carealtor Posted February 16, 2018 Posted February 16, 2018 This isn't an ISY or Insteon question so much, so I'm asking in the Coffee Shop for comments. Over the last few years, I, like many others I suspect, dream of/envision an affordable unified touch pad setup in the house where you would be able to control all your home systems. For me, this would include Insteon/ISY/Mobilinc Ecobee for the thermostats Pentair Intellitouch for the pool RainMachine for the sprinklers Harmony for the home entertainment ADT Pulse for the home security I dabbled a little bit with OpenHab awhile back, but did't get too far with it. It now occurs to me that I have an app on my phone for every one of these systems. So..... Why not just have an Android tablet with apps mounted on the wall? Could even be several of them throughout the house. I mean, why reinvent the wheel? An icon for each system Pros? Cons? Comments on going this approach?
fahrer16 Posted February 16, 2018 Posted February 16, 2018 I personally dislike having a bunch of different apps, all with different interfaces. It would cost a little bit but I use Allonis on my various devices; it has good ISY integration and it looks great. The price is really the big drawback since the more you want to do with it, the more it costs. There are a ton of options out there though. I think Home Assistant works pretty well. If you're familiar with Node-Red, you can build a custom dashboard on it accessible from any browser. I just wrote a node for node-red that integrates with ISY and almost all those devices can be pulled into the ISY (I'm not sure about Pentair or ADT Pulse).
KSchex Posted February 16, 2018 Posted February 16, 2018 I like having a distributed system having different controllers for different things, lighting, alarms, geo fence, air/heat monitoring, etc. I can control each system separately, if one fails everything does not go down. I have however written software to "front end" each app or device into a "master control" web page. This way I can use Kindles for local display and controls around my house. They are reasonably priced ($50 or less) and WIFI is a lot more reliable than an Insteon keypad. Just my 2 cents..
asbril Posted February 16, 2018 Posted February 16, 2018 4 minutes ago, KSchex said: I like having a distributed system having different controllers for different things, lighting, alarms, geo fence, air/heat monitoring, etc. I can control each system separately, if one fails everything does not go down. I have however written software to "front end" each app or device into a "master control" web page. This way I can use Kindles for local display and controls around my house. They are reasonably priced ($50 or less) and WIFI is a lot more reliable than an Insteon keypad. Just my 2 cents.. I have looked at the Fire tablets but my issue is to find a nice way to fix the tablet on the wall, without a usb cable showing....
Scottmichaelj Posted February 16, 2018 Posted February 16, 2018 I have looked at the Fire tablets but my issue is to find a nice way to fix the tablet on the wall, without a usb cable showing.... FWIWhttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WGI4W08/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_4qMHAbGME3XYE
lilyoyo1 Posted February 16, 2018 Posted February 16, 2018 A long time ago, I used command fusion on a tablet. The downside is you have to build it yourself unless you can get someone to do it for you
DrLumen Posted February 16, 2018 Posted February 16, 2018 14 hours ago, asbril said: I have looked at the Fire tablets but my issue is to find a nice way to fix the tablet on the wall, without a usb cable showing.... I have a Galaxy Tab that I use to access my webserver. I will be mounting it and a few others on the wall for my home control. I want to find an in-wall USB box power adapter type thing. Worst case would be to wire a clock outlet box and then mount the tablet over it. Hopefully there would be enough room for a USB power adapter. Might also need to open the tablet, drill some holes and run some power pigtails out the back. -------- Found one. Put a plug with USB ports in it and install it in a portrait orientation.https://www.amazon.com/Arlington-DVFR1W-1-Recessed-Electrical-Mounting/dp/B002W6ZOR4/ref=pd_bxgy_60_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B002W6ZOR4&pd_rd_r=1XWQ7X29PVPH8DQS1RSC&pd_rd_w=nJFii&pd_rd_wg=EFpXx&psc=1&refRID=1XWQ7X29PVPH8DQS1RSC
carealtor Posted February 16, 2018 Author Posted February 16, 2018 1 hour ago, DrLumen said: I have a Galaxy Tab that I use to access my webserver. I will be mounting it and a few others on the wall for my home control. I want to find an in-wall USB box power adapter type thing. Worst case would be to wire a clock outlet box and then mount the tablet over it. Hopefully there would be enough room for a USB power adapter. Might also need to open the tablet, drill some holes and run some power pigtails out the back. -------- Found one. Put a plug with USB ports in it and install it in a portrait orientation.https://www.amazon.com/Arlington-DVFR1W-1-Recessed-Electrical-Mounting/dp/B002W6ZOR4/ref=pd_bxgy_60_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B002W6ZOR4&pd_rd_r=1XWQ7X29PVPH8DQS1RSC&pd_rd_w=nJFii&pd_rd_wg=EFpXx&psc=1&refRID=1XWQ7X29PVPH8DQS1RSC I'm going to be using this in the garage and mount my RainMachine on it. There is plenty or room inside for wall warts and such. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001C42NCG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
stusviews Posted February 17, 2018 Posted February 17, 2018 22 hours ago, Scottmichaelj said: FWIWhttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WGI4W08/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_4qMHAbGME3XYE Wow, at that price a tablet should be included.
