droid app for apex?

[Sisterlimonpot]

Since you asked... and understand this is coming purely from a users point of view with no programming knowledge.

1. Don't allow the screen to rotate 90 degrees and refresh when you rotate the phone. Keep it straight up and down, don't allow it to rotate.

2. I don't know what's happening when I change one of my outlets from auto to manual on/off and when I touch "change outlet" it stalls for about 10 seconds before it acknowledges that I touched it (button turns red). I think what it does is waits for confirmation from the controller before it lights up. If you can change it from waiting for response from the controller and have it light up when I touch it, that would be great.

Those 2 things are really the only things I would have changed if I was in the position to do something about it.

Hope that's what your looking for.
Jimmy

 

[Reef_Matrix29]

+1 on #2 recommendation.

I would like for the selection and then pressing of the "Auto, Manual On, Manual Off" buttons to actually do the function and not have to then go down and hit "Change Outlets". I understand that the current way allows for batch input, but sometimes if you have a lot of EB8's and outlets, you have a long way to scroll down to "change outlets". Perhaps an Aqua notes style slider from "Auto, On, Off" selections.

Other than that, it seems to work straight forward enough, I guess once the main coding is done, a bit of UI design can be done for a polished look.

 

[HeneryH]

...have to then go down and hit "Change Outlets"...

More than once I've spent time debugging a problem only to find out that the user didn't realize they had to hit the 'Change Outlets' button. I think executing the change immediately would be a good thing too.

The delay on change is because I started the network interaction immediately on the 'press' and don't update the display until complete. Poor design that should be enhanced for a better user experience.

The not-rotating would solve one bug which is a complete network refresh every time the screen rotates

Spidey is all over this now, I hope he doesn't burn himself out!

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

A big
THANK YOU
for all the hard work you have done HeneryH and all the work that you are/will be doing gopherspidey.

 

[gopherspidey]

Thanks for the sugestion on locking the screen. That is an easy change, I would still like to come up with a layout what would work well in either position.

I will look into the change outlet for better end user feedback.

I believe that I have found and fixed a lot of the problems with the symbols in the probe names and outlet names. I just need to test it alittle more and get it published to the market. I think I will lock the screen as well in that release.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Great, keep us posted as to when it's published. I can't wait. thanks

 

[Reef_Matrix29]

Sounds like things are really about to pick up now. I wish I could help by means of coding, but chemistry is my discipline and I only took one course in C++ in college, so unfortunately I can only input on application suggestions. Looking forward to the next update!!

 

[superray2002]

Biggest thing for me that stops the application cold is using/calling the Profiles.

 

[SC Reefaholic]

Go Spidey go! My Apex is being delivered today. This will be a HUGE help as I travel a lot and my Droid X is my best friend. Wish I could help but I am having trouble just getting the code for my Apex written. Huge thank you to HeneryH and now you for working on this.

 

[cnaegler]

Hello all,
Can someone direct me to this app? I would love to have it on my DroidX2

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Hello all,
Can someone direct me to this app? I would love to have it on my DroidX2

From your droid, go to the 'market', and do a search for "Apex app info" it'll pop up 17th down the list (for me anyway), called "Apex" with "HereryH" under it.

Hope that helps

 

[cnaegler]

Ok...i download the app but it doesn't show me any parameters. i just keep getting Error: HTTP connection failed. I'm pretty much computer illiterate so i'll need help to debug what's going on! Do i need to add my controller's URL? Right now it has http://heneryh.homeip.net:1080/ in the "enter a URL for this controller:" slot.

 

[RussM]

Do i need to add my controller's URL? Right now it has http://heneryh.homeip.net:1080/ in the "enter a URL for this controller:" slot.

LOL. Yeah, put your own in. http://heneryh.homeip.net:1080/ is the app developer's URL, given as an example of how to format the entry.

 

[cnaegler]

LOL. Yeah, put your own in. http://heneryh.homeip.net:1080/ is the app developer's URL, given as an example of how to format the entry.

Ok....not to sound like an idiot but....how do i know what my controller's URL is? Is this the IP address?

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Ok. It's not just download the app and your off and running. There's a lot more that needs to be done. You have to program your controller, set up a website and configure your router for port forwarding. It sounds complicated but it's laid out for you step by step in this sticky. Click on the link and download the pdf file. There's a lot of reading but it's pretty self explanatory once you get going. Good luck.

 

[cnaegler]

Ok. It's not just download the app and your off and running. There's a lot more that needs to be done. You have to program your controller, set up a website and configure your router for port forwarding. It sounds complicated but it's laid out for you step by step in this sticky. Click on the link and download the pdf file. There's a lot of reading but it's pretty self explanatory once you get going. Good luck.

Thank you! I figured it wasn't that easy...it never is!

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

You're welcome. I was in your shoes. I'm computer illiterate, it'll seem overwhelming at first but if you stick with it, the benefit out weighs the hassle. You'll really enjoy being able to check on your tank while out and about and receive text messages when something is wrong.

 

[gopherspidey]

App Update

App Update

The app has been updated in the market

Version: 1.9.4
Changes

• Locked the orientation of the outlet screen (This is only temporary until I can fix the refresh problem when the orientation changes)
• Fixed the problems if symbol characters in the probe or outlet names

Known issues

• no end user feedback after the change outlet button is pressed
• url of the controller starting with a capital H (needs to be lower case)
• Profiles Status on Outlets Not supported: Code currently only expects AON, AOFF, ON or OFF for outlet status. Now that people are using LEDs more and ramp profiles there are more instances of PF1 that cause problems.
• Force-Close if Refresh during Update: Disable 'update' during a current update. This causes a force-close.
• Update Widget Data: When user manually updates data via the full app, it does not push the new data to the widget.

 

[JPags]

The app looks really good.

A few suggestions for you that may help with screen layout.

You may want to seperate out the display of the Probe values, sockets, and other stuff from actually changing them. You could use buttons at the top or bottom to select "Info" "Change" or Feed. This would allow you to only display whats necessary on each screen.You may also want to move "Reload" to the menu, not sure if it has to be right at the top.

Having too much on one screen makes if very difficult to do an efficient layout design.

If you are looking for some help with this, I do not have a ton of time but I have been building software for a long time and would be willing to give you a hand. Even if its only with screen layout and design.

Keep up the great work.

John

 

[Reef_Matrix29]

+1

I really want a good looking and flowing Android app so I can stop using my iPod touch most times when I'm home to control things.

Is the "Reload" button even needed and is it possible to add a change background or wallpaper to the app itself, perhaps even make it transparent with whatever your home screen background currently is?

Keep up the great work and I'm anxiously waiting for a BIG UI refresh soon I hope.