New Local App for Android.

Started by Halfcrazy, March 10, 2014, 08:45:44 AM

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Halfcrazy

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

Please read the readme in the next post and also please post Bugs that are not on the bug list.

thank you
Ryan
Changing the way wind turbines operate one smoke filled box at a time

Halfcrazy

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.
Changing the way wind turbines operate one smoke filled box at a time

cybermaus

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.

dapdan

#3
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

Mike_Midnite

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.
Mike Wood
Midnite Solar Inc
Mike@midnitesolar.com

dapdan

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

Westbranch

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?
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West Chilcotin 1680+W to come

cybermaus

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.

offgridQLD

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
Off grid system: 48v 16x400ah Calb lithium, Pv array one  NE facing  24 x 165w 3960w, Array two NW facing 21 x 200w 4200w total PV 8200w. Two x Classic 150,  Selectronic PS1 6000w inverter charger, Kubota J108 8kw diesel generator.

Halfcrazy

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
Changing the way wind turbines operate one smoke filled box at a time

dapdan

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

Mike_Midnite

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 Wood
Midnite Solar Inc
Mike@midnitesolar.com

laszlo

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.

4.6KW offgrid PV system, Classic 200, MX60, dual Magnum PAE 4448 inverters, Midnite combiner and disconnect boxes, e-panel,  WBJr, and 8 MN SPDs

Halfcrazy

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
Changing the way wind turbines operate one smoke filled box at a time

dapdan

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