The beta testing for HomeWave has started. Those who have accepted the TestFlight invite (or sent me their UDID) should have an email, and should be able to download & install the app.
A couple of quick tips to get started:
The settings for HomeWave can be found in the Settings of your iPhone (not in HomeWave itself)
If you run HomeWave on your home LAN, it will likely detect your Vera automatically (and inform you). If you use multiple Veras, go into Settings and enter the IP address manually
To use HomeWave in combination with MIOS, enter your MIOS username, password and device ID in the Settings screen. Note that the device ID will be filled in automatically, if you have already set up some controls in HomeWave (see also Shortcomings below).
Device rotation is respected, but it works by rotating individual controls. This is intentional. The setup windows / popups only work in Landscape mode.
Known issues
Loading the device config / starting the app can be slow on older iDevices. This is due to a resource intensive XML decoding library. This will be replaced by a custom decoding routine with better performance.
HomeWave does not run on iOS 3.x devices. If possible, the app will be made compatible with this iOS to support older hardware.
Swipes that start on a dimmer / thermostat control are not recognised as such. This is because the control “steals” the swipe action and thinks it is supposed to spin up/down. No easy/logical fix found as yet.
Additional features (To be added after the beta)
Custom messages for popups.
The buttons on the Home screen are a bit limited. Icons and custom colors will be added to these.
Support for controlling multiple devices with a single control (for example: multiple dimmers)
iPad support
Location-based triggers
Push messages for alarms, etc.
(optional) battery level indicator.
Arm/Bypass control for binary sensors.
Support for arbitrary plugins.
Loading, saving and sharing of configurations (individual screens and full configs)
Remote configuration management
Option to lock the complete app based on the state of a Vera Switch (for example: caretakers can only access the app when the house is in “Away” state, for your privacy)
Unsupported devices (To be added “soon”)
Door locks (pin code management)
Power Meters (separate power meters are supported)
Blind controllers
Smart power meter plugin (by bfromdruten)
Custom devices (from plugins)
[b]Fixed issues
Attempting to set custom colors in iOS 4.x results in a crash.
Create a new screen, and then delete it, it is still there if you swipe left/right. Killing the app and restarting fixes this.
When rotating to Landscape, confirmation popups are not right side up.
Scenes do not always update correctly after being triggered.
Default text for untriggered sensors (“—”) is a bit ambiguous, change to “ok”
Door sensors
Support for Fortress WWA02 temp/water sensor
Off text field sometimes cannot be tapped and edited. Workaround: tap the On text field first, then the Off field.
Add temperature readout in Fahrenheit
CT30 Thermostat ,3M-50 Thermostat plugin
Virtual Switch & combination switch plugins
Choice between swiping or buttons to switch between screens (or both)
Device list comes up empty if there is no room defined on Vera. Workaround: add a room.
Support for Cameras.
Support for Thermostat mode, fan setting and cooling setpoint.
Camera pan/zoom
Camera image sometimes blanks out for no reason.
Vera IP address is assumed to be fixed. This means the app will always switch to MIOS even when on the LAN, if Vera got a new IP address. Startup process will be changed to always execute the Vera discovery process, and correct the IP if necessary.
Optional timer to automatically return to the default screen.
Locks (basic open / close, experimental)
Issue with some thermostats
Localisation (Framework + English / Dutch
Door locks do not respond to HomeWave commands
Thermostat control to display “(off)” instead of 0 when the thermostat is in "off"mode.
Power Meter support
Display thermostat mode (heating, cooling, idle)
Refresh button / poll device
PIN code to protect the app (on 3G and/or WiFi), certain screens, or specific controls.
add info screen
lock out edit mode if a pin code is set
instructions (on web site)
Last build (TestFlight #20): 15 aug Next build: none (unless a major bug comes up)
When testing the app, please add any findings, problems or suggestions in this thread or in a separate one.
Had the chance to play with the app for 30 minutes now, and I must just say thank you for creating something like this. It is just what I wanted, and for once I have had some luck with the timing, beeing a VeraLite owner for only three days now
I’ve found one possible bug.
I you create a new screen, and then delete it, it is still there if you swipe left/right. Killing the app and restarting fixes this. Not a big thing though…
Thank you again for a great and promising new app.
I’m currently looking into that. The minimum iOS version is now 4.0, but being able to use this app on older devices is certainly an ambition. However that does require a number of code changes.
One question… My device names are quite long and don’t display well in HomeWave. My device names are long so that I can clearly identify them in Vera when creating scense etc. Is there a way to show a shortened version in HomeWave, perhaps denoted by some kind of delimiter in my naming device convention? For example, show only the text suffixed after the underscore _ ?
Does anyone else have comments on sensible recommendations for device naming conventions that they find useful? Thanks.
Got the bet installed, it instantly found my Vera2, and I quickly set up a dimmer and a fan switch. Very simple and works well so far.
Once I got the hang of the slider/dimmer mechanic, I kinda like it! Spin clockwise, the % displays and increases. Then a tap toggles on/off to the % dim.
What does the red blink with the wifi icon mean? That it is communicating, but not a problem?
Either is fine, but I prefer this forum so that others can benefit from this feedback.
Once you have added a control and linked it to a Vera device, you can change the name by selecting (highlighting) control, then tapping the setup button (the wrench). This brings up a screen where you can edit the control’s properties, including the name.
