This plugin is officially BROKEN

Plugins & Plugin Development VeraAlerts
#1

Well, I had high hopes for this plugin. It was to be an integral part of my automation system, however, after only a few days of testing I can say that it is completely broken and at this point I think that if it hasn’t been polished to near perfection after all of this time, it is a hopeless case.
The claimed feature of allowing multiple recipients for the email profile does not function. The LAN profile does not work at all, even when my phone is set to never turn off wifi when asleep. I noticed that my phone was noticeably heating up in my pocket and the battery was draining within hours. Looking at the settings for the battery statistics, I can see that the Vera Alerts app on my phone is using FIFTY PERCENT of my power.

Thanks, but no thanks.

#2

Rather powerful words, I use this plugin in a forwarding mode only and it works great for me. Because it’s a plugin on the Vera box itself I don’t see how it could have any effect on battery life at all.

#3

Yeah I don’t agree with the OP at all. I was using this app for few years without issues. I’m not sure if you went threw the troubleshooting steps, asked for help, or what you have done but this looks like a pointless rant more then anything else.

I see you have a few posts on this app and the 2nd to last one saying you love it. The last one seems to be a UI7 config problem. So I’m not seeing how it got to this post.

#4

Well that’s great that a small fraction of the functionality works. I’m happy for you. Secondly, you are inaccurate when you say that it’s a plugin on the Vera only. Maybe you should do your homework before you decide to critique my post. You can start by looking over the Android application here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rtsservices.veraalerts

[quote=“integlikewhoa, post:3, topic:194208”]Yeah I don’t agree with the OP at all. I was using this app for few years without issues. I’m not sure if you went threw the troubleshooting steps, asked for help, or what you have done but this looks like a pointless rant more then anything else.

I see you have a few posts on this app and the 2nd to last one saying you love it. The last one seems to be a UI7 config problem. So I’m not seeing how it got to this post.[/quote]

This isn’t a pointless rant. It’s warning others to find another solution before wasting their time. As I mentioned, this setup makes my phone noticeably warm in my pocket and burns my battery out in a matter of hours. It uses more power than even the Android system itself, and possibly more than all other apps and functions on the phone, including the display. Maybe your ancient phone handles it better since you say that you’ve been using it for years, but apparently the latest versions of Android do not gel well with it.

Secondly, the LAN profile does not work as advertised (and I’m not the first to discover this – if you don’t believe me take a look through the posts from other users that I discovered while trying to figure out what’s wrong with it). Several of the functions mentioned do not work, even when following directions exactly. For example, I’m able to send an email to one recipient but when 2 addresses are entered separated by a comma, both fail.

The post where I said I “love it”, as you put it, is before I had experimented with it long enough to realize that this is an unfinished product with glaring faults. I don’t believe that there is anything wrong with my UI7 configuration.

If I seem overly upset, it’s because, admittedly, I’m pissed off and sick and tired of all of these technologies that are being sold that just do not work. This last few weeks I’ve spent countless hours researching and learning how to set things up, checking and double checking things and there is ALWAYS something that just doesn’t work as intended. Whether that is the developer/product designer willfully obscuring details in order to make more sales or not is always suspect. The end result is always the same – “it must be your configuration”. I could pull something out of the box, hook it up and whoops! My configuration is responsible for the ghost in the machine. Yeah. Right.

#5

I have a note 5 and it was on a note 4 before. I haven’t seen anyone complain about making their phone warm or battery drain. This is not normal and something is wrong. Have you asked for help on it or asked others if they have the same problem?

#6

If you don’t believe me, I can post screen shots of my Android battery readings.
here is the break down of my latest power usage since last full charge:

Vera Alerts: 39%
Android System: 12%
Android OS 4%
Google Services: 2%
Screen: 1%
Cell Standby: 1%

I think that’s a pretty good reason to consider the plugin broken. Oh yes, and let us not forget the infamous “LAN socket error” that has been plaguing us. Pretty sure I haven’t imagined that since there are numerous posts in the forum that mention that exact problem.

