Icon/control size and other new user feedback

[kjbbasic]

I just purchased the HD versipn of your product for use on a new IPad. Nice product! A few comments:

While realistic/nice looking the device/scene icons(controls) are large and there is a lot of wasted real estate on the Ipad (top/bottom, icons themselves...). I know cross-product support may be an ssue but it'd be nice if the HD version could better utilize the screen. ...options to control icon size/appearance for one. The "alternate/advanced" icon selection may help but I guess (for now?) it's only used on the Iphone?

I have 80+ devices in the house and even with folders I need to scroll too much. I'd prefer to minimize this and better utilize each page to show overall devices/status. Also, the Back arrow and folder icons use up a lot of space (a full "slot" that a device would use). With the current "realistic" icons it's also tougher to quickly tell which device is in what state.

The current HA software I use has a floor plan view which I like. At a glance I can see a layout of each of the floors of the house (quick to switch between floors) with all the devices (using customizable or built-in device icons) layed out in their appropriate location and clearly showing the current state....my son has all his lights and ac unit on, the media room tv is on, motion was detected at the front entry and the lights are now on, etc. I can then use the mouse (or touch on the HP touchscreen) to control the state of any device. Quick status/quick control.

For a variety of reasons (incl not being able to use the ISY and the fact that the solution is heavily windows based) I'm looking at alternative SW solutions (with Ipad and Android support/better mobile support) with good navigation/device status/control capabilities....the floorplan being an example of what I'm used to/style I like.

Another item, Mobilinc seems to disconnect from the iSY at times..esp when in sleep (which is fine/expected) but pops up the ugly in-your-face "reconnect" dialog immdiately when the app redisplays...perhaps a better delay/retry solution may help as things seem to be able to reconnect pretty quickly.

I do like the fact that devices "simulate" local switch control via leveraging scenes...nice feature.

I'd like to put in a vote for multible device/"family plan" purchase options...with the variety of Apple/Android devices I have the $$$ can add up.

Finally, with Android, what's the support like for 1920 X1200 (or similar higher res) devices? (aka Asus TF700t)?

That's about it for now....

...also I'm running with IOS6 (legal dev install) just FYI...if it makes any diff with say the disconnect issue (or other issues I may report).

[AdminWes]

Hi kjbbasic,

Responses inline:

I just purchased the HD versipn of your product for use on a new IPad. Nice product! A few comments:

While realistic/nice looking the device/scene icons(controls) are large and there is a lot of wasted real estate on the Ipad (top/bottom, icons themselves...). I know cross-product support may be an ssue but it'd be nice if the HD version could better utilize the screen. ...options to control icon size/appearance for one. The "alternate/advanced" icon selection may help but I guess (for now?) it's only used on the Iphone?
{WES} The original design goal was to wall mount the iPad with MobiLinc HD running as the interface to your home. With the realistic graphics, anyone could understand how to interact with your setup without training. The icon selections in HD are currently used when paired with IP cameras and devices/scenes/programs are tagged to an IP camera. These icons appear with your IP Camera video stream on the screen at the same time.

I have 80+ devices in the house and even with folders I need to scroll too much. I'd prefer to minimize this and better utilize each page to show overall devices/status. Also, the Back arrow and folder icons use up a lot of space (a full "slot" that a device would use). With the current "realistic" icons it's also tougher to quickly tell which device is in what state.

The current HA software I use has a floor plan view which I like. At a glance I can see a layout of each of the floors of the house (quick to switch between floors) with all the devices (using customizable or built-in device icons) layed out in their appropriate location and clearly showing the current state....my son has all his lights and ac unit on, the media room tv is on, motion was detected at the front entry and the lights are now on, etc. I can then use the mouse (or touch on the HP touchscreen) to control the state of any device. Quick status/quick control.
{WES} Floorplan view is something we are considering adding to MobiLinc HD as a possible plug-in for purchase. It would work similar to how you are describing your current HA software.

