Using Lead-In Areas

What Are Lead-In Areas?

A lead-in area is an additional geofence that you place along an approach route to your main location. When you enter the lead-in area, GeoHook can:

• Trigger actions early — fire webhooks before you reach the main area (e.g. start opening the garage while you’re still on the street)
• Fire route-specific actions — trigger different webhooks depending on which direction you arrive from
• Activate precision monitoring — wake up the app and switch to high-accuracy GPS so the main area boundary is detected more reliably

Each location can have up to 4 lead-in areas. They must be placed within 500 meters of the main area’s center.

Why Use Lead-In Areas?

Route-Specific Actions

Imagine your home has two entrances: the driveway from the north and a footpath from the south. You could place a lead-in area on each approach route with its own actions:

• North lead-in (driveway): Open the garage door
• South lead-in (footpath): Turn on the garden lights

Each lead-in area has its own set of entry actions, so different approach routes trigger different automations.

Optimizing Precision

iOS limits how often background apps receive location updates. When you’re far from any monitored area, GeoHook operates in a low-power mode. A lead-in area acts as a wake-up trigger: when you cross into it, GeoHook switches to precision monitoring with high-accuracy GPS. This means the main area boundary is detected faster and more accurately.

This is especially useful when:

• Your main area has a small radius and precision matters
• You need actions to fire quickly upon arrival (e.g. a garage door that should be open by the time you pull in)
• The area is in a location with poor GPS (urban canyons, dense buildings)

The 500-Meter Boundary

Lead-in areas must be placed within 500 meters of the main area’s center point. This is a hard limit enforced by GeoHook.

When you enable lead-in areas for a location, the map editor shows this boundary as a green dashed circle around the main area. You can only place lead-in areas inside this circle. If you try to place one outside, you’ll see an error message with the measured distance.

This boundary also plays a role in precision monitoring: GeoHook will deactivate precision mode if you move beyond 500 meters plus the main area’s radius plus a 75-meter hysteresis buffer from the main area’s center — even if you entered a lead-in area earlier. This prevents the app from staying in high-power mode if you happen to pass through a lead-in area but then turn away.

Setting Up Lead-In Areas

1. Open a location’s detail page in GeoHook
2. Enable “Use lead-in areas” (Vorgelagerte Bereiche verwenden)
3. The map now shows the green dashed 500 m boundary
4. Long-press on the map (hold for about half a second) at the desired position to create a new lead-in area
5. The new area appears as a small circle with a flag icon — you can adjust its radius
6. Tap the area to open its detail page and configure options

Lead-In Area Options

Each lead-in area has these settings:

• Name — a descriptive name (e.g. “Highway approach” or “Footpath south”)
• Enabled — toggle the area on or off without deleting it
• Only when moving toward main area (Nur bei Bewegung Richtung Hauptbereich) — directional check that only triggers when you’re actually approaching the main area, not when passing through
• Defer main area actions (Hauptbereichs-Aktionen erst beim Erreichen des Hauptbereichs auslösen) — controls whether the main area’s entry actions fire immediately or only when you reach the main area
• Use custom actions (Eigene Zusatzaktionen verwenden) — add entry actions specific to this lead-in area

Detection Methods

Like a main area, each lead-in area can use one or both detection methods:

• Geo area — a GPS-based circle (coordinates + radius)
• iBeacons — one or more linked iBeacons

Both count equally — the lead-in area triggers as soon as either detector is satisfied.

Understanding “Defer Main Area Actions”

This is the most important option and often the most confusing. It controls what happens to the main area’s entry actions when you enter a lead-in area.

Defer OFF (default)

When you enter the lead-in area, the main area’s entry actions fire immediately — as if you had entered the main area itself. This is useful when you want actions to happen as early as possible (e.g. garage door, lights).

Defer ON

Entering the lead-in area does not fire the main area’s entry actions. Instead, the lead-in area only:

• Wakes up the app
• Activates precision monitoring
• Fires its own custom actions (if configured)

The main area’s entry actions only fire later, when you actually enter the main area itself. This is useful when the lead-in area is just a helper for precision, and you don’t want actions to fire until you’re truly “there.”