I will begin to monitor and log my phone temperature. Also, I’ll try to take an infrared temperature reading of my phone next time I notice the aberrant behavior if I’m at home and have the equipment handy.
I believe that it has something to do with losing internet connectivity since I do not use a data plan on my phone and it seems to only heat up when I’m out. I find it strange that Vera Alerts is having so much trouble with that since I use Tasker and Tasker plugins that constantly scan for wifi as well and they don’t (noticeably) adversely affect my battery life.

#7

The following is just the Android delivered statistics …
Vera Alerts supports many different transport protocols … I would imagine over 1 million notifications/month.

Results:
Year Month Count Year Month Count Year Month Count Year Month Count Year Month Count
2016 Nov 12226 2015 Nov 643595 2014 Nov 637467 2013 Nov 435838 2012 Nov 19
2016 Oct 766602 2015 Oct 820695 2014 Oct 672566 2013 Oct 406501
2016 Sep 755176 2015 Sep 945081 2014 Sep 682091 2013 Sep 336807
2016 Aug 771656 2015 Aug 1116242 2014 Aug 692651 2013 Aug 271359
2016 Jul 696355 2015 Jul 825521 2014 Jul 644880 2013 Jul 258564
2016 Jun 708036 2015 Jun 777952 2014 Jun 588059 2013 Jun 214004
2016 May 716216 2015 May 923440 2014 May 569715 2013 May 211472
2016 Apr 685461 2015 Apr 817035 2014 Apr 445409 2013 Apr 144049
2016 Mar 658805 2015 Mar 752660 2014 Mar 617640 2013 Mar 118561
2016 Feb 570932 2015 Feb 635528 2014 Feb 518908 2013 Feb 95583
2016 Jan 575769 2015 Jan 683261 2014 Jan 550525 2013 Jan 58378
2015 Dec 486091 2014 Dec 695139 2013 Dec 499846 2012 Dec 14

#8

[quote=“Quixote, post:6, topic:194208”]If you don’t believe me, I can post screen shots of my Android battery readings.
here is the break down of my latest power usage since last full charge:

Vera Alerts: 39%
Android System: 12%
Android OS 4%
Google Services: 2%
Screen: 1%
Cell Standby: 1%

I think that’s a pretty good reason to consider the plugin broken. [/quote]

It’s not that I don’t believe “YOU” its just that “YOUR” the only one with this issue it seems. I would try and figure out why that is if I were in your shoes rather then going on a rant. Again have you asked for help or if others are having this problem?

#9

YOU’RE delusional if you think that I’m the only one having problems with this plugin. Take a look at the other posts and tell me with a straight face that you really believe that my issues with Vera Alerts is an isolated incident.
Anyway, you won’t need to worry about any more “rants” from me. I’ve removed the offending application and found something that actually works as it’s supposed to. I’m not wasting anymore time on this since I have more important things to do with my time than take up the role of “plugin detective” and start polling users about their phone temperatures and battery efficiency.
See you.

#10

Don’t let the door hit you in the ass…!

#11

Go f^%& yourself.

#12

I have not seen posts about it making your phone warm or excessive battery drain like in your case. I have asked several times if you asked for help to try and find why your having this problem, but you seem to not answer that. Also I don’t think you’ll be gone, for to long. I’m sure there will be another post about another plugin or issue with the same kind of tone/wording.

I have experienced many issues (most with vera or vera ui it’s self) and generally you find out what your problem is, if your a 1% of user that has this issue and ask if anyone else had this issue, how did they fix it or what the solution was. Maybe reach out on the forums first then maybe the dev for advice. You seemed to bypass all of that and start a app bashing posted like everyone else should join in with you.

It was just a bad approach and seems like you had no intention of working with the app to begin with. Did you ask for your money back for the app? I’m sure you supported it for just around 29 days then bashed on the 30th right?

#13

Thankfully I never made it past the free trial.
As I mentioned, I have a million projects that are half finished over here and I don’t have time to figure out what’s wrong with a plugin that someone else developed. That’s not my job, especially if I’m expected to pay for it. I don’t need help – I need a plugin that works properly.
I posted here so that people that check the forum when considering the setup of their systems will have some feedback to think about rather than just reading the reviews that are kissing ass like the Amazon reviewers that received free products. Maybe they can save the time that I wasted.
Sorry if I hurt your feelings. I should have known better than to complain openly in front of Richard’s lap-dogs. Have a nice day.

