VeraMate updates

I thought I’d start a closed thread for any updates. Any large items I’ll likely put a notification inside the app itself, but for those who haven’t enabled the automatic IOS7 updates, you might want to setup a “Notify” on this thread. I’ll keep it closed so only updates will be mentioned.

To start it off:
Version 4.2 (Released Feb 10, 2014)

[ul][li]Fix bug where sensor icons won’t change. [/li]
[li]Make sure guest login can be enabled. [/li]
[li]Minor update bugs.[/li][/ul]

Or follow on twitter as I’ll be posting release information there as well #VeraMateApp

Version 4.3 (Released Feb 17, 2014)

Fair amount of minor changes released. A lot around the webcams to fix the aspect ratio, and allow zooming. You will also now notice a little info bar to tell you if the data is out of date while it’s trying to refresh (for example, bad network, or if VeraMate is not used for a while).

Alarm panels now have buttons in the device list to arm/disarm (as well as being able to enter the pincode).

Full change set:

[ul][li]Show notice bar when the data is out of date, and attempting to refresh. [/li]
[li]8 new icons. [/li]
[li]Animation effect on edit mode. [/li]
[li]Alarm panel buttons for arming and disarming. [/li]
[li]Show current version in the setup area. [/li]
[li]Allow pinch-zoom on the webcam images. [/li]
[li]Bug: Hiding a room may inadvertently hide a room with same ID if switching veras. [/li]
[li]Bug: Webcam sometimes showing wrong image. [/li]
[li]Bug: Fix aspect ratio for webcam. [/li]
[li]Bug: Guest login may show when not valid. [/li][/ul]

VeraMate 5.0 (Released Feb 26, 2014)
[sub](Many apologies for some of you; this version isn’t available on all VeraMate’s just yet - Apple have caused me a royal headache as they have rejected one version while letting another through with the exact same critieria (and taking twice as long to tell me!!). Very frustrating, but please bare with me, as this will be out for everyone around this coming weekend).[/sub]

This release includes fairly large UI changes. Some under the cover, some visible. I’m quite excited by this release as it includes a lot of cool stuff.

[ul][li]NEW: Ability to hide devices that you don’t want to be controlled or viewed. [/li]
[li]NEW: Ability to “anchor” favourite devices to the start page. These are currently limited to some switches that have an ON/OFF state. Others currently aren’t support (but will be in the future). [/li]
[list]
[li]Anchors may be one of: always, only when they are “active/on”, or only when they’re off. For example, when an Alarm or Lock is triggered/opened, it will be displayed. [/li]
[/list]
[li]Ability to force a “confirmation” on any device - this will prompt the user with a simple confirm/cancel before continuing, to prevent any inadvertent activations.
I’ve accidentally set my alarm off too many times after coming home with “happy” fingers.
[/li]
[li]Remote vera guest control allowed - a prompt will now be displayed to enter a remote URL. [/li]
[li]Slight spacing changes to maximize screen real-estate. [/li]
[li]Other minor tweaks/stability fixes. Including [/li]
[list]
[li]Shows the name of the vera box for the “My Home” section (useful when connecting to multiple boxes). Change this in settings if you don’t wish to see it. (NB: This has changed again in 5.1 - the name of your box will replace the “VeraMate” title instead, so you can easily discern between multiple boxes)[/li]
[li]Icon change for active lights.[/li]
[li]Free version icon changes.[/li]
[/list][/ul]

Checkout our new facebook page to see an example of the new anchored buttons:

Issues

There are a couple of known issues

[ul][li]You may notice scenes (if anchored to the main page), don’t always appear to go back to a “non-running” state. This appears to be a bug in Vera, as some state updates aren’t received, but this is still being investigated.[/li]
[li]The “confirmation” ability on devices doesn’t currently work on devices which have a custom layout (for example, arm/disarm buttons etc) [/li]
[li]“Anchored” buttons cant yet be configured from the main page - ie, confirmations disabled/enabled, change anchor state (always, when on, etc). .[/li]
[li]Remote/guest login is not appearing when logging on via 3G - fixed for 5.1 (toggle WiFi to make this appear)[/li][/ul]

The roadmap for version 5 is to make the UI even neater and slicker. This will include work to enhance the new 5.0 UI components, and more work on device buttons to not only allow image customization per device, but enhance animation and the general feel of the UI. The iPad version will also undergo more of a major rework on some of the UI.

