MobiLinc X (iOS/Android) now supports ISY Portal!

[InsteonNut]

Hi Folks,

I'm excited to let you know that MobiLinc X for iOS/Android now supports ISY Portal! See the full announcement here:

Wes

[Bumbershoot]

Okay, I've got it and connected to the portal.  Looks like that piece works just fine.  In iOS, it appears that it uses "pull to refresh" to get a current sync of system state, but it appears that can only be done from the home screen? 

BTW, nice job of parsing the folder names and adding an appropriate picture for the folder.

[InsteonNut]

Thanks @Bumbershoot!

There is no pull to refresh. What's happening is when you open MobiLinc X (or resume from background) MobiLinc X will re-connect to your ISY using the best connection method available. When MobiLinc X is syncing with your ISY in the background, you'll see that little animation on the Home Tab so you know it's working.

If you want to manually resync (shouldn't be necessary), you can can do that under Settings->Current Account->ISY->Three Dot Options->Edit Connection Details. Here you can reconnect to your ISY.

Wes

[AnthemAVM]

Hi Wes, 

If I want to buy acess via the ISY portal, is it just the one time cost of $29.99.

 

Thanks 

[InsteonNut]

Hi @AnthemAVM

You have two options to start with:

- Local Only or
- The all-inclusive bundle.

Either one will route you to connect with your ISY locally first to get the initial connection established. If you opted for the all-inclusive bundle, you can then edit your connection settings to route through the ISY Portal. 

If you opted to start with a local only connection, you'd need to then purchase the "Remote Access" plug-in to enable remotely connecting to your ISY.

With the all-inclusive bundle discounted until Jan 1st, it's cheaper to go with the bundle then to go local + remote in-app purchase.

Wes

[ISYhbsh01]

Long time Android MobiLinc Pro user here. Where can I see the pricing, without installing the app, for all the various options dicussed in this & the other thread? The website has no pricing info.

[InsteonNut]

Hi @hbsh01

I announced the pricing for the direct bundle in the link at the top. Pricing for everything else is in the app. I made it very easy to see with no upfront commitment. Just download MobiLinc X and tap "Continue" and you'll see all your option in your currency. You can see this in action in the video I embedded in the link at the top of this post for USD currency. 

Wes 

[DennisC]

16 hours ago, InsteonNut said:

Hi @AnthemAVM

You have two options to start with:

- Local Only or
- The all-inclusive bundle.

Either one will route you to connect with your ISY locally first to get the initial connection established. If you opted for the all-inclusive bundle, you can then edit your connection settings to route through the ISY Portal. 

If you opted to start with a local only connection, you'd need to then purchase the "Remote Access" plug-in to enable remotely connecting to your ISY.

With the all-inclusive bundle discounted until Jan 1st, it's cheaper to go with the bundle then to go local + remote in-app purchase.

Wes

Wes,

If I understand correctly, if you purchase the all access and connect to ISY portal, you would need to purchase it forceach family member? There is no sharing the family all access?

[InsteonNut]

Hi @DennisC

Neither iTunes or Google Play will allow sharing of In-App purchases. So, yes, that's correct. I would need to build out my own Family sharing option just to circumvent this for In-App purchases to support something like this. This was one of the drivers for creating a "Family" subscription plan for MobiLinc X as this gave me the resources to build and support a robust family sharing technology stack between all the family member's iOS and Android devices under one subscription. 

Wes

[firstone]

1 hour ago, InsteonNut said:

Hi @DennisC

Neither iTunes or Google Play will allow sharing of In-App purchases. So, yes, that's correct. I would need to build out my own Family sharing option just to circumvent this for In-App purchases to support something like this. This was one of the drivers for creating a "Family" subscription plan for MobiLinc X as this gave me the resources to build and support a robust family sharing technology stack between all the family member's iOS and Android devices under one subscription. 

Wes

Wouldn't it be as simple as releasing "Direct" version without In-App purchases? 

[simplextech]

46 minutes ago, firstone said:

Wouldn't it be as simple as releasing "Direct" version without In-App purchases? 

I'm sure it would be and would be a lot less profitable.

