Mike has gotten close with the Local App for Android. It is very similar to the regular Local App except you must minimize and click Application and then Exit to close it.
Here is the .apk file http://ryan.midnitesolar.com/Kid-Classic%20Code/LocalStatusPanelMobile.apk (http://ryan.midnitesolar.com/Kid-Classic%20Code/LocalStatusPanelMobile.apk)
Please read the readme in the next post and also please post Bugs that are not on the bug list.
thank you
Ryan
Tested on these devices. Requires Adobe Air which runs on Android Gingerbread 2.3+
Samsung Galaxy S3 1280x720 4.1.2 Jellybean
Samsung Tab 1024x600 4.2.2 Jellybean - Rooted Custom Rom
Samsung Galaxy S2 800x480 4.4.2 KitKat - Rooted Custom Rom
Kurio 4s 800x480 4.2.2 Jellybean
If you fall into a different resolution I would greatly appreciate screenshots of how it fits.
There are no plans to go below 800x480.
Best viewed on a tablet, especially at 1280x720 as things start looking very small on the S3
The static ip classic list, and the accepted eula, are only saved when you exit the app through Application->Exit App
Known Major Bugs/Not yet implemented features/Removed features
The EULA does not scale. It will be small on high res devices.
There is a 1-3sec delay after clicking Config, this is actually in the PC app but you may not have noticed.
Application->Config or About window - The close icon is not scaling and so it gets very small on higher res screens.
When Removing a Classic from the list, the Yes/No dialog is very small.
Only on 800x480 devices - Config tabs that grow do not expand the scrollable area, and are the same size as if shrunk.
Classic Name window is currently not set to scale.
Data->Overview - Need to scale font.
Data->Charts Removed - The Chart depends on another app. It would require being completely remade and we just don't have time for it.
Data->Offline Removed - This already required a huge wait to download and is being removed for mobile.
Config - Many items have not been shifted left to compensate for the increased font.
Setting the Classic time for Lites has been disabled for now. It was having a issue with the new SDK and just needs to be looked into.
Works on my Chinese clone (dual sim Mediatek MT6589 based) with qHD 960x540 resolution. From the internet with port mapping even.
(I always buy clones, not because they are cheap, but because I need dual sim, being using them for 10 years now, as only in recent years do proper brands have somewhat decent dual sim, usually because they sell the same clones under their own names)
So it works. Same bug where it displays 10/10 in the Aux1-SOC% setup even though it is set to 60%-99%. Just like in the PC app.
For the rest, as it is also Air based and thus the UI is as unlike android as you can get. No menu button, but small buttons. no pinch zoom, so I need a stylus for the buttons. Taking me back to my Windows Mobile days. But it works, it will suit its purpose, thanks.
MS,
Locat app on my nexus 7(2013) works. I do have scale issue as it is a higher resolution device as you have pointed out. The first thing I realise is that it is not autodetecting my classics and i have to manually input them. I have also realised that the local app on my andriod and pc can not work simultaneously and it is either one or the other. It is a very sweet development though. Nor real bugs so far except that it is slower than the pc in terms of dynamic update of power dash values.
As an aside...could you guys put up a clock on your main website so I can no what time it is there so I know when to call you guys (like on the NAWS main site). An indication of opening hours will be good as well.
Cheers...
Damani
Screen shots of your nexus 7 would be great! Is it the 1920x1080 one? Also, I did not take into account the back,home,recent bar newer tablets are going with instead of buttons, so that takes away real estate. It is slower, and I forgot to disable my current pinch to zoom workings, so if you pinch to zoom, and minimize teh gauges and reopen them, it will have taken effect. But it is by no means ready, and closing/reopening the app will fix any changes.