Version 5.1 (Released 11th March, 2014)

**** Support for Vera UI6, Firmware 1.6.x *****

  • Background mode enabled - for any waiting commands, VeraMate will be able to monitor in the background until they go through, or time out. This is absolute minimum battery use, and will NOT drain the battery to refresh the data - refreshes will still only occur when it is in the foreground.

  • Some scenes took a long time to respond, so seem to timeout in VeraMate - this timeout has been extended to cover these situations.

  • The name of your vera will be the title on the main page rather then VeraMate - this will allow you to distinguish when using multiple veras.

  • BUG: Arm/Stay buttons when used from the device list both did the “Stay” command.

Known Issues:

  • The fault tolerance to the UI6 login is a bit too strict. There are a fair number of bad returns from the server, so if you get an invalid login message, simply try again.
  • The “Refreshing” notice might not dissapear in some circumstances. Going to another screen should fix the issue, except on the main page for the iPad.

Version 5.2 (Released 13th March)

This fixes the issue with UI5 veras not being able to turn on/off the devices.

Version 5.3 (Released 28th March)

More favorite anchor options, and miscellaneous changes.

[ul][li]NEW: iOS7.1 support [/li]
[li]New: Ability to anchor sensors to main page [/li]
[li]Anchor alarm panels to the main page [/li]
[li]Anchor virtual switches to the main page [/li]
[li]Better support for virtual switches [/li]
[li]Show current temperature for heating [/li]
[li]Update window covering icon [/li]
[li]Ability to change anchor/confirmations for anchored devices [/li]
[li]Ability to see other non controlled device generic detail screen (i.e., AV) [/li]
[li]Add sensor voice synthesis [/li]
[li]Turn on voice synthesis for anchored main page devices [/li]
[li]Increase fault tolerance for UI6 login [/li]
[li]Bug: Sometimes devices were shown as being in incorrect room if devices were hidden [/li]
[li]Bug: Low battery warning still showing if hidden devices had low battery [/li]
[li]Bug: Window curtains anchor state fix [/li]
[li]Bug: Hide “refresh” note on the detail screen for iPad [/li]
[li]Bug: Fix UI6 to connect to vera locally rather then 3G [/li]
[li]Miscellaneous fixes[/li][/ul]

I’m getting reports that UI6 is crashing in 5.3. I believe this might be a “small” change for external connections which has broken the network code. I would recommend holding off updating if you can.
I will update here with more information as I get it.

UPDATE: 5.4 has just been released which fixes what I thought to be the problem. There have been a couple of other users who may still have problems, which I am still investigating, but may be related to iOS 7.1. Please let me know if you suffer continuous crashes after upgrading to 5.4.

Version 5.4 (Released 31 March)

[ul][li]Fix crash bug for UI6 devices.[/li]
[li]Show schedule of upcoming scenes. Viewed either through the settings, or a configurable smart button that appears when an event is within the specified time[/li]
[li]Show badges for applicable buttons to show the number of items available[/li]
[li]Rename scenes/rooms/devices[/li]
[li]Move scenes/devices between rooms[/li]
[li]Miscellaneous fixes[/li][/ul]

Version 5.5 (Released 4th April)

Further UI6 connection fixes. There is a known issue when connecting to wifi on a different network to your device (eg, starbucks etc), it’ll take 60 seconds before being able to determine the device isn’t on the network when you login. This will be fixed in 5.6.

[ul][li]New: Allow different button sizes [/li]
[li]Show what devices are controlled in a schedule [/li]
[li]Bug: Fix schedule display in iPad settings [/li]
[li]Bug: Network stability fixes [/li]
[li]Bug: Arm “away” didn’t arm on some alarm panels[/li]
[list][/list][/ul]

Version 5.6 (Released 11th April)

[ul][li]NEW: Ability to change background image to list of preset options. Custom images not supported yet.[/li]
[li]Bug: Make badges update in real time. [/li]
[li]Allow sonos and other media devices to use the generic display screen to control devices. [/li]
[li]Stability fixes.[/li][/ul]

A default background image will be used in the future. This can be changed via the settings screen to one of a couple of choices - more choices, and ability to use custom images will be in next major release.

