SimpleControl (Formerly Roomie Remote)

[wintermute]

Well for those of us using Simple Control, we now have this forum area where we can post what we know about getting it to work well with ISY and a place where we can hopefully answer each other's questions. There has been past interest in creating this section and I hope those interested users are still around and will join us here.

If you use Apple iOS devices (iPhones, iPads), you may want to give Simple Control a look. It provides a fairly comprehensive user-interface for controlling everything in your home, from AV gear (amps, TVs, consoles, Sonos, to security cams, to lighting, etc. and integrates fairly well with ISY to provide a clean, all-in-one user interface. It's perfect for running on an iPad Mini while using a LaunchPort wall-mounted magnetic inductive charger, or just use it from an iPhone. ISY + SimpleControl allows you to create a single clean interface, similar to what Apple has tried to do with HomeKit, but without the restrictions of using only Apple-approved HomeKit Compatible devices.

I will try to compile some links to other threads where SimpleControl has been discussed and post those here later... they don't all come up easily via Search since the name "Simple Control" has fairly generic words in the name and can be mentioned using many variations (eg. "SimpleControl", "Simple Control", "SC", "Roomie", "RoomieRemote", etc.)

In addition to changing their name to something much more generic, SimpleControl seems to have shuttered their forums... they are no longer the vibrant area for discussion they once were and the SimpleControl website now does all it can to direct you to their support staff for any questions... and unfortunately, their support staff just can't know everything about every device that can interface with their software, ISY being one of those devices of which their support staff tends to have limited or outdated information. They have decent documentation, but it is severely lacking when it comes to specific third-party product integration, such as using the ISY with SimpleControl.

To try to alleviate the problem with finding references to SimpleControl posts, I recommend that we try to stick to using "SimpleControl" as the proper syntax when mentioning the software. Personally, I think they should fire the marketing team that decided to change their name from the unique and well indexed "Roomie Remote" to the generic name of "Simple Control."

It will be interesting to see how all the expanded capabilities of Polyglot, NodeServers and Polisy will work in conjunction with SimpleControl. I imagine that we would need to create a bunch of hooks/nodes to allow SimpleControl to access the new capabilities that UD is bringing to us at first. Maybe we can eventually recreate much of the capabilities of SimpleControl directly in Polisy via a web interface that looks and works like SimpleControl, but which can run on any device with a standard browser. That would be awesome.

[John McDowell]

Wintermute,

 

Thanks for making the effort to get this forum up and running.  I have been using Roomie now SimpleControl for a number of years.  I have found it to be very good for controlling my AV system.  Through a lot of trial an error I have had reasonable success with my Insteon devices that are controlled via ISY.  I am looking at bringing more devices into the mix via Polygot (specifically ceiling fans via the BOND controller once their local API work is mature).  In the near future I will be automating my pool and hope to bring that in the mix as well.  I also use Mobilinc HD for ISY devices.  My ultimate goal would be a single app to control all of my devices but that is a stretch goal given the fractured state of home automation at the moment.

For those interested in getting Insteon via ISY to work on SimpleControl I posted a synopsis previously on how I was able to get it to work and would be happy to assist anyone having difficulty.

[wintermute]

I have dabbled with Simple Control in the past and was very impressed with the UI and capabilities. I switched to Android about a year ago and didn't realize they were an iOS only shop. I still have an iPad though and I have considered turning it into a whole home controller running Simple Control in guided access mode. 

SimpleControl works well in Guided Access mode, however, I always find that there is some other app I need to access on occasion, so I set my controller up as a restricted Family Member under iOS. Notably, since Sonos updated their API, I find that using the Sonos App is sometimes needed for selecting certain sources. I use the LaunchURL function to launch the Sonos app from within SimpleControl and also use the Split Screen function on the iPad to keep both SimpleControl and Sonos in the foreground... this is a necessity when you have zones with AV receiver/amplifiers and Sonos Connect players since the Sonos app has no way to control the volume in this situation and since SimpleControl has not yet been updated to the new Sonos API. Hopefully, SimpleControl will update Sonos control soon to restore full functionality from within SimpleControl so this becomes unnecessary.

[wintermute]

Just a note that SimpleControl has a v.6.x beta available for testing. I've been trying it out and it seems pretty stable. It looks almost identical to v.5.x, however it apparently no longer needs a hub for synchronizing and no longer supports remote access directly in-app. You can run SC v.6 beta along side with SC v.5 as they function independently (although you may wish to just utilize one at a time to allow proper synching with other SC controller devices, but no need to uninstall SC v.5 to test SC v.6 beta.) To become a beta tester, send an inquiry through the app itself. It would be good to get a lot of ISY/Insteon users as SC beta testers so we can have more influence to have them resolve incompatibilities, etc. with ISY. We also tend to be a bit more comfortable with the tech to provide better feedback.

[etsvilik]

Thanks god! I hate SC dependence on the hub.  My Apple TV keeps disconnecting and they don't have Guided Access for ATV.

I'll send them request for Beta. 

 I miss Roomie?

[SSS]

 installed this new version from the Admin console everything works fine...however I use Roomie Remote ver 6.x on my iPads and I have several ofthese in each room....there is. 4/5 second lag for each command basically it’s slow to respond...I don’t have such issues with 4.7.x please help.