Trigger Behavior: Examples

The following examples assume a location called “Home” with:

• Main area entry action: Turn on hallway light
• Lead-in area custom action: Open garage door

Scenario A: Defer OFF + Custom Actions ON

You arrive from the highway and enter the lead-in area first:

1. Enter lead-in area → GeoHook fires all actions: Turn on hallway light (main area) + Open garage door (lead-in area)
2. Enter main area → Nothing new fires (the main area’s actions already ran)

Result: Everything happens early, as soon as you hit the lead-in area.

Scenario B: Defer ON + Custom Actions ON

Same approach route:

1. Enter lead-in area → GeoHook fires only the lead-in area’s own action: Open garage door. Precision mode is activated. The hallway light stays off.
2. Enter main area → Now GeoHook fires the main area’s entry action: Turn on hallway light

Result: The garage opens early (lead-in), but the light only turns on when you’re actually home (main area).

Scenario C: Defer ON + Custom Actions OFF

The lead-in area is purely a precision helper:

1. Enter lead-in area → No actions fire. GeoHook wakes up and activates precision monitoring.
2. Enter main area → GeoHook fires the main area’s entry action: Turn on hallway light

Result: The lead-in area just ensures the app is ready and precise. All actions happen at the main area.

Scenario D: Defer OFF + Custom Actions OFF

1. Enter lead-in area → GeoHook fires the main area’s entry actions: Turn on hallway light
2. Enter main area → Nothing new fires

Result: Same as no lead-in area, but the actions fire earlier (when you reach the lead-in zone).

Summary Table

Defer	Custom Actions	On Lead-In Entry	On Main Area Entry
OFF	OFF	Main area actions fire	— (already fired)
OFF	ON	Main area actions + lead-in actions fire	— (already fired)
ON	OFF	Nothing (precision only)	Main area actions fire
ON	ON	Lead-in actions only	Main area actions fire

The Directional Check

The “Only when moving toward main area” option prevents the lead-in area from triggering when you’re just passing through without heading toward the main area.

GeoHook compares your current distance to the main area with your previous distance. If the distance is decreasing (you’re getting closer), the direction check passes. If it’s increasing or staying the same (you’re moving away or passing by), the lead-in area is not triggered.

This is useful when a lead-in area overlaps with a road you sometimes drive along without actually going home.

Precision Monitoring Details

When you enter a lead-in area, GeoHook activates precision monitoring for the parent location. This means:

• GPS updates switch from low-power mode to high-accuracy mode
• Location updates arrive more frequently and with better accuracy
• The main area boundary is detected faster and more reliably

When Does Precision Mode Deactivate?

Precision monitoring deactivates in two cases:

1. You enter the main area. This is the normal, expected outcome. Once you’re inside the main area, GeoHook has detected your arrival and no longer needs high-accuracy GPS — it switches back to low-power mode.
2. You move too far away without entering the main area. If you passed through the lead-in area but then turned away (e.g. took a different road), GeoHook deactivates precision mode once your distance from the main area’s center exceeds 500 m + main area radius + 75 m. This prevents the app from staying in high-power mode indefinitely.

The 75-meter hysteresis in the second case prevents the precision mode from flickering on and off when you’re near the boundary. It means precision stays active for an extra 75 meters beyond the threshold before turning off.

The directional check also plays a role: if GeoHook detects that you entered the lead-in area but are moving away from the main area (e.g. you turned onto a different road), precision monitoring will not be activated in the first place.

Map Visualization

When lead-in areas are enabled, the map shows:

• Green dashed circle — the 500 m boundary within which lead-in areas can be placed. This is visible in the location editor.
• Orange circles — the lead-in areas themselves, with a flag icon at the center. Disabled areas appear in gray.
• Blue circle — the main area (as always)

On the main map overview, lead-in areas that are currently satisfied (you’re inside them) turn green.

Practical Tips

• Start with “Defer ON” if you’re using the lead-in area mainly for precision optimization. This way, no actions fire prematurely while you’re still fine-tuning the placement.
• Use the directional check whenever the lead-in area is near a road you might drive along without going home.
• Place lead-in areas on approach routes, not just randomly within 500 m. The closer they are to the path you actually take, the more reliably they’ll trigger.
• Combine GPS and iBeacon detection on a lead-in area if GPS coverage is poor (e.g. underground parking entrance with a beacon).
• Test your setup by driving the actual route and checking the Activity tab for the trigger sequence.