Also note that we will now be purchasing an iOS dev license so I can build it for iOS. This should require almost no changes as that is why Adobe Air was originally chosen. Flex 3 promised to support mobile devices, then they came out with Flex 4+ and changed how you code to support mobile. Which is why this wasn't as easy as Adobe promised. The entire app has been ported to Flex SDK 4.6 and Air SDK 4. The only issues now are sizing it for multiple devices. This is literally the same build as the PC 0.3.51 with the mentioned removal of the items in the readme. This also means, that one day I go back and make the PC version resizeable. Just don't expect it any time soon.
Something else I plan to change at some point will be removing the settings to another tab, and having the gauges in a similar pattern as the other android app on the forum as it would make for much better viewing.
Hey mike,
I have taken the screen shot as requested. The nexus is the 2013 HD model.
Oh dear, it is telling me that the file is to large.
Not sure how I can play it then. Ok I will email it to you.
Cheers...
Damani
OK, dumb question from a non smart-phone/tablet user...
I've been reading the happy comments in the various threads on the topic of 'monitoring the Classic(s) with a smart phone' using one of a couple of Apps... looks like there are some interesting things ( ie real time load monitoring) that can be done with the apps.
Now the question: In a location that does NOT have any internet connection, can one still use a smart phone to monitor the classics via wifi? Will not having cell service cause the battery to rapidly go dead, due to trying to find a cell?
Yes, if you have no Internet, but you do have WiFi (and the Classic hooked up to it) you can still monitor it with your phone/tablet (assuming that too has WiFi, you will need a modern smartphone)
I suppose the battery question is about your smartphone battery? Well, if you have no Cell service, you can shut down the phone's cell service to save battery. If not via a specific menu option then usually going into 'flight' mode and after that turning on only WiFi leaves the cell radio turned off. Or take out the SIM card.
You can also get a slightly outdated thus cheap pre-used smart phone and permanently mounting it as a console in the kitchen or something. In that case you could also permanently power it.
Have to say I was real keen to see the local app on ISO and android and I do appreciate any effort that ha gone into making it happen on android.
Though after downloading it onto my 2013 nexus 7 HD I have to say it just feels clunky. Both to work with as everything is so small and fiddly (I think the local app is more at home with the mouse pointer on a pc screen) Not being able to pinch and zoom makes it hit and miss on a touch screen. Visually it's a little straining to take in all the date. It feels a little slow to refreshing the live data .
So a honest opinion I'm Not sure if I would want it on my iphone now.
I have been using the little android app (posted in another thread) Doesn't offer the full control of settings that the local app offers. But a visual display of what's going on with the system just the live data. I find it's nice to view particularly in portrait mode where it just shows the raw numbers.
I guess in a pinch it's nice to be able to get the local app running on a table or phone just to get you out of trouble in a pinch if you needed to make some changes to the classic and the pc/laptop wasn't available.
Kurt
I tend to agree. I think Mike is going to have to restructure it for a touch screen etc. I think there could be some tabs like Config etc. We will see what he comes up with but it is hard to navigate on the Galaxy S3 at the moment
I agree the scaling is an issue where you dont get to use all of the nexus real estate but I like not having to lug my notebook around the house and yard when I am out and about the property. I must admit that particularly on the nexus and outer high resolution screens ones eyes must be good to read the various values on the power dash. All in all I love it and it works well and not as tempermental as the other other app in the another post. I agree it needs refining with all of the expected pinch zoom and double touch zoom as well. I still love it. It is still better that what I have on my tablet now...which is nothing. I have another table the first nexus 7 which has a lower resolution screen that I will load it onto and see how it perform on that tablet.
Cheers....
Damani
The not scaling all the way on a 1080p device is because I did not have one to test with. I am emailing dapdan another version with increased scaling. So hopefully I can get that right. As for pinch to zoom, I do have it working, I just have to make sure it scales evenly, and make sure I don't get another bug, because to actively change the screen you have to keep refreshing the screen to catch the changes. I had this working but am redoing it all again, because it was sticking on the Status tab and clicking anything else resets it to the status tab. So I just have to set a flag to only refresh those values when something has indeed changed. And Like I said, I plan to separate the gauges from the settings to better fit the phone. And I need to have the graphics remade at high res, because I am currently just scaling them and they were made very small, so look terrible blown up. We wanted to get the app in an ad and so I released this BETA. I am still updating it, but its a nights/weekend project so bear with me. Also, some of you know Andrew and this was his baby, I ported it to the newest Flex/Air so it would run on Android. All the components of the app are MX. When Adobe started supporting mobile they redid their components to run better on mobile, so the new components are called Spark. MX isn't actually supported for mobile and I am running almost everything in MX still. Slowly I will change these to Spark, but that is an even bigger job.
