Starting a new discussion on the iPad interface of HomeWave.
The current iPad interface works ok-ish, but I’m looking for suggestions and tips to improve it. Part of my problem with this is that I hardly ever use the iPad interface myself.
Also, the next version will have (optional) full-screen control windows, with a home screen that slides in and out. I’m not sure yet how to fit rotation into that; the app will be rotating non-rectangular screens and refitting the buttons to size. I can either let the buttons get distorted, or rotate the buttons individually like on the iPhone. Neither are very attractive options.
I’m somewhat tempted to lock the iPad orientation to Landscape and be done with it. Thoughts? Personally, I never use my iPad in portrait mode except when reading a book.
Thanks for an awesome App!
I personally always use HomeWave in portrait mode. I have it in a docking station in the kitchen, so I have no other choice =)
I have done extensive UI design in a control app called DemoPad. This particular product gives you almost unlimited control over UI, and it provides you with capabilities to create extremely complex “commercially” capable templates with functions like pull-out / drop down tabs, button-feedback, and custom device feedbacks. But having worked in the product for some time, I have come to resign myself to the fact that self-orienting, screen-rotation capabilities simply don’t work well in a complex UI environment like Home Automation.
As such, I would respectfully suggest that one approach you could take would allow the user to determine the orientation (landscape or portrait) at time of UI design, and then lock the screen layout to that orientation for development phase. Therefore, the user could decide what works best for his/her particular environment. A user could then design a 2nd, alternate screen layout for the other orientation, and at run-time, Homewave could switch between screen layouts depending on device orientation.
If real-time template switching is too complex for development, then lock the orientation at run-time, as well as design-time, and user lives with whatever orientation he/she designed for.
This approach gives the user the option to choose what orientation works best, and avoids the headaches you are already to starting to experience.
Good suggestions, midwesttechie. I’ll start with an option to lock the app in either portrait or landscape. At a later time I may add the possibility to add alternate screens for the other orientation.
Hi, I am " very " new to all this, but after playing with the ipad version in landscape mode, I would like to
be able to have a smaller home screen size ( or adjustable ).
My setup will not be a huge amount, at least to start and it seems to be a lot of wasted space… unless you
can already do that and I missed something…
I’ll admit to being in the fence about locking the rotation if the screen, but if it was an option during the design phase I could certainly live with that…
Here are some thoughts/proposals…
Proposal 1
One enhancement I would really like to see is the removal of the control screen (buttons) from the screen - allowing the full screen layout to be made available - and then have those control options/buttons appear when you swipe up from the bottom of the (off the) screen and up or in from the left side etc.
To do that I would propose a seperate design template used for those ‘pop up control bars’ - Which I’m seeing in my head that they are slightly transparent along with the buttons they hold, so not to hide anything on the main screen.
Proposal 2
Thinking some more, I would still like an option to create a main control (welcome) screen that could have all my control buttons and then once within an area, I have the ability to swipe in to get the above ‘pop up’ control bars.
Proposal 3
Another idea would be to be able to ‘save draft control screens’ and when you choose to publish them when you’re happy with them (rather than having them visible)
Proposal 1 is the direction I’m going. The Home screen (the part at the left / top with buttons to open other screens) will be made to slide in and out, so the full screen can be used for controls. Sliding the Home screen in & out will be accomplished by clicking a small tab (similar to how many other apps do this); this is more intuitive and the control screens already have a lot of sliding actions associated with them; adding another would be confusing. Sliding out the Home screen will also hide the buttons. I’ll probably handle rotation the same way it works on the iPhone, by rotating the buttons individually.
This will be optional: the current side-by-side layout will remain available.
I’m hoping to publish this version in the next week or two; work on the app has been a bit slow the last few weeks.
Its great that the Homescreen will now be able to be hidden. I use my home’s floor plan as background image and then position the buttons on top of the devices they control.
An improvement suggestion i have is implementing links to other apps, ie launch the IR control app when i click on a button placed on the TV. Is this possible?
feature request: Some curtains motors do not have the same direction of button, EX: some time the UP botton is STOP action… Can you add an optional field to customize this feature?
i think a great homewave feature for ipads mounted on the wall would be using motion detected in the forward facing camera to wake the display. that way the idle timeout could sleep the display (not the ipad, just the display) when it is not being used and as you approach the ipad homewave could brighten the display so you can use it… similar to the way the nest thermostat behaves. I would be happy to pay for that feature as an in-app upgrade
HomeWave just mirrors the buttons on the curtain/blind devices in the Vera UI. For some controllers, pressing up/down when the motor is already running will indeed stop the motor, but I don’t think I can change the appearance of the buttons in HomeWave to reflect that, as the app won’t always have accurate info on whether or not the motor is running
HomeWave just mirrors the buttons on the curtain/blind devices in the Vera UI. For some controllers, pressing up/down when the motor is already running will indeed stop the motor, but I don’t think I can change the appearance of the buttons in HomeWave to reflect that, as the app won’t always have accurate info on whether or not the motor is running[/quote]
That is not the problem. What happens is that on the Vera UI the functionalities of the UP and STOP buttons are switched i.e. I click stop and the curtain goes up and when i click up the curtain stops… That does not depend on whether the motor is running or not.
HomeWave just mirrors the buttons on the curtain/blind devices in the Vera UI. For some controllers, pressing up/down when the motor is already running will indeed stop the motor, but I don’t think I can change the appearance of the buttons in HomeWave to reflect that, as the app won’t always have accurate info on whether or not the motor is running[/quote]
That is not the problem. What happens is that on the Vera UI the functionalities of the UP and STOP buttons are switched i.e. I click stop and the curtain goes up and when i click up the curtain stops… That does not depend on whether the motor is running or not.[/quote]
This is something that needs to be fixed in Vera and not the app. When the app calls the device and issues the up api command, it will call the action associated with that device (usually found in the implementation file). For this to be correct in the app, it will need to be fixed in Vera first.
[quote=“Piwtorak, post:14, topic:175955”]I have installed my iport today and is not so good arrives in the front of the ipad and touch and slide and wait homewave connect to have access.
if my ipad is with homewave app running in 1st plan I do not want it locks[/quote]
You can set this in the settings for HomeWave. There is an option that will keep your iPad awake as long as HomeWave is running, so that it won’t return to the lock screen.
Excellent! My home screen is a 5x6 grid with up to 18-character labels. Looks great on non-iPad, in both orientations, but not so pretty on the iPad in landscape mode, as the labels get all chopped up…
It’s been quiet for a while (work, holidays and such) but the new version is nearly ready for the app store. Besides changes to the iPad layout and a few minor changes, this version adds experimental Push notifications, and the ability to load icons and screen backgrounds directly from your Dropbox folder.
I’ll start with an option to lock the app in either portrait or landscape. At a later time I may add the possibility to add alternate screens for the other orientation.