For a variety of reasons (incl not being able to use the ISY and the fact that the solution is heavily windows based) I'm looking at alternative SW solutions (with Ipad and Android support/better mobile support) with good navigation/device status/control capabilities....the floorplan being an example of what I'm used to/style I like.

Another item, Mobilinc seems to disconnect from the iSY at times..esp when in sleep (which is fine/expected) but pops up the ugly in-your-face "reconnect" dialog immdiately when the app redisplays...perhaps a better delay/retry solution may help as things seem to be able to reconnect pretty quickly.
{WES} Thanks for the feedback. This is likely because the iPad has disconnected from Wi-Fi and is attempting to re-establish the Wi-Fi connection when MobiLinc wakes up and is expecting to be able to reconnect to your ISY. MobiLinc sees that there is no internet available and gives you the error message. There are currently built in delays for this scenario.

How long does it take your iPad to reconnect to your Wi-Fi source?

We'll see if there might be something else happening causing this issue. In performing some quick testing just now, we can't seem to replicate this.

I do like the fact that devices "simulate" local switch control via leveraging scenes...nice feature.
{WES} Thanks!

I'd like to put in a vote for multible device/"family plan" purchase options...with the variety of Apple/Android devices I have the $$$ can add up.
{WES} App developers have no control over this. The purchase rules are set by Apple and Google. Fro Apple, you can share a purchased app with other iOS devices by logging into that device with your iTunes account and restoring the purchase to that iOS device. For Android you can install MobiLinc on all devices that use the same Google ID that was used to purchase MobiLinc initially.

Finally, with Android, what's the support like for 1920 X1200 (or similar higher res) devices? (aka Asus TF700t)?
{WES} Currently MobiLinc Pro scales with the resolution on Android.

That's about it for now....

...also I'm running with IOS6 (legal dev install) just FYI...if it makes any diff with say the disconnect issue (or other issues I may report).
{WES} Thanks. There are currently no known bugs with MobiLinc and iOS6.

Wes

[GuitarBuilder]

I'd like to second the comment on icon size. I run MobiLinc on both my iPhone and iPad; I like the ability to change icons on the iPhone app - it allows me to quickly find the right device. Unless I missed something, I can't modify the icons on the iPad app and it drives me crazy. They all look the same (and huge) and IMHO this is a big negative (pun intended). How about having the option to choose icon size and shape? Heck, it would be killer if a user could import their own icon graphics.

[AdminWes]

GuitarBuilder,

Thanks for the feedback. The original design goal was to wall mount the iPad and have familiar controls that appear and work just like the actual devices so that anyone in the home could easily understand how to operate your home automation setup.

We are considering different options to add in to satisfy additional use cases where folks would prefer to use the smaller icons for interacting with their setup.

Wes

[cgritt]

I am also very fond of your application (use it on my Ipad and Android phone), especially the camera integration allowing controls to be tied to the camera. I would also like to see some sort of floorplan functionality, to aid in making the tool simpler to use. Currently, I need to go to a folder (i.e. Theater) and select the switch with the name i'd like to run. It would be nice to just point and click on a floor plan. Taking that a step further, using a photo of the room and being able to "touch" the image of the lamp in my theater room to turn it on or set a dimming scene would make for one heck of an automation controller.

[AdminWes]

Thanks cgritt,

We've got this on our to-do list as a plug-in. We're excited to bring functionality like this to MobiLinc.

Wes

[dbong]

Just adding an opinion and suggestion here...

A List View (with the icons) just like the List View on the iPhone mobile would be really sweet. I really like the iPad MobiLinc HD just as it is. BUT, adding the List View (along with icons like on the mobile version) as an option to My Favorites would make it PERFECT! And switching back-and-forth between the two views (original switch view and List View) would be nice (as a saved setting). The List View provides more device information on the screen at once, gives quick scene and device recognition (user-config icons), and allows quick viewing, selection, and vertical scrolling. Again my opinion, the iPad MobilLinc HD version just isn't complete without the List View.

[AdminWes]

Thanks dbong, we'll keep this under advisement and think about this.

Wes