So to explain this better. Here is an MX button. This one is simple, I simply change the mx to s and done.
mx:Button height="60" width="150" fontSize="24" label="Accept" id="AcceptBtn" click="handleAcceptBtn(event)"
But there are a ton of harder things like mx:canvas, there is no s:canvas, you have to use s:group, or s:horizontalgroup, and s:verticalgroup etc.. also, in mx:canvas you specify its properties like the button. But for most spark items you tell it to use a skin. So then i have to create a file that holds various "skins" that specify how it looks, instead of simply copy-pasting the old style to the new component.
So really it would be redoing the entire app and changing how it looks. But this is necessary because the Spark components use less memory, and will make it run smooth. And honestly I will probably do this when I separate the look and settings Since I will be redoing the UI. Which will be a lot easier than trying to keep the same look with new components since I can just make it look however I want.
I hope you enjoy getting some behind the scenes of how this process works. I know most companies would probably not talk about it. But since we are using modbus, anyone could have made this app, and obviously a lot of you do make your own apps.
Mike, thanks on background on Adobe Air.
Got the beta app to run on my Hisense 7 Sero Pro. ( 1280x720 screen res.) Looks fairly good, except maybe I would mention the fonts looked rather small in the skin and on some of the dialogue buttons.
So I updated the link to the new app that has more scaling flavors. The link in the first post is valid and points to the new app. Here are some of the tested configurations:
Tested on these devices. Requires Adobe Air which runs on Android Gingerbread 2.3+
Nexus 7HD 1920x1080 4.4.2 KitKat
Samsung Galaxy S3 1280x720 4.1.2 Jellybean
Motorola Atrix 960x540 2.3 Gingerbread
Samsung Tab 1024x600 4.2.2 Jellybean - Rooted Custom Rom
RCA 7inch 800x480 4.2.2 Jellybean
Samsung Galaxy S2 800x480 4.4.2 KitKat - Rooted Custom Rom
Kurio 4s 800x480 4.2.2 Jellybean
All,
Went through this app with Mike and my nexus 7hd and it works beautifully. It is snappy and very responsive. The lag is very similar to the PC version of only a couple of seconds. The only bugs that Mike is working on are the x's to close the menus and the small fonts and dialogue boxes.
Well done Mike, Andrew and Midnite.
Cheers...
Damani
Wow-- just catching up on this! Very exciting.
Thanks for the great work Mike and I appreciate you releasing in Beta so we can begin to use sooner rather than later.
Also-- happy to hear you will be doing iOS next since thats all that my house hold has.
Cheers
Eben
I just had a go of the new update on my Nexus 7 HD.
It's a improvement . On the main power dial in the centre the text (power) & (watts) are 1/2 cut off (energy ) & (battery) text is slightly cut off to.
The long term plans for the local app and the dedicated / customised version for touch screens sounds good.
Kurt
Just so everyone else is aware when they see this thread, the app is on the Play Store now.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.LocalStatusPanelMobile
Still working on getting it on the App Store for iOS. I just found out it is impossible to upload an app if you are not using a MAC. Getting really annoyed with Apple and their crap. On top of that, once I get it uploaded they physically review it and it can take up to two weeks to get it put on the store. And for now, the app is not going to look as good as android because Apple uses a 4:3 aspect ratio and the app was designed for Wide screens, not Tube TVs. This will limit the width so I do not cut off the bottom.
