Beta build of AutHomation/AutHomationHD version 3.0 for testing

Apps & Remote Access Unmaintained
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#41

I have it working fine…it was just an idea for a new feature for authomationHD…if it exposed itself as a locale plugin it would make it alot easier to integrate for both Locale and Llama users

#42

Hi Garrett.

Here is a post for you too: http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,11142.msg85304.html#msg85304

#43

I wanted to post an update on the current status of 2.1. I hope to have a beta build out soon. I need to add the changes I made to AutHomatonHD to AutHomation. This will take some time as I made some decent changes to the UI. Here is what has changed since the last alpha build:

  • Fixed Voice Recognition to work with Jelly Bean (Should show up in the play market for GoogleTV when released)

  • Adding and Deleting of door lock pin codes incorporated

  • Added pull down to refresh.

  • Added ability to set default section for phone layout (For example, when loading the app, you can have it load up the devices view)

  • Camera image will refresh every second when on local or wifi network.

  • Google weather plugin support updated to work with Weather Underground.

  • Added WOLPlusPing plugin support.

  • Changes to the tablet layout. The room view and device view are now able to swipe left or right for viewing. This allows for the device layout to show more devices (use the whole screen). Still need more testing and google tv testing.

  • Notifications created in Vera should automatically be hidden.

  • Other minor UI tweaks.

  • Hopefully some additional plugin support added.

  • Garrett

Update:

I added a few screen shots to show the UI layout of the tablet on the Nexus 7. You’ll be presented with the room view and a partial device view. When selecting a room, the device view will slide to the left into full view. When wanting to change to a new room, you simply swipe your finger to the right to reveal the list of rooms.

#44

Garett that really is a nice well presented UI! I might have to look at getting an Andriod when it come time to upgrade.

#45

I have posted a beta build of AutHomation / AutHomationHD. Refinement is still needed. There will be bugs (hopefully any found will get sorted out). Please give it a test and let me know if you find any issues. See first post for update.

  • Garrett
#46

Been testing on Samsung SGII - working fine.

I still like the UI from 2.0 beta (blue button, rounded corners)… seems more refined. The completely square panels are so close to each other you have to take a hard look at it to tell they are supposed to be floating panels. Looks like a bunch of boxes squished together.

the posted jpg shows both side-by-side.

#47

I agree here. It looks a little Windows 8, regression in graphics like. Works fine though.

#48

I have to say that your app is awesome! Thanks for the hard work.

I just uninstalled from the market and downloaded from your link to the 2.1.1.0 page, but when I installed it says version 2.0.3.0 Is the file correct in your link?

#49

That is odd. What app did you install? AutHomation or AutHomationHD? I’ll check the links and version when I get home shortly.

  • Garrett

Fyi, due to limitations of android 2.3 and older, I will not be able to use the new interface changes that are available in AutHomationHD.

#50

[quote=“jmedemar, post:48, topic:172381”]I have to say that your app is awesome! Thanks for the hard work.

I just uninstalled from the market and downloaded from your link to the 2.1.1.0 page, but when I installed it says version 2.0.3.0 Is the file correct in your link?[/quote]

I checked the link and it is pointing to the correct downloads. Here are the direct links:

AutHomationHD (Android 3.2 and newer): https://content.wuala.com/contents/garrettwp/Android/AutHomation/Public%20Test/2.1.1.0/AutHomationHD.apk?key=cqDXsXIbSidI
AutHomation (Android 2.3 and older): https://content.wuala.com/contents/garrettwp/Android/AutHomation/Public%20Test/2.1.1.0/AutHomation.apk?key=cqDXsXIbSidI

  • Garrett
#51

I disagree that the previous version looked better. I FAR prefer this version. I love the clean look to it.

If anything, I still REALLY wish that there were an option in AutHomation to make the interface even more compact. For example, take away the entire middle of every box that mostly just shows the status. I can click on the title of the box for the status of the light, or just see where the slider is (on the lights, for example). I’d love to have more on the screen at the same time, especially if I ever upgrade to a larger phone like I’m hoping to if the rumors of the next batch of Nexus phones is true…

#52

[quote=“garrettwp, post:50, topic:172381”]I checked the link and it is pointing to the correct downloads. Here are the direct links:

AutHomationHD (Android 3.2 and newer): https://content.wuala.com/contents/garrettwp/Android/AutHomation/Public%20Test/2.1.1.0/AutHomationHD.apk?key=cqDXsXIbSidI
AutHomation (Android 2.3 and older): https://content.wuala.com/contents/garrettwp/Android/AutHomation/Public%20Test/2.1.1.0/AutHomation.apk?key=cqDXsXIbSidI

  • Garrett[/quote]

Thank you sir, that link worked perfectly. I must have done something wrong because the file size was only 3.7MB instead of the 4.2MB for 2.1.1.0

#53

V1 had a more compact use of space… no boxes, just simple divider lines separating the items. I also preferred this vs the ‘panel’ style used now. Going back to this could potentially get you more items per screen - not positive though.

btw, your preference (if I understand it correctly) to require an added step to see status and/or control an item is inefficient, and is counter to good/standard design principles for user interfaces.