#14

Maybe you should have had some idea what you were talking about. I have VeraAlerts installed on my Vera and I can’t say much for it’s functionality as I’ve never looked into how to set it up. That said, it’s on ME that I haven’t done so, not the plug in. Maybe you should do a little research and troubleshooting (that’s what these forums are here for) before you start bitching…

#15

Have you checked to see if you have the latest updates for your Android device? I had battery draining issues earlier this year and it turned out only partly to be the Vera app (beta) fault. There was a bug in the GPS part of the OS that would cause the GPS to basically eat battery power. An update to the app (which uses GPS) took care of about 40% of the issue. Once my phone updated, the issue fully got resolved.

I’m not familiar with the Vera Alerts app as I have no need for i but depending on your Android version you can manage various aspects of the app. One would be to disable ‘background data’ if that option is available and see what that does to the app functionality and your battery life. There may be other config options in the app as well.

#16

What makes you think I haven’t? Prick.
Your subjective experience has nothing to do with mine whatsoever (speaking of not knowing what you’re talking about). Go tell your story to someone who gives a crap.

#17

[quote=“BOFH, post:15, topic:194208”]Have you checked to see if you have the latest updates for your Android device? I had battery draining issues earlier this year and it turned out only partly to be the Vera app (beta) fault. There was a bug in the GPS part of the OS that would cause the GPS to basically eat battery power. An update to the app (which uses GPS) took care of about 40% of the issue. Once my phone updated, the issue fully got resolved.

I’m not familiar with the Vera Alerts app as I have no need for i but depending on your Android version you can manage various aspects of the app. One would be to disable ‘background data’ if that option is available and see what that does to the app functionality and your battery life. There may be other config options in the app as well.[/quote]

Thanks for the suggestions, but I’ve already moved on to a different setup. Regarding my device, it’s up-to-date, rooted, and flashed with a very recent version of Cyanogenmod 13 (Android 6.0.1). No other apps appear to have issues. My GPS remains on at all times, set to high accuracy and I have no battery drain. The only time my battery was draining was when I was using the Vera Alerts app. The app setup is pretty straightforward… I bet even a clown like Mike Yeager could manage without taxing his brain to exhaustion.
Wouldn’t the GPS be classified as the Android system or OS in the breakdown of battery consumption?
Thanks.

#18

What makes you think I haven’t? Prick.
Your subjective experience has nothing to do with mine whatsoever (speaking of not knowing what you’re talking about). Go tell your story to someone who gives a crap.[/quote]

Wow, you’re a winner aren’t you. You yourself posted that you had a million projects half finished and didn’t have time to figure this out. I’ll try to remember not to comment on any of your issues anymore and I sincerely hope the rest of the forum treats you like the asshole that you have shown me you are. Hopefully your new solution works because you may not get much help here…

#19

If you’ve removed the so called offending application and claim your not wasting any more of your precious time on it why are you continuing to post in this thread…? You ended the post below with “see you”, so why don’t you just go away. Why is it that every valuable forum like this has to have someone like you pissing on everything. Go away for Christ sake…!

I know, now you’ll post another flaming high intelligent remark that requires &%$* in order to be seen.

[quote=“Quixote, post:9, topic:194208”]YOU’RE delusional if you think that I’m the only one having problems with this plugin. Take a look at the other posts and tell me with a straight face that you really believe that my issues with Vera Alerts is an isolated incident.
Anyway, you won’t need to worry about any more “rants” from me. I’ve removed the offending application and found something that actually works as it’s supposed to. I’m not wasting anymore time on this since I have more important things to do with my time than take up the role of “plugin detective” and start polling users about their phone temperatures and battery efficiency.
See you.[/quote]

#20

We have nothing to say? You’re the one that isn’t interested in learning to use the plug in. Had you contacted Richard, or even posted a real question asking for help, you might have found someone to help you. Attacking us won’t make you any more valid in anyone’s mind but your own. Quixote is officially broken…