Reduced scan frequency, saves battery

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Capability Tiers

Ava detects the device's BLE capabilities at runtime and classifies it into a tier:

Tier	Description
Full	Full BLE proxy support, all features available
Balanced	Most features available, some limitations
Compatibility	Limited mode for low-end BLE chips

Capability Details

Capability	Description
Offloaded Filtering	Hardware-assisted scan filtering
Multiple Advertisement	Support for multiple ad slots
Extended Advertising	Extended advertising support
LE Coded PHY	Long-range coded PHY support
LE 2M PHY	2M PHY high-speed support

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Low-End BLE Compatibility

Devices with limited BLE chips run in compatibility mode:

• Scan frequency is reduced to maintain WiFi stability
• Bermuda may show skull or exclamation icons (expected)
• Bluetooth media playback is not supported
• Root access is typically required for stable operation
• Built-in Bluetooth presence detection may be unavailable

The Bluetooth version shown by apps like AIDA64 may not reflect runtime capabilities. Classification is based on Android runtime BLE capabilities.

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Permission Requirements

Permission	Description
BLUETOOTH	Basic Bluetooth permission
BLUETOOTH_SCAN	Bluetooth scanning permission (Android 12+)
ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION	Location permission (required for Bluetooth scanning)

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Home Assistant Integration

Presence Entity

binary_sensor.your_device_name_bluetooth_presence

Bluetooth Proxy Integration

Bluetooth proxy natively integrates with Home Assistant's Bluetooth integration:

1. Add Bluetooth integration in HA
2. Ava will be automatically discovered as a Bluetooth proxy
3. Bluetooth devices proxied through Ava will appear in HA

Bermuda Integration

Ava works with the Bermuda integration for Bluetooth triangulation and room presence. In compatibility mode, Bermuda may show skull or exclamation icons - this is expected behavior.

Supported Device Types:

• Bluetooth thermometers/hygrometers
• Bluetooth scales
• Bluetooth plant sensors
• Bluetooth smart locks
• Other BLE devices

Automation Examples

Turn on lights when arriving home:

automation:
  - alias: "Arrival Lights"
    trigger:
      - platform: state
        entity_id: binary_sensor.ava_bluetooth_presence
        to: "on"
    action:
      - service: light.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: light.living_room

Turn off all devices when leaving:

automation:
  - alias: "Departure Shutdown"
    trigger:
      - platform: state
        entity_id: binary_sensor.ava_bluetooth_presence
        to: "off"
        for:
          minutes: 5
    action:
      - service: homeassistant.turn_off
        target:
          entity_id: group.all_lights

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FAQ

Bluetooth detection inaccurate?

1. Ensure target device Bluetooth is on
2. Check if MAC address is correct
3. Adjust RSSI threshold (move slider left for near, right for far)
4. Adjust away delay
5. Ensure location permission is granted
6. Try changing scan power to High Performance

High battery usage?

1. Change scan power to Low Power or Balanced
2. Increase away delay
3. Only enable detection when needed

Cannot scan device?

1. Check Bluetooth permissions
2. Check location permission (required by Android)
3. Ensure target device is discoverable
4. Check if device is in compatibility mode

Bermuda shows skull icons?

This is expected in compatibility mode. The device has limited BLE capabilities. For full functionality, use a device with complete BLE proxy support.

Bluetooth proxy not working?

1. Check if Bluetooth proxy is enabled
2. Check Bluetooth and location permissions
3. Check capability tier in Settings -> Bluetooth
4. If in compatibility mode, root may be required for stable operation

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