TrojanHorse Posted February 17, 2018 Posted February 17, 2018 Wow, at that price a tablet should be included. Thought the same thing here. Reminded me of:“The box cost six” Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
glacier991 Posted March 4, 2018 Posted March 4, 2018 My question is thatin some cases, getting Amazon Fire support for android stuff can be difficul:, is not impossible. e.g. I cannot get Amazon Fire support for Mobilinc Pro on a Fire. Google plays games when the only place to get the app is thru the Playstore and the device is a Fire. They don't "see" it as a device you canload it to. How have others overcome this? For now I use mainly ISY UDI's admin console, Mobilinc and CAOwireless tags. I am sure there will be others (my weather station comes to mind, with the same problem with Fire support I might add.
Scottmichaelj Posted March 6, 2018 Posted March 6, 2018 My question is thatin some cases, getting Amazon Fire support for android stuff can be difficul:, is not impossible. e.g. I cannot get Amazon Fire support for Mobilinc Pro on a Fire. Google plays games when the only place to get the app is thru the Playstore and the device is a Fire. They don't "see" it as a device you canload it to. How have others overcome this? For now I use mainly ISY UDI's admin console, Mobilinc and CAOwireless tags. I am sure there will be others (my weather station comes to mind, with the same problem with Fire support I might add. Some download the app app and side load. There’s also a way to change how the device is seen but might need root.
tibbar Posted March 6, 2018 Posted March 6, 2018 On 04/03/2018 at 1:53 PM, glacier991 said: My question is thatin some cases, getting Amazon Fire support for android stuff can be difficul:, is not impossible. e.g. I cannot get Amazon Fire support for Mobilinc Pro on a Fire. Google plays games when the only place to get the app is thru the Playstore and the device is a Fire. They don't "see" it as a device you canload it to. How have others overcome this? For now I use mainly ISY UDI's admin console, Mobilinc and CAOwireless tags. I am sure there will be others (my weather station comes to mind, with the same problem with Fire support I might add. I have Mobilinc Pro working fine on Fire. First install google "Play Store" then from store you can install Mobilinc.
glacier991 Posted March 7, 2018 Posted March 7, 2018 Therein lies the probem. I cannot seem to do that. Even downloading the .apk and running that has been fruitless.
tibbar Posted March 7, 2018 Posted March 7, 2018 1 hour ago, glacier991 said: Therein lies the probem. I cannot seem to do that. Even downloading the .apk and running that has been fruitless. I followed these steps and it work ok. https://www.howtogeek.com/232726/how-to-install-the-google-play-store-on-your-amazon-fire-tablet/
asbril Posted March 7, 2018 Posted March 7, 2018 12 hours ago, tibbar said: I have Mobilinc Pro working fine on Fire. First install google "Play Store" then from store you can install Mobilinc. Does Mobilinc Pro work on Android as well as on IOS ? Last week I installed 2 ISY hubs, 1 for my Son and Wife who both use IOS, and for a friend who uses Android. I believed, until I saw your post, that Mobilinc was mostly for IOS.....
MWareman Posted March 7, 2018 Posted March 7, 2018 Does Mobilinc Pro work on Android as well as on IOS ? Last week I installed 2 ISY hubs, 1 for my Son and Wife who both use IOS, and for a friend who uses Android. I believed, until I saw your post, that Mobilinc was mostly for IOS..... Yes, it does. Though it’s missing many features that the IOS version has.On Android, consider Agave instead. It’s way more complete...
glacier991 Posted March 7, 2018 Posted March 7, 2018 Success! I followed the procedure outlined in the attachment Tibbar posted (4 separate .apk downloads) and it worked! Also, I decided to follow the usually sage advice of MWareman and downloaded Agave. Pretty nice! I am enjoying playing with it. I can already see some functionality in it that Mobilinc for android lacks, but overall think both are pretty darned good. Thanks guys for the advice and assistance.
glacier991 Posted March 9, 2018 Posted March 9, 2018 Well, I picked up an RCA 11.5 inch android tablet for about $75 I am going totry as a "central" controller for ISY. I will have a few other things available, but for now it appears all will be standalone. We'll see how this works, or ends up being redundant somehow.
glacier991 Posted March 22, 2018 Posted March 22, 2018 Well, my experiement has shown a couple of things. For $79 your effective angle of view of quite narrow. But as I envisioned it, a wallmount maynot be what I do with this, a countertop stand mount may serve my purposes... of course there is a smallish power supply line that is visible, but so far it is handling what I was thinking of. The display is nowhere near the quality of a FIRE disply, but half the price and sightly bigger than a FIRE 10.
oberkc Posted March 22, 2018 Posted March 22, 2018 I use a couple of android devices on stands throughout the house. While not dedicated ISY controllers, I do include a few buttons on the home screen for control of key lighting. I use a combination of 1x1 mobilinc and tasker widgets for the buttons, depending on what I desire of the function. I am sure mine is nowhere near the fancy display that most want, but it works for me.
oberkc Posted March 25, 2018 Posted March 25, 2018 Quote Like to see your layout if possible. Hopefully this shows up. Mine is a simple home screen where I put widgets that are important to me at a glance. I use mine to view cameras, see time and weather, calendar, and a half-dozen (or so) buttons for key lighting scenes and fixtures.
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