VeraMate for Apple Watch

Apps & Remote Access Unmaintained
#1

… is currently in BETA :slight_smile:

I’m curious to know interest in the watch. The Apple Watch upgrade will be an in-app purchase to activate (99c) - this will currently not be included in the premium edition.

Will leave this thread for any q and a’s for the upgrade. Current ETA to be released by apple is around the 2 week mark after some more beta testing (as I don’t have a watch to test the true look and feel - I’ve ordered one specifically to build the version though).

#2

Hi,

hi there a way to enter the beta test? Would love to have this functionality on my watch.

#3

Happy to be a tester if required.

#4

Sure - PM me your email and I can add you.

#5

Looking for as much feedback as possible from beta testers since I don’t have a watch to test the look and feel yet. Especially the voice control as that can’t even be tested without a watch.

#6

Hi, I am a heavy Vera user with over 40 devices and pretty much every kind. If you are looking for an additional beta tester for the apple watch I would be up for testing And providing feedback as well. Thanks.

#7

Thanks - the BETA program is over now (thanks very much for all feedback). And as of today, Version 9 for Apple Watch is now out !

I’m still interested in any feedback though - I’ll be planning a lot more, as I know it can still be improved, but it’s been hard developing without trying it on an actual watch. (I’ve ordered one for this purpose, but it’s still a month away).

#8

Just an opinion…

I’m testing it and the interface seems a little bit nested…
Too many passages to reach the most useful action that is the switching off of lights and devices that are currently on.

I Think the most wanted button is “Active Lights” that activates the list of current lights that are on
Then the access to single room with their actions… but currently the icons are not interactive so it would be nice to press on the bulb and have it turned on/off.

I don’t know how to dock button on the main screen… force touching the buttons on the other screens brings to a blank screen
but I must confess that I haven’t read any istruction for the apple watch vera app

#9

Thanks Veramate!

I have purchased the Apple Watch add-on last night and here is some initial feedback (not criticism, trying to be constructive) =D

  1. UI
    a. The top 3 icons seem to be off in aspect ratio - they seem “fatter” with my large Apple Watch
    b. I am not sure what is the middle icon for - it seems like for refreshing devices, but I don’t have any feedback to know what it did after I tapped it

  2. I noticed some occasional crashing and unresponsiveness - but I can’t consistently reproduce it to indicate how / when exactly. My “impression” is usually when the app times out and then later on when I try to get back to it to use it, the first time may crash on me

  3. Feature Request - Put the phone’s “Favorites” or “Dashboard” feature on the phone. My personal take is on the Watch, the user will simply want some “quick”, ideally to gain access to the device in a couple clicks. Having the entire device list is cool, but common use cases may just be getting to some of the frequently used devices on the watch.

#10

[quote=“jeff3lo, post:9, topic:187298”]Thanks Veramate!

I have purchased the Apple Watch add-on last night and here is some initial feedback (not criticism, trying to be constructive) =D

  1. UI
    a. The top 3 icons seem to be off in aspect ratio - they seem “fatter” with my large Apple Watch
    b. I am not sure what is the middle icon for - it seems like for refreshing devices, but I don’t have any feedback to know what it did after I tapped it

  2. I noticed some occasional crashing and unresponsiveness - but I can’t consistently reproduce it to indicate how / when exactly. My “impression” is usually when the app times out and then later on when I try to get back to it to use it, the first time may crash on me

  3. Feature Request - Put the phone’s “Favorites” or “Dashboard” feature on the phone. My personal take is on the Watch, the user will simply want some “quick”, ideally to gain access to the device in a couple clicks. Having the entire device list is cool, but common use cases may just be getting to some of the frequently used devices on the watch.[/quote]

No that’s brilliant, thanks - definitely looking to collate as much feedback as possible.

1a) That’s definitely possible - I thought I had the aspect correct, but it’s very difficult getting right without an actual watch. I’ll look at it.
1b) The middle icon… is actually a little redundant. It should refresh the screen immediately - the initial BETA had some problems refreshing, so I wanted to keep it there more as just to make sure the user could refresh the screen for the first release. I’ll be removing it once I’m happy it won’t impact anyone.

  1. This is something I simply can’t debug at the moment :frowning: The development environment just isn’t up to scratch. I’ll see if there is anything I can do until my test watch comes though.

  2. I’m not sure - it sounds like you haven’t “anchored” any devices to the home screen on your app though, or specifically set them to “show on watch”. These devices will appear on the Watch home screen for quick access. Or you’re just saying you want quick access to those lists (dashboard) etc? The idea is that any quick access icons will be anchored on the first screen for the quick access you mention, otherwise the complete setup could be accessed as well.

Either way, the ability to access the dashboard etc is coming up. I’ve been a bit quiet for the last week as I’m working on making a lot of changes under the hood so I can do this easily. The next version or 2 will have a lot more customizations available for this.

#11

Just one more question…

I’ve tried to use vocal control with no result. Is it actually working? When i press on the microphone It sends the request to Siri but I receive always an “invalid command” response. The commands are the same I can find on the iPhone version i suppose. They work on the iPhone but non on Apple Watch.

#12

Solved!
Everything works from docking to voice commands. Provided you don’t have an Apple Watch available you did a great, great work! I have to use Siri in english hoping there will be an italian version of the commands in the next future…

#13

[quote=“macitynet, post:12, topic:187298”]Solved!
Everything works from docking to voice commands. Provided you don’t have an Apple Watch available you did a great, great work! I have to use Siri in english hoping there will be an italian version of the commands in the next future…[/quote]

That’s great. Still a couple niggly problems for some users as there seems to be a crash bug somewhere (which I can’t replicate in the emulator, yet).

My test watch will be here in 2 weeks, afterwards I’ll be able to work on enhancing things which I just can’t tell without trying out :slight_smile:

And I am hoping to work on multi lingual support after a couple more enhancements I have lined up…

#14

Check this… (and also my macaroni english… :slight_smile:

#15

[quote=“macitynet, post:14, topic:187298”]Check this… (and also my macaroni english… :slight_smile:

http://www.macitynet.it/apple-watch-and-domotics-a-video-shows-up-what-you-can-control-right-now-also-with-your-voice/[/quote]

Great page - you’ve made my day :slight_smile:

#16

Guys quick question i just bought veramate and i really don’t know how to use it with siri i’m confuse, can i get some help please?

#17

App developers don’t have access to siri commands, shameful as it is. The eception is for HomeKit which requires hardware manufacturers to support before the app can properly pick up commands (although I’m not familiar enough with it yet to know exactly how).

For VeraMate (and most apps), voice control is done via a third party, but it means it needs to be done inside the app. If you open VeraMate, click on the “voice control” button, and you can specify commands. It makes it less useful I know, but as soon as I find Apple give better Siri integration, VeraMate will use it.