Some feedback for you on your new Android App for the Classic. Great news Midnite! Thanks.
Fond user of Local App PC and MyMidnite for remote.
Worked out of the box from Google Play Store. Same as Windows App for configuration, etc.
For your info:
2 x Classic 150's. Networked and in Follow Me. Auto Reset always ON.
Android Device 1. Samsung Tablet 10.1. Model GT-P7510. OS. 4.0.4. 2yrs old.
Android Device 2: HTC Desire HD. Model A 9191 OS. 2.3.5. 3yrs old.
Nice work.
One comment if it helps.
Info. Local App on PC used when needed on site and MyMidnite remote have been flawless for 6 months with mostly MyMidnite monitoring off site.
Android App used last few days with Local App closed on PC. (Only by clicking close, not sure on app run status) One hour app activity. Looses connection when away. Click OK. But will not reconnect. Exit App.
Return to PC local App. No connection. If I wait for the midnight 23.59 auto reset all is fine. So far I refuse to reboot anything manually. My internet connection remains unaffected. This is a remote site and needs the 24/7 link.
Only info to help Dev.
Thanks. Neil.
Looks like another instance of the network stack timeout bug. Given that android devices run on very similar hardware to blackbox, same CPU etc, and that android is linux based, maybe the android app will serve as a driver for this bug resolution :)
Actually you either need to exit the app using the close and save button or by killing the App. Of course I think killing the app is not a graceful disconnect so it could cause some heartburn
II downloaded Adobe Air to my Galaxy Mega with out fan fair.Then I downloaded the local app. It wasn't doing anything I could tell so I clicked the app. Auto-detect was checked and I hit the little button on the upper right hand corner several times. Stil nothing happened. I removed the check mark from the Auto detect and entered a static IP address as assigned by the Net gear 300 wireless router. The Classic was also instructed to use static vs. dynamic. I still didn't get any graphics or data. The other local app from a few pages back was instructed to do the same. It did with no problem.
Maybe I'm overlooking a thing or two. any ideas?
BTW, I really appreciated the program asking for network communication and system tools. Some of the other apps want that and GPS, phone calls placed within the last 60 days, AND your dog's maiden name to proceed.
Thanks Mike for the simplicity of resources
Problem solved...
The Mega doesn't like to be addressed by more than one app at one time. I started up the Midnite app, typed the IP and waited 30 seconds for it to find it. I started the other app up without closing the local app and Midnite couldn't find and run the Classic.
Will the local be able to talk to two wireless routers 850 feet away with Classics on them also? I have two systems separated by that much distance.
As mentioned above. Local App Android and Local App PC not connecting after using Android App. 3 or 4 days now. Issue with Android App only. 100% OK with only PC App and MyMidnite. Even using Config/Exit App to close the Android. Never running together. Good news as Zoneblue suspected. All OK after the midnight stack reset. All working again. Refuse to start rebooting Classics, etc. This now is the 3rd occurrence and all successfully working after 3 times midnight A/Reset.
My location is off grid and remote. Often unattended. Have always used MyMidnite and will continue to with the Android App 'always on' as well. A 60 Euro 7" tablet is winging it's way to us now. This will be the system monitor. Hopefully running 24/7.
Thanks for the work. Neil.
Works just fine on my Samsung Galaxy Mega, with a Classic Lite over Wifi, thanks for the app guys.
Glen
You may want to kill the app from the recents list. Sometimes it stays connected, and you won't be able to use the PC version. Another option if you are only using the Local Network is to just turn off wifi on your phone. To kill the app long press home, or click the recents icon, and swipe the app away. I am unsure how to also remove the app from recents using adobe air as that would solve this issue the best way. The fact that the PC app doesn't work until aRST tells me that your android app is still running in the background.
Ultimately I want to stop the app from staying connected while in the list view. It is completely unnecessary. Andrew should have just pulled some registers to check the status every minute or so, then close the connection and then latch on once they click View.