It takes a lot of time which equals money to develop software.  Just because Apple/Google have a "family share" option that people like doesn't mean it's fair to the app developers.  So the in-app purchase is the only way to circumvent the "family share" that Apple/Google built. 

I don't mind paying for each install (license) WHEN the app is a reasonable price.  Currently @InsteonNutI think the direct + remote is silly borderline ridiculous that they are extra charges.  Should be one.  I don't have ELK yet and I'm not going to expose camera's via port forwarding so the ONVIF camera support is worthless to me for remote and like many (most) I use Blue Iris or Xeoma or Unifi Protect for cameras so ONVIF doesn't matter.  Make the direct+remote (ISY Portal connection) a single app/purchase as they technically are the same connect method and make it a reasonable price for an app.

[firstone]

3 hours ago, simplextech said:

I'm sure it would be and would be a lot less profitable.

It takes a lot of time which equals money to develop software.  Just because Apple/Google have a "family share" option that people like doesn't mean it's fair to the app developers.  So the in-app purchase is the only way to circumvent the "family share" that Apple/Google built. 

I don't mind paying for each install (license) WHEN the app is a reasonable price.  Currently @InsteonNutI think the direct + remote is silly borderline ridiculous that they are extra charges.  Should be one.  I don't have ELK yet and I'm not going to expose camera's via port forwarding so the ONVIF camera support is worthless to me for remote and like many (most) I use Blue Iris or Xeoma or Unifi Protect for cameras so ONVIF doesn't matter.  Make the direct+remote (ISY Portal connection) a single app/purchase as they technically are the same connect method and make it a reasonable price for an app.

+1. Would really like a minimal nice looking UI with the cost that doesn't go to photoshop or netflix territory.

[InsteonNut]

Hi @simplextech

It should only be one charge. The bundle option is the best priced option if you are using ISY Portal. It wouldn't make sense to buy local first and then add in remote access since the bundle is cheaper (currently...till Jan 1st).

4 hours ago, simplextech said:

So the in-app purchase is the only way to circumvent the "family share" that Apple/Google built. 

Just so the right info is out there, Family sharing is opt-in from the developer side as I could release a direct only app and not opt into Family sharing. The In-app purchase in MobiLinc X isn't there to circumvent anything. The reason is to keep one code base for iOS/Android without having to manage several different apps/versions like I had to do in the previous iteration of MobiLinc with Pro/HD/OML. That overhead is a nightmare to manage. I absolutely had to move MobiLinc X into a single app in order to stay sane and be able to iterate quickly. Also, Apple announced to developers (I think last year) that they were going to stop allowing new nearly-same apps into the app store. So, there's risk there to go this route where it's the same app, but one is free to download and one is paid.

10 minutes ago, firstone said:

Make the direct+remote (ISY Portal connection) a single app/purchase as they technically are the same connect method

It is one purchase with the bundle. But to push back a little bit here, it absolutely is not the same connect method. I was hoping to move to websocket support in MobiLinc X for direct connections, but the ISY Portal does not support websockets. So, in the middle of developing the direct connection approach, I had to re-write to use SSL sockets instead. A local HTTP connection is dead simple, but supporting SSL is not. Especially when (if not using ISY Portal) using a local IP and SSL. Google and Apple make adding in support for expired ISY certs especially difficult. I spent more time on this than on any other feature.

Wes

[asbril]

I ran into several issues with Mobilinc X. At first it worked (and I am impressed with most of its features)  but as soon as I left home it stopped working. I assume that the initial "search for ISY" only gets the local IP, and that I missed how to connect Mobilinc X to ISY Portal.

But then...... my ISY stopped working all together and the system appears to be corrupted because a restore of a previous backup does not work. I already submitted a ticket with ISY and they are assisting me. But I have a suspicion that this is related to my switching from Mobilinc Pro to Mobilinc X.

Tomorrow I will replace the ISY sd card and do a restore. Hopefully this will bring back my ISY. For the time being I prefer to disconnect from Mobilinc X and stay with Mobilinc Pro until I have a better understanding of how Mobilinc X works with ISY.