#54

Very nice I just installed this on my tablet and phone I haven’t been able to play around with it much but I’m very impressed so far. I apologize if this has already been addressed or answered I haven’t read the whole thread yet but is there a way to have this app always listen for a “start listening” phrase and speak its responses? I guess I’m looking for a reason to mount my tablet to the wall

#55

Not that I know of. I am not sure if the android api allows for the mic to be on all the time. I’ll look into it, but I am sure it could get annoying due to background noise etc. I’ll add it to my list of research.

  • Garrett
#56

V1 had a more compact use of space… no boxes, just simple divider lines separating the items. I also preferred this vs the ‘panel’ style used now. Going back to this could potentially get you more items per screen - not positive though.

btw, your preference (if I understand it correctly) to require an added step to see status and/or control an item is inefficient, and is counter to good/standard design principles for user interfaces.[/quote]

Aaron,

It is almost a catch 22 between the listview layout and the new tile layout (gridview) when it comes to space. Depending on the type of device that is being listed, the listview can actually occupy more space than the tile layout. You also waste horizontal space in the listview layout depending on the device as well. There were a few reasons for moving to the tile based layout.

  1. The interface is maintained between different devices (tablets, phone, googletv, etc)
  2. It is much easier to maintain a single interface style between devices. I have to say that the UI développement takes 85% of my coding time.
  3. Less bloat in the code as I can share most of the code between the different devices and far less stressful to debug and maintain.

It is very hard to please everyone and I may have to compromise some things in order to draw a balance. I am by no means a professional when it comes to developing apps for android. Android development and Java were new to me a year and a half ago. I still have much to learn. I do have to say that knowing other programming languages have helped me learn Java and Android development much faster. In the end, I just want to share and give back to the community the app that I have developed for my personal use and hope others can make use of it too.

  • Garrett
#57

Thanks Garrett
I’ll see what I can find as well. Also I’m willing to use hardware I.e. Bluetooth speaker or hardwire mic and speaker if that plays a roll and I have a tf101 if that matters

#58

Sorry, that’s not what I was saying. My preference was to have an option to remove the middle section of each box to save space. So currently a box for a light looks like this:

DEVICE NAME
IMAGE,STATUS
SLIDER BAR

My assertion is that the middle line takes up far more space than it needs to, and only tells you things you could get from the bottom line anyway. Using a light as the example again, the image just shows you a bulb that tells you if the device is on or not, along with cellphone-like bars that give a VERY rough estimate of how bright it is, then you ALSO have the percentage of how bright the light is. THEN you have the slider on the bottom that is essentially showing you how bright you have the device set. To my eyes, that’s very redundant information. It’s neat information, and I always love informative graphics and everything, but it sets up a design language that uses a TON of space, because then you have to match all the other boxes to that design. Look at the box for a GE remote, for example. It’s a big blank area with only a picture of a filming slate in it. That’s valuable white space that’s being wasted.

I think that the boxes, as they exist now, are great for tablets, but on a phone I really want to see more at one time. I agree with Garrett that the list view could use more space. Just look at the Vera Mobile app. But I really do wish that I could get more compact information on my phone. At the moment I only get six and a half boxes on my screen at a time (meaning most of the time only six of them are controllable without scrolling). If I had an option to take that middle section out of each box, that would eliminate HALF the box, potentially giving me full control of up to 13 devices at once without scrolling at all. I can’t tell you how much more I’d use this app if that were the case.

When I was talking about pressing somewhere on the device to get more information, I was basically talking about what the app does right now. If you press anywhere on a box that’s non-active (doesn’t have a slider or on/off or lock/unlock, etc), it brings that device up nearly full-screen and you get the big version of the image and percentage (for example), along with the on/off control for a light that you don’t get in the smaller box, as well as a slider.

Garrett, please don’t get me wrong: your app is awesome. I love the direction you’ve been going with it, I love the look of it (including the changes you made from 2.0 to 2.1), and it’s the nicest-to-use app I’ve seen for Vera. I’m just offering up fantasy wishlist stuff for your consideration, along with justifications for why I think that way. You can take it or leave it :slight_smile:

#59

@Dignan17 - I see what you are asking for now. A while back I made the same suggestion - e.g. Make the controls & the status a single entity. My suggestions was to have an image (like a light bulb) sitting to the left of the slider which would acts as a status indicator + an on/off button. See the attached JPG. I apologize it is such a hack-job of a mockup - I did in 5 minutes hacking another UI image just for this post.

@Garrett - your app is great and we all do very much appreciate it. we all have different preferences and we are sharing them… if you want to impliment, cool… if not, I will still use you app and I suspect everyone else will to. :wink:

#60

Well said