The best practice I think most people should use on their android phones is to enable developer options by going to settings->about phone and clicking on Build Number until it tells them they are a developer. Then press back once, now you should have developer options. In there you can enable long pressing the back button to kill apps, and set background processes to none. This really saves battery and keeps apps from staying open in the background.
OK Mike. Thanks for the comments. Will take another look at this today. Using Android App Exit was not effective and I believe I may have used an Android Task Manager App to kill it. But will test all this again today on the Samsung Tablet 10.1. Will post the results.
This cannot get in the way of a great App. Neil.
Now re tested Android App alternating with PC App but never together. Issue was conflict on connection and Exit. Using Android Ext App did not work and relied on A/Rst at midnight. Task manager from Android was able to Kill but not ideal setup. Messed up. Agreed with Ryan.
Advice was check Android for not closing. PC App never a problem in 9 months.
In my Samsung 10.1 latest version (on my system) here is advice screenshot taken for Settings/Developer Options as mentioned by Mike.
Default for me was OFF. Switched ON and problem resolved. App exits fully after Minimise/Exit App.
Return to PC App connection problem now gone. I will use for 3 days then it's sorted I guess. Thanks.
2 shots. Settings for advice on my version of Android and Samsung Tablet 10.1 using App.
I just discovered this was available and I installed it on my Samsung Galaxy Tab2 7.0 tablet. Downloaded it from the Google Play Store. It works fine except can't see the tabs on the bottom. I think that is because of the Android version I have in the Tab2 with the menu bar or whatever it is on the bottom of the screen. Otherwise it works great and I like it. A lot.
Yes the default now for tablets seems to be having a bar along the bottom or side. I am going to have to scale it back down a bit, but that means there will be extra space on devices that don't have it. 4.4 kit kat immersive mode might hide the bar but I don't have a tablet that uses the bar so I do not know.
Our Android tablet has 4.1.1 in it. For me it is not a big deal because I do not use the tablet to make settings, etc.. Just for monitoring. We have a Conext XW Power System with a ComBox and we use the tablet to monitor that. Being able to switch screens to the Classics for the wind turbine on the same device is very nice and it shows everything I need to see for monitoring.
Frankly, I do not see the usefulness of implementing everything in the Android app that the desktop PC program has, since handling things like CSV exports on Android for logging is somewhat "klunky" compared to a PC. And I do not constantly make new settings to the system either, so even that is not really necessary from here. The monitoring part is what's handy.
Just installed on Asus transformer prime TF-201 running android 4.1.1 with out issue. It asked if I wanted adobe air I said go for it so it installed and came right up. Sweet.
-Jeff
Downloaded to Galaxy Tab3. Parsing error and would not open it.
Will there now come an update or a new more user friendly version?
You can't let the users hang like on a tree so long time ... what are they doing all the time ... ?
I have the classic now for a year and ... was there something improved?
- can not do all settings (like time setting) like it is possible on a computer (so it can not be the same app, as there is the statement, why used Air to offer the app for all platforms!)
- the scroll lines are hard to touch and move, and on a small devices ... a horrible thing
- also a tricky mad thing, to hit the "enter button"
- then there are "frame windows" in the settings
- every time I start the app, I must enter the serialnumber ... can't it store it?
- some text are overlayed, impossible to read them
my cents again :D
thanks
Unfortunately that Engineer has moved on to work for a company building water purification gear. I am supposed to start looking for some one that can work on this.
In my opinion the normal app will not work on Android or iPhone as it requires to big of a screen to read it. I personally am voting for something entirely different for the phones. As always I value all feedback and will try to bring this to the front of the cookstove this winter.
Ryan
Thanky, Ryan,
it don't need to look so much great, just function is importand ;)
Ryan, I will add to Binkino's comment, It is nigh on impossible to make ANY setting changes with the MN Android LApp... my Samsung Tab4 just sits and spins its wheels after entering any data, ie serial #, as is it's non functional...
ps I was just using it to test Grahams Android LApp as I was having a few issues with getting it going...
hth