Version 5.7 (Released 21st April)

Only some minor changes for this update:

[ul][li]Only show upcoming scenes specified in settings when viewing schedule via the smart button. [/li]
[li]Show the connection type (wifi/3g) in vera box details under settings. [/li]
[li]No need to show negative temperature values for thermostat. [/li]
[li] Update scene icon for better resolutions. [/li]
[li] Support for GCal plugin [/li]
[li] Bug: Guest login problems in some circumstances. [/li]
[li] Bug: Fix activating a button which has no parameters meaning the command was lost.[/li][/ul]

Version 5.8 (Released 19th May)

Not much in this release as I’ve been doing some travelling, but a couple minor goodies.

[ul][li]Bug: Fix bug on certain devices where the help is unable to be hidden, preventing any further usage of the app. [/li]
[li]New: Show wattage on applicable devices. [/li]
[li]New: Show badge on rooms with active devices (switches). [/li]
[li]Bug: Fix webcams caching wrong image when multiple cameras are on screen. [/li]
[li]Bug: Fix temperature change bug on thermostat with single temperature devices.[/li][/ul]

Version 5.9 (Released 27th May)

[ul][li]Show HVAC state[/li]
[li]Increase watt font size for better readability[/li]
[li]Decrease “active” room badge size[/li][/ul]

[size=12pt]Version 6.0 (Released 21st June)[/size]

Major update to VeraMate. The changes all centre around being able to change the icon for each individual device. Enter edit mode (by holding down a button), and enter the new setup screen for any device to change icons for the different states. Eg, use a different icon for ON/OFF states.

VeraMate 6 also introduces the ability for 3rd party icon packages. There are currently 4 community packages which are available to download inside VeraMate (these are not part of VeraMate, and have been made available by users). Get in touch if you would like to contribute your own icon package.

Among the many other changes:

  • Increased support for SONOS
  • Display the battery indicator
  • Support for the Fortrezz garage door opener
  • And a multitude of other UI and stability changes

Version 6.1 (Released 1st July)

6.1 is primarily a release to start BETA support for push notifications. Please note this is BETA support, and will be being watched carefully over the coming days/weeks. Please view the FAQ for more information:
[url=http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,25799.0.html]http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,25799.0.html[/url]

Additional item:

[ul][li]Fix some devices not showing correct state[/li][/ul]

Version 6.2 (Released 8th July)

Emergency update to fix the UI6 connection and UI issues which occurred after the Vera server upgrades. VeraMate will make every attempt to support UI6, but please be aware that UI6 is BETA firmware, and do not recommend upgrading to it (as these unannounced changes by Vera testify).

Additional items:

[ul][li]Rudimentary support for backing up user settings. On upgrade the settings will be backed up, and can be backed up/restored from the settings menu. This may be enhanced/extended in the future.[/li]
[li]Support for more Alarm Panels configurations. [/li][/ul]

[size=12pt]Version 7.0 (Released 21st July)[/size]

Major new functionality: Introducing GeoFencing - setup virtual barriers which automatically trigger scenes when you cross.

Among other changes:

[ul][li]More support for the unannounced changes that were done to UI6 servers by Micasaverde (icons, server connections, etc)[/li]
[li]Look at speeding up certain attempts to determine UI6 server connections on startup.[/li]
[li]Miscellaneous UI and stability changes[/li][/ul]

This is the first release for Geo Fencing support. Please note you will notice an impact on your battery life if you choose to use GeoFences. VeraMate automatically chooses the best options to minimise battery usage, but as this is the beta version we will still be analysing usage patterns to best minimise this for future versions.

Version 7.1 (Released 2nd Aug)

Icon customization changes which disappeared will be retrieved (due to the path becoming invalid with an upgrade). New customizations will stop disappearing with upgrades in the future. Again, apologies to users this affected.

Other minor bug fixes/enhancements.

  • New “buddy” package icons.
  • Battery usage tweaks for GeoFencing.
  • Show better login error messages if unable to connect.
  • Miscellaneous stability and bug fixes.

Version 7.2 (Released 12th Aug)

[ul][li]Fix UI6 session refreshing not automatically occurring [/li]
[li]Prevent app logging out when a GeoFence scene is activated in the background [/li]
[li]Stop duplicate notification alerts when selecting from iPhone notification centre [/li]
[li]GCAL icons [/li]
[li]Add further diagnostics for better support[/li][/ul]