Location trigger not available

[ezfira]

I was trying to follow the guidelines provided here: https://dynamics365society.uk/archives/microsoft-flow-preview-location-based-triggers/

Unfortunately I can't seem to find any 'Location' trigger when creating a flow. It's not available in templates or when starting a clean flow. How do I enable this feature? I have the flow app installed on my iPhone

[RobElliott]

Hi @ezfira, I don't have an iPhone but the flow should be created on a laptop/desktop computer and then you'll see the location trigger as shown in the image below. You select the "When I enter or exit an area"  and  you'll be able to select the region the trigger fires in and do the rest of the actions.

Rob
Los Gallardos
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[yashag2255]

Hi @ezfira 

You cannot create a flow with the location trigger on your phone right now. You will have to create the flow from a computer to use the location trigger. 

Note: I have just made a test on my end and I was using an older version of the Flow app for mobile so it was not able to find the location based flow. I updated the Flow app to the latest version and now I can see the location trigger based flow. 

Hope this Helps!

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[DeeTronSEAM]

Maybe I'm the one reading @ezfira 's post incorrectly, but my situation sounds exactly the same as I understand the OP's post.

I.e. I have the June 4, 2019 2.34.0 Android version of the Flow app (latest available in Google Play app store as of today) on my phone.

But, when I use my laptop to create a new Flow (selecting the Automated option under New+ button), I cannot locate the "Location" trigger when I search for a trigger using "Location" as the search term.  Instead I receive only two results,  which are "MSN Weather: When the current conditions change,"  and "MSN Weather: When the current weather changes."  There is no actual "Location" or (as shown in the video @ezfira references) any "When I enter or exit an area."

So, as the OP asked, How do I enable this (i.e. the location based trigger), please?

Or, is this preview feature no longer available...at least not until the General Availability date of October as one might infer from this MS docs post: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform-release-plan/2019wave2/microsoft-flow/running-flows-... 

[yashag2255 · Accepted solution]

Hi @DeeTronSEAM 

So, as this is a preview feature, there might be a slight chance that it does not appear on the automated option. Try this: Create a flow - Instant option -> Delete the amnual trigger and then type location to get the location based trigger. 

@ezfira were you able to resolve this?

Hope this Helps!

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[DeeTronSEAM]

Thanks, @yashag2255 , that got me further down the road then I was able to alone.  Sadly, I'm not quite to my destination yet. 🙂

1) Your trick to add then delete a trigger did get the Location: When I enter or exit a location trigger to be an option for my flow.  I added it as the replacement trigger and was able to do all the config steps and save the flow.

2) But when I went to run the flow, I get an error message that says "Flow {a547d725-long-a553d-GUID-h3r3} could not be saved."

Note that:

a) I had no problem saving the flow at any point during its edits, the error only shows when I try to run it (via Test or Run from the Flow Web site not the app on my phone).

b) I have NOT yet tried getting the Flow/trigger to fire by actually entering/exiting the geofenced location configured for that Flow's trigger.  Perhaps the error is meaningless...i.e. if the trigger fires in the real-world, the test or run options in the Web site are secondary to my main goal.

Thanks so much for that trick, @yashag2255 ...step by step, I feel like I'm almost to my goal. 🙂

[redlead3]

I receive the same error as @DeeTronSEAM .

This flow does not seem to actually work.

[DeeTronSEAM]

Oops, sorry @redlead3 ! I should have updated this thread....

I turned the error in to MSFT support.  Their response was the "error" is As-Expected as you cannot test a location-trigger flow in the designer.  I.e. they do not consider this an error.  I complained that a more user-friendly message would have saved us all time.....for whatever that's worth.

On a semi-related note...I recently updated the Flow app on my Android phone and now my location flow works...most of the time.  But, the entry/exit (physically) doesn't seem to match when I get the notification from the app.  I'm not sure if this is:

1) a bit of GPS "wobble" around my tightest-allowed geo-fenced/location-circle.  Perhaps even when I am not physically leaving or entering what I THINK the area is, the GPS coords my phone relays to MSFT are NOT in/out the circle.  

2) the notification is delayed.  I plan to update my test flow to send the run time instead of the current basic text msg.

3) it is still not ready for primetime due to being unreliable.

[redlead3]

@DeeTronSEAM 

Thank you for your reply. I appreciate your input.

I still have not had this Flow trigger since creating it a few weeks ago. I may delete and re-create the Flow to see if that helps. I definitely agree that it is not ready for "primetime".

[RSR28]

I cannot find the location trigger in the search. 

[DeeTronSEAM]

I'm pretty sure they pulled it, but even originally there was a slight trick to get to it (see above). But, I do know that the flows I built to test this years ago were never reliable and eventually they stopped sending any alerts.  I could poke at them to see if opening them in the designer gets them "stirred awake" again, but I have to say that I've lost interest in this as all evidence I've seen (or more accurately, lack of evidence) has convinced me that Microsoft has abandoned this functionality...despite how COOL and useful it could be for us.