I want your ISY app ideas!

[jtara92101]

I am an app developer. I'd like to create some sort of app that solves some unsolved problem and works with ISY. I would love to hear your ideas!

 

I know that might seem a bit strange. You'd think an app developer would have lots of ideas for apps! But the thing is, I do this professionally, and my job always starts with a problem to be solved. I'm handed a problem, and then I solve it. My job isn't to dream-up problems that need to be solved! They aren't always the most interesting problems, but they pay the bills.

 

The apps I write aren't in the app store(s) - they are bespoke apps written for large companies who distribute them through their own internal "app store".  I would like to have some apps in the public app stores, and something supporting ISY in some way is one of the ideas I've been considering. If it might be something people might be willing to actually PAY for, that would be great, but I am realistic. 

 

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What I am interested in...

 

- Apps with LIMITED SCOPE and a TARGETED AUDIENCE. I am not interested in recreating e.g. MobiLinc or Agave.

 

- CROSS-PLATFORM apps that work on both iOS and Android.

 

- ALTERNATELY to "cross-platform", I am interested in using some iOS-specific technologies. SOME of these COULD eventually be implemented for Android, as in most cases, Android had these capabilities already prior to recent introduction to iOS. But I am less knowledgeable about Android, and it would be a bit of work for me to write the native extensions needed for Android. (For iOS, I can easily write any needed native extensions.)

 

-- Apple Watch

 

-- Apple TV (I know of NO ISY apps written for Apple TV, right?) Note that, unfortunately, an ISY "gateway" to HomeKit is verbotten. While I think technically possible, it would not be accepted in the App Store. I'm thinking something more along the lines of some sort of useful public kiosk display or something that helps installers in some way.

 

    I think about the simplest Apple TV app I can think of would be one that presents the ISY event log. Yes, one could use e.g. a MacBook and AirPlay the screen to Apple TV. But with an Apple TV app, no Macbook would be needed. Just download the app, open it, and there is your event log. I wonder if this is something that might be useful to installers?

 

-- messageKit (iOS apps can now interact with messaging. e.g. you could turn your lights on with a message, or some event could send a message)

 

- phoneKit (iOS apps can now interact with phone - e.g. perhaps could set a variable when your mobile phone rings, or a particular person calls)

 

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A bit about the apps I write...

 

Typically, the apps I write are cross-platform, for iOS and Android. I use a fairly obscure hybrid (meaning the UI is HTML) app development platform called Rhodes. It's in ways similar to PhoneGap/Cordova, but also quite different. (There is a built-in server that you program in Ruby, while UI code is Javascript - PhoneGap/Cordova is all javascript.) The Rhodes platform supports most device capabilities, it's possible to write native extensions to support those that aren't supported, and I'm pretty comfortable with writing them if needed. (More so for iOS than Android, though...)

 

Most recently, I've developed an app for an international field-service organization that is a division of a large commercial real-estate firm. It deals with such exciting (cough) things as collecting hours, logging in-and-out of workorders, maintaining parts inventory, presenting step-by-step instructions, etc. etc.

 

I've also recently developed apps used to conduct on-site energy audits of homes and commercial buildings.

 

I have a bit of a speciality in developing "families" of apps that are similar in some ways but that have differences as well. I've developed some specific techniques and workflow for this. So, e.g. there are a half-dozen energy audit apps, done to meet the needs of different agencies and DOE programs. When common bits of code are updated, all of the apps get the update, without the need for maintaining libraries and keeping track of dependencies, or doing painful repository merges. In the case of the field-service app(s) there are some differences for the technicians that work exclusively on the properties of a particular client, and they get their own app that has differences.

 

I will probably open-source any Rhodes extensions I create. And possibly any app.

 

I'd love to hear your ideas! And would love to hear from both end-users and installers, as really my background goes more to meeting the needs of the likes of the latter. I have lots of "fat finger" UI design experience, well-tested by thousands of on-site service technicians, LOL...

[Teken]

My initial reply has nothing to do with directly what you asked about. But wanted to ask if you would consider working on and making the HAD interface more user friendly where a person simply needed to load it in the ISY or to a RPi. The end user simply needed to enter the basics from IP address to user name / password etc.

 

Now, with your specific question at hand you have my whole undivided attention about *Energy*. Energy Monitoring / Energy Management is truly un-sexy. Because its so un-sexy there isn't a lot of applications or direct methods for user interaction and reactive awareness.

 

Because of all of this I have personally dedicated myself to find, use, and deploy bridge solutions to (mimic) and offer the very same. I would be very interested to see what you could do to make the Amazon Echo initiate feedback. As noted up above I have been working on a reactive voice announcement which uses a Autelis Bridge, RPi, ISY Series Controller, Dash Box, and Green Eye Monitor.

 

As of this writing I have more than 200 plus canned replies which the system invokes when a condition is met. These canned responses cover all manner of use cases and conditions from: Environmental, Weather, Energy, Security, Network, HVAC, Force Protection, to basic notification of basic tasks.

[Michel Kohanim]

jtara92101,

 

Coincidence? For our CEC project, we need a very focused and simple app:

1. Both for IOS and Android

2. Help simplify geo fencing/occupancy for ISY/ISY Portal

3. Must be CA based (hopefully 92101 is San Diego)

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[kevkmartin]

A good alarm clock app that allows REST commands to be used when alarms are set, go off, snooze, etc.

 

Use case: set alarm at night, send REST command (really just want to call a URL) to set house to goodnight mode. Also, sends specified wake time to ISY so "wake-up" events can begin prior to alarm

 

When alarm goes off, have specific URL calls be made to do other things.

 

While this is probably simple, there doesn't seem to exist an iOS app that allows URL calls to be made.

[jtara92101]

Michael, yes, the 92101 part of my user name is what you think it is, and yes, that is San Diego.

 

I will email you! This interests me, as I've had my own frustrations trying to use "universal" geofencing apps (currently, Locative) to provide home/away indication. I can see that the setup of a universal app is a huge barrier for the average person (typing/copying fiddly URLs!) as well.

[user181]

I would really like an iOS app for admin & programming the ISY.