[InsteonNut]

Hi @asbril

For Direct IP remote access you'd need to port forward your ISY or use ISY Portal.You can edit settings in MobiLinc X under Settings->Current Account->ISY->Edit Connection Settings.

MobiLinc X connects/syncs using the same API with your ISY the same way MobiLinc Pro and the Admin Console does. 

Wes

[asbril]

Thanks Wes, I have ISY Portal. How do I  set Mobilinc X with ISY Portal ?

[InsteonNut]

@asbril

It's the same as MobiLinc Pro: https://wiki.universal-devices.com/index.php?title=ISY_Portal_MobiLinc_Configuration

You can edit settings in MobiLinc X under Settings->Current Account->ISY->Edit Connection Settings, then use the info in the link to fill in the remote IP/Port and your portal email/username and password.

Wes

[TomL]

I have downloaded Mobilinc X and want to see what I can do with it and how it can be displayed on wall mounted tablets, but the trial version says I have to enable mobil linc connect to get it to work.  I know for what I want to do it will require the direct bundle, but there is not a trial version for it, there is just an outright purchase for 79.95.  How can I preview this without connecting to moblinc or spending 79.95 to see if it is more advantageous for my needs then Agave, which I use presently?  I am interested in what is customizable as far as display screens.

[InsteonNut]

Hi @TomL

MobiLinc X is currently mobile focused. iPad/Tablet support is on my radar, but it's not ready yet.

In short, you can't preview a one-time purchase. The free trial is for the fully featured MobiLinc X with all benefits and features of the MobiLinc platform which requires our MobiLinc Portal for the very best experience. It's easy to switch portals to try it. You can do that yourself under the Admin Console Help->Purchase Modules. If you don't want to use our portal after trying our MobiLinc X, you can just switch back to the ISY Portal.

We have a lot of screenshots on the app store and on the website: https://mobilinc.com/apps/mobilincx/ The app works nearly the same as direct as it does with our portal, but you don't get any cloud features of our portal with direct. For example, with our portal you get: instant on/no syncing, family account management, full settings sync to the cloud and down to all your connected iOS and Android devices, Alexa, Google Home, and IFTTT integrations.

I'm happy to answer specific questions if you have them.

Wes

[dbwarner5]

Hi Wes, I am long time Mobilelinc customer, and currently have HD set up on several devices. I also use the ISY portal. What is the advantage of switching to X? Currently I don't have any issues with HD. All is working just fine. 

thanks. Doug

[InsteonNut]

Hi @dbwarner5

If you are only using a direct IP, switching to MobiLinc X would be for the updated modern interface and same app experience on iOS and Android including camera and ELK integration.

There are a lot of new cloud only features to MobiLinc X you can't get anywhere else as part of our MobiLinc portal and MobiLinc X subscription. For example, with our portal you get: instant on/no syncing, family account management, full settings sync to the cloud and down to all your connected iOS and Android devices, Alexa, Google Home, and IFTTT integrations.

Wes

[Jamison_IO]

Is your website completely updated as far as requirements for the various apps, etc.?

on https://mobilinc.com/apps/mobilincx/ it says, "MobiLinc X supports two ways to connect with your ISY: Through our MobiLinc Portal for the ISY or a Direct IP Connection."

and this is in the current description on the app store:

 

I remember being really confused the last time I looked at Mobilinc. I think it just got more confusing (for me).

 

 

[InsteonNut]

Hi @Jamison_IO

Yes, that's correct. MobiLinc X offers a subscription path with our MobiLinc Portal for the best experience, or you can choose a direct IP/no cloud option as a one-time purchase.

Wes

[Jamison_IO]

10 minutes ago, InsteonNut said:

Hi @Jamison_IO

Yes, that's correct. MobiLinc X offers a subscription path with our MobiLinc Portal for the best experience, or you can choose a direct IP/no cloud option as a one-time purchase.

Wes

OK - thanks for the reply, much appreciated. is direct IP/no cloud the same as using it with the ISY portal? 

 

 

[InsteonNut]

1 minute ago, Jamison_IO said:

is direct IP/no cloud the same as using it with the ISY portal?

Yes. See our website: https://mobilinc.com/apps/mobilincx/ Under MobiLinc X Compatibility

Wes