The icon turns red when it fails to communicate with Vera, or when the connection times out. On your LAN, the default timeout is 3 seconds which should be sufficient. You could try to increase the timeout in the app’s settings, and see if the red blinking stops.
hello
very good job this app is fantastik
the application is very simple to use but very powerful
against by the spm103 are not considered as sensors against the sp103 work very well and the ezmotion
and it’s possible to personalyze the message in the ask control ?
waiting for the camera and it will be the best application jute ios for me
a question for me would be the ultimate weapon, provides you a geolocation to start a scene at a particular location
I tried it today on the road with 3g, the icon changes to a cloud, and it just works. Very nice.
One feature that could be of interest would be to have some kind of password/swipe pattern when on 3g. ( or selectable for wg/wifi)
This to have an extra barrier if you loose the phone and people open the garagedoor. (of course I would take other meassueres if I loose the phone, but it would nice to have.)
The icon turns red when it fails to communicate with Vera, or when the connection times out. On your LAN, the default timeout is 3 seconds which should be sufficient. You could try to increase the timeout in the app’s settings, and see if the red blinking stops.[/quote]
I only noticed it a couple of times briefly while editing the app setup. Haven’t seen it today. [edit] the red wifi does seem to show when i’m making a light turn on/off quickly. I changed the setting to 5 and will see how it goes.
I also just figured out the swipe down to get back to the main screen. This was not obvious to me at first.
This works nicely in landscape mode and rotates the control text when the phone is rotated. I noticed the menu bar or whatever it’s called (wrench, home, wifi) stays in the same place when rotated to landscape view (bar stays on native top of phone screen).
[quote=“TommyE, post:11, topic:172088”]One feature that could be of interest would be to have some kind of password/swipe pattern when on 3g. ( or selectable for wg/wifi)
This to have an extra barrier if you loose the phone and people open the garagedoor. (of course I would take other meassueres if I loose the phone, but it would nice to have.)[/quote]
Good idea, I’ll add it to the list. a PIN could be added to the whole app, or a certain screen, or to specific controls (similar to the current optional confirmation popup). What do you think would be best?
Any ideas to make this more obvious? It’s mentioned on the little help screen that appears the first time you run the app, but that’s easy to miss I suppose.
This works nicely in landscape mode and rotates the control text when the phone is rotated. I noticed the menu bar or whatever it's called (wrench, home, wifi) stays in the same place when rotated to landscape view (bar stays on native top of phone screen).
That’s intentional… in landscape mode, vertical screen real estate is somewhat limited so I preferred to keep the menu bar vertical and to the side. Perhaps this can be made optional.
Alarm sensors (motion, water, smoke, doors etc) show “—” when not tripped, and “tripped” + a red ring when tripped (see attached image, and yes, I have water in my crawlspace ). Perhaps “ok” would be a better default.
Note that you can change this yourself: select the control and click the spanner, then modify the “text shown when off” field.
At first I thought of the whole app beeing protected by a PIN, but when you mention it, I can see that all three possibilites would have different uses, and if one can wish I’d pick all three. If only two then app, and then specific controls. If only one then the whole app.
I also saw you mention more custom graphics for the buttons. Don’t know if it would be possible to enter an URL in the app and then have the app fetch the custom graphics from the desired URL?
Alarm sensors (motion, water, smoke, doors etc) show “—” when not tripped, and “tripped” + a red ring when tripped (see attached image, and yes, I have water in my crawlspace ). Perhaps “ok” would be a better default.
Note that you can change this yourself: select the control and click the spanner, then modify the “text shown when off” field.[/quote]
I have just seen the ‘Tripped’ status. Zes, I believe that a green ok will be much better.
First of all, thank you very much for this excellent app.
I have been using Automator and iVera.
Anyways, this is what I think about HomeWave so far:
The app works great over WIFI and 3G, the app seems to be running very stable. One of my biggest suggestions is about the color scheme. I know that you just released a new version to address this however I do not see any possibility to also change the background color in your app. Black is just a little bit tot dark Do you think you can add this feature?
Also, I have 3 door locks (actually two Kwiksets and one using the Woobsy Plugin) which are not showing up. Besides my door locks, my thermostat (CT-30) and camera do not show up in the list either.
I love the way you actually swipe the individual controls. However, when sliding from one page to another, I often activate lights, scenes, etc. by accident. I am not sure if other users agree here but it might be helpful to add two little arrows to allow swiping through the individual pages. Or maybe a bar on the buttom of the app that you can click on to get to your individual pages? Or maybe a bar users can activate if they feel they need it? As I said I am activating scenes etc. by accident when navigating through the pages - that is also true for my wife
I have a lot of dimmers at home and another thing I am suggesting is to always display the % of load - not only when you are actually interacting with the app. You could also allow the user to decide what type of info each circle should display when the app is idle. (EDIT: I see this is available in the latest beta - thanks!)
Speaking of the circles, it also might be a good idea to chance the icon for scenes (or let users decide what type of icon to use). In my layout I usually have the dimmers and switches on the left side of the screen and some scenes on the right side. It would be nice if the scene icon would look slightly different so users get a better idea between the actuall physical switch, dimmer etc. and the programmed scene… just a thought.
Anyways, thanks again for this great app and I am looking forward to testing the upcoming releases for sure. Also, if you need someone in the future to translate this app from English to German…let me know.
). Perhaps “ok” would be a better default.