Introducing Homewave: A User-Friendly Remote Control App

Please announce when it’s available!
Using SQRemote now. Ready to try this! Definitely like the apps that are configurable.

WOW. THE BEST APP SO FAR! PERIOD!!

Very nice!

The only issue I encountered was with a thermostat. I was trying to set heating and cooling set-points, but it wouldn’t accept the settings. The settings were correct, but it just said “Off” for all of them. I quit out of the app and back in, and it worked.

Gave it 4 stars on the app store. I’ll change it to 5 when it’s been refined a bit more.

I’m a bit confused about accessing my Vera. It didn’t ask for a password. So I’m guessing the only security I have is my WiFi password? I have yet to try outside the house. How does it log into mios?

Issues:

  • Making mistakes is painful. If I screw up the grid or arrange something I didn’t like in one spot, I can’t re-arrange/move it. There needs to be a better way to move a control. Probably cut/paste would work fine.
    If you screw up the grid, even if you put it back, you’re stuck and either have to close the app to avoid saving, or simply have to remove the group and start over. :frowning:
  • You should be able to add controls (and folders) to the home screen.

Beats other apps HANDS DOWN:
It works with all the other plugins! Combination Plug-in doesn’t work with other apps, but does with this one! Makes my garage door act as one switch/sensor. Awesome!

Oh yeah, I have to agree with the other guy. A really really great (and possibly simple feature) would be to allow custom backgrounds. Let the user specify a photo! So I could add a photo for each screen that represented the room it controlled! Subsequent design suggestion, add a drop shadow layer behind the controls so bright or dark photos don’t make the controls disappear. :wink:

Correct: anyone on your LAN can access your Vera.
The app connects to MIOS using your username/password for this service; these can be entered in the app settings.

Issues: - Making mistakes is painful. If I screw up the grid or arrange something I didn't like in one spot, I can't re-arrange/move it. There needs to be a better way to move a control. Probably cut/paste would work fine. If you screw up the grid, even if you put it back, you're stuck and either have to close the app to avoid saving, or simply have to remove the group and start over. :( - You should be able to add controls (and folders) to the home screen.

Moving controls is possible: touch and hold for a few moments, then drag it to its new location.
What do you mean exactly by screwing up the grid?
Perhaps an undo button would help make things easier?

[quote=“PurdueGuy, post:23, topic:172030”]Very nice!

The only issue I encountered was with a thermostat. I was trying to set heating and cooling set-points, but it wouldn’t accept the settings. The settings were correct, but it just said “Off” for all of them. I quit out of the app and back in, and it worked.[/quote]Adding a bit to the thermostat issue…
I can’t seem to select “Normal” on the Trane thermostat when it is in “Energy” mode. When I hit “Normal,” the “Normal” turns grey for a bit, them “Energy” turns back to blue. Going from “Normal” to “Energy” doesn’t work either.

I see the following in the log: 08 09/01/12 23:56:08.009 JobHandler_LuaUPnP::HandleActionRequest device: 46 service: urn:upnp-org:serviceId:HVAC_UserOperatingMode1 action: SetEnergyModeTarget <0x1b829> 08 09/01/12 23:56:08.010 JobHandler_LuaUPnP::HandleActionRequest argument DeviceNum=46 <0x1b829> 08 09/01/12 23:56:08.011 JobHandler_LuaUPnP::HandleActionRequest argument serviceId=urn:upnp-org:serviceId:HVAC_UserOperatingMode1 <0x1b829> 08 09/01/12 23:56:08.011 JobHandler_LuaUPnP::HandleActionRequest argument action=SetEnergyModeTarget <0x1b829> 08 09/01/12 23:56:08.012 JobHandler_LuaUPnP::HandleActionRequest argument NewEnergyModeTarget=Normal <0x1b829> 02 09/01/12 23:56:08.013 ZWaveNode::ReceivedMessage serv urn:upnp-org:serviceId:HVAC_UserOperatingMode1 action SetEnergyModeTarget unhandled <0x1b829> 02 09/01/12 23:56:08.014 JobHandler_LuaUPnP::RunAction device 46 action urn:upnp-org:serviceId:HVAC_UserOperatingMode1/SetEnergyModeTarget failed with -115/Device does not handle service/action <0x1b829>

If I change via Vera dashboard, HomeWave is updated nearly instantly.

Looking at the log when I do it via the Dashboard, I see this in the log:

08      09/02/12 0:10:00.439    JobHandler_LuaUPnP::HandleActionRequest device: 46 service: urn:upnp-org:serviceId:HVAC_UserOperatingMode1 action: SetEnergyModeTarget <0x1d42c>
08      09/02/12 0:10:00.440    JobHandler_LuaUPnP::HandleActionRequest argument DeviceNum=46 <0x1d42c>
08      09/02/12 0:10:00.441    JobHandler_LuaUPnP::HandleActionRequest argument serviceId=urn:upnp-org:serviceId:HVAC_UserOperatingMode1 <0x1d42c>
08      09/02/12 0:10:00.441    JobHandler_LuaUPnP::HandleActionRequest argument action=SetEnergyModeTarget <0x1d42c>
08      09/02/12 0:10:00.442    JobHandler_LuaUPnP::HandleActionRequest argument NewModeTarget=Normal <0x1d42c>
08      09/02/12 0:10:00.443    JobHandler_LuaUPnP::HandleActionRequest argument rand=0.7215548728127033 <0x1d42c>
06      09/02/12 0:10:00.443    Device_Variable::m_szValue_set device: 46 service: urn:upnp-org:serviceId:HVAC_UserOperatingMode1 variable: EnergyModeTarget was: EnergySavingsMode now: Normal #hooks: 0 upnp: 0 v:0xc18ea0/NONE duplicate:0 <0x1d42c>

Notice that Vera uses “NewModeTarget=Normal” but HomeWave uses “NewEnergyModeTarget=Normal” to set the state.

