I agree homey can be managed by a tablet app, but not from a smartphone as i thought they planned. but a browser interface would enable it on a tablet and desktop.
support for linked multiple homeys would probably reduce need for external antennas that are needed for larger buildings.
Homey may get serious competition from amazon alexa which i hear rumours they are working on flow support, I have alexa devices in most rooms as inputs and music sources
Regards
Martin
(iPhone)
its funny that you mention Alexa, which has also been dropping support for their web app. There is only one action you can do to a device from the web app which i ‘forget’.
Frankly i’m shocked that Alexa doesn’t support more Home Automation, “Alexa turn on the Christmas tree every day at 8pm” doesn’t seem like rocket science when the exact same phrase will work for an alarm. Let alone “Alexa turn off the light in 15 minutes”.
Interesting that people refer to tablets all the time.
How many people actually buy/use android tablets today?
Looking at sales it seems PC is the future when it comes to tablets. The same if you look at the market.
Today you have either essential garbage (resolutions of <1080p) for around 100-200 euro which are primarily aimed at kids or you have premium models for 6-800 euro (which is more expensive then most PC based tablets).
Also many tablets have 8" screen which makes them just barley larger then a phone with an 6" screen.
I for one use my Microsoft surface or my mac when I need to watch something in bed or surf in the couch, I used to have android tablets but they have all died (often dues to lack of updates) on me and I frankly do not miss them as the usability is not on par with a PC/Mac.
Getting a new one I could pretty much only use it for streaming (which is pretty expensive to pay 800euro to watch netflix)…
I’ll add my voice to the chorus of users who still wants to use my PC (or browser) for the programming/setup of my Homey.
In my eyes, mobile is fine for use, but not configuration.
I’ve only recently started using Homey, but I would hate to think how annoying the implementation would have been if I was forced to do everything from my phone.
It would have been enough for me to return it I think.
Again - if anyone from Athom is reading this - please maintain a PC access, either through the app or via a browser.
I think you underestimate the amount of people that have/use tablets. Looking at sales numbers is difficult because tablets have a fairly long lifetime. Phones are commonly replaced ever 1-2-3 years where tablets are usable far longer (4-5 years). Also, phones are personal devices, where tablets are more commonly ‘family tablets’. (my personal situation is that every household member has his/her own tablet, but that’s not common, if I look at my friends/family)
If I look at tweakers.net’s pricewatch and filter on prices 200-360 on models released later than 01-01-2018 and have a screen resolution of at least 1080p, I get 36 hits, including an Apple iPads and Samsung Galaxy Tab’s, which are serious models if you want to use them for simple browsing/domotica control/facebook/Netflix/small games etc.
Don’t get me wrong, 360 euros is still good money of course, but it’s not as bad you state 
I’m not talking about an Android tablet but a tablet in common.
I do have an iPad.
What I ment to say is that the size of about 10 inch will be much more convenient in comparison to a 4 inch phone screen
Hi,
a HA system without a desktop/web interface is nothing I want. Everyone who´s using Homey´s all functionalities must agree on the superiority to work from a desktop instead of a small smartphone/tablet. Hope Athom reconsider their decision. This is not a step forward.
Jocke
Why should I?
Pls let everyone decide for them self what they want, what they like and what the best is for them…
I heard your point, I also like a Desktop sometimes, but I don’t agree that is is not a step forward…
Yes, let everyone decide for them self. That is the best option. Does that mean Athom will keep desktop option? Otherwise I can’t decide for my self because other has already decided for me…
Merry Christmas
Jocke
Skickat från min iPhone
Agree to that fully. Since Athom has very much profit from the many (paying, not paid) testers they should better listen to them.
Seems quite simple to me, Athom stays with the current direction and app programming solution, while providing a desktop application complete with android emulator, if not a Chrome Browser based app. Alot of the new app platforms allow you create an app that is easily used/installed across IOS/Android and Chrome now.
From one software developer to another: The best way to make a good software is to obligate developer to use it. I think if programmers had had to make 20-30 flows per day the new iOS app would become much better long time ago …
“Eating your own dog food” is the best practice really.
Regards,
Alik
Dear all, I just bought a homey, followed through the installation process (which includes an installation of 2.0), and was appalled at the lack of the ability to setup a new network without a desktop interface. It would be a nightmare to rename everyone of my 20+ devices just to add them from my mobile, not to mention programming of the flows later using the phone.
How can I downgrade my firmware? Or an alternate web interface to add devices via the pc?
Assuming you read the above messages it’s clear you can’t downgrade to 1.5.x and there is no new webinterface yet.
In general however, adding devices is easier with the mobile app (unless you are using the http-app with json-calls or something like that). Complex flows might be more getting used to / difficult though.
I don’t disagree with your premise Alik, and Microsoft’s practice of ‘eat your own dog food’ we well documented, AND I have not gotten around to doing my flows ‘yet’.
But given all that, I have a question … who is creating 20-30 flows per day, every day? More likely perhaps they are creating 20-30 flows a day … for 2-4 days, then moving on?
Unless you’re a developer trying to test your app? In which case moving back and forth between mobile and desktop is a regression in terms of developer friendliness (and Homey already wasn’t a great platform to develop for, having to upload your app for each little change).
All true especially re upload every change and debugging being a pain before.
But in regards to flows though I was never able to drag and drop tags correctly with in the desktop and when I added ore then 6 items the draggable library lost the plot. Also in v1.5 once a week my flows would all delete themselves. So I personally don’t experience the nostalgia for the desktop flows as other do.
Once again, I haven’t actually re-made my flows (And I have to redo them all) so I might have a different opinion once I tackle that.
The main issues I have had with creating flows in the mobile app is the loss of overview when adding a card and that the card can’t be changed once committed. Both of which were possible in the web app.
I have been redoing many flows lately while trying different approaches to tasks, often to work around things that have been broken in V2.
I find that by the time I have found the device I have forgotten what I was doing, like is this the Off or On flow I’m doing. So I pick one and hope for the best. Most times I get it wrong but then there is no way to select the card and go back one step so I have to delete it and go through the process again, hoping I don’t forget again 
So now I have resorted to pen and paper to keep track. Is that progress 
Maybe the answer is for me to get a memory upgrade 
Being able to edit flows in the app is great for a bit of tweaking on the go but is hard work for any major rework.
Because we’re running a very modest setup of devices at our home, I haven’t ran into problems creating flows on my phone.
But the one huge thing Im missing, is the lack of customization within the mobile app.
There are so many different kind of Homey users, all with their own ways of using it.
But how come we’re all being pigeonholed into using the exact same UI, with no ways of changing the lay-out or using custom icons etc.?
I don’t want a timeline taking up half the space of my screen, neither do I want to scroll horizontally through my favorite devices.
Why don’t the favorite devices cards show usefull info without having to longpress them first?
Why do the users don’t have a small icon/text showing their status? Etc. Etc.
Mobile first is fine with me, but please allow for some customisation…
Another disappointed user. I only used the web interface so far and don’'t like the app version.
Why did you remove the web interface? Big fanfares about great new firmware and app, but you just limit us.
The app does not seem to have the ‘system info’ anymore as was possible in the web interface.
Why do I have to long press on for example a temperature sensor before is shows data?
Where are the ‘inzichten’?
How do I go back to the 1.5 firmware?
If not possible I guess I have to leave the homey space until normal linux desktop or webinterface is back.