Thanks for the logs, that’ll be a big help in fixing this issue. Is the Trane thermostat supported by Vera out of the box, or does it require a plugin? I have only been able to test plugin / virtual thermostats, and it did work on those. (The only real z-wave thermostats we have here are heating only)

The Trane is supported out of the box, no plugins required.

Awesome app - thanks for the great work.

I am looking forward to the ability to save configurations in something like box.net or dropbox.

Other nice features would be:

[ul][li]Have the ability to change properties like colour in multiple devices at once rather than doing each one individually. [/li]
[li]For the Trane thermostat add support for the Fan & Energy Save settings.[/li]
[li]For battery powered sensors add support for the current battery level.[/li][/ul]

The next version will support saving configurations (or a single screen) into Dropbox, and into the app’s Documents folder (accessible via iTunes). A battery level indicator is planned.

Support for changing properties in multiple devices at once should be possible; I will add it to the list (though it’s probably not going to make it into the next few releases).

Changed my rating to 5 stars. :slight_smile:
Love this app. The best.

Looking very promissing, sofar.
I would like to have my gasmeter displayed (like powermeters).
Could that be added to the wishlist? Thanks!

Support for gas meters or smart meters is planned. What kind of gas meter do you have, and how is it interfacing with Vera?

Just bought mine, very nice :smiley:

Oops, I posted in the development thread. Here…

Found it, and based on the YouTube video, I purchased it. I’ve been using iVera (full) for probably over a year. I’ll let you know which one I end up using more often…

I have some questions, but I’ll read this thread in its entirety first.

I’m working outside of my LAN, so I can’t configure HomeWave. I guess that’s my biggest issue for the moment.

I can see where buying this for my wife’s iTunes account & installing on her iPhone would be good. I guess I should have done that first to test it out & compare.

EDIT (again): From the description in iTunes - “HomeWave will work on your LAN as well as remotely via the MIOS gateway service.”

OK… I’ll just have to play with this when I get home. I see the tutorials are available at http://homewave.intvelt.com/.

I’ve arrived at home. HomeWave detected Vera; ‘wifi’ icon is no longer red. I’m walking through the steps:

Begin editing it by clicking the Setup button (the spanner) . The Control Panel will change from a back background to a set of blue squares with crosses in them; these represent empty spaces where you can place control elements. check
Tap the top-left blue square to select it (it turns grey). check
Tap the Add button check
A window appears with various Z-wave control elements. Choose the On/Off Switch (if our Z-wave setup has no switches, choose another control element) negative

I just get a screen that shows the text, top-to-bottom:

Cancel----------OK
Control Properties
Caption [control screen]
Store / Share / Load
Save Control panel
Load Control Panel

Thoughts?

Ah yes. The screen hierarchy is not always immediately clear, which is why I am considering to automatically add a screen and some Vera controls, the first time HomeWave runs. Also, the tutorial needs a video :slight_smile: Anyway…

If you try adding a control and you end up with the list you mention (a list of properties, amongst which is one for caption ‘control screen’), this means you are on the ‘home screen’. The Home screen is where you add buttons to launch other screens. On that screen, just hit OK, then click save. You will end up with a square button called ‘control screen’. (you can change its name later, using the spanner button)

Click the square button. You’ll get a new blank screen. On this screen you will be able to add lights, sensors and other stuff from your Vera.

Yes - that helps.

Things I notice so far:

From the Home screen, I set up a control called “Living Room.” I realized that’s not what I wanted to do, so I deleted it. The “Living Room” screen remains as an orphan, and even though I can’t get to it from the Home Screen, I can still flip to it.

Thermostats are in Celsius only. I have min/max set on my thermostats, and warnings set up via Prowl, so I can’t control the thermostats without setting off warnings (because I can’t set the thermostat above 69 deg C). When I set the thermostats to 73 deg F in MIOS web interface, HomeWave shows 75 deg C. If I touch HomeWave, I get warnings from Prowl, and…

When warnings (or other ALERTS, vs. “badges” or “banners” on the iPhone) come in, HomeWave shoots back to the Home screen. That’s a pain if you’re in the middle of something & an email comes in.

If I try to select an area with a “1x2” block with two “1x1” blocks next to it, I can’t. I have to first split the 1x2.

If I add a “No control” empty space or label, I can’t format it. No size, color, background, etc.

It seems to take about 5 seconds from the time I send a command via the MIOS web interface on my computer until it updates in HomeWave. Not good, not bad.

It’d be nice to be able to change the format (colors, vertical alignment) of the elements on the Home Screen as you can on the other screens.