I would like to see a desktop app for controlling SmartThings (that lives in the menubar). I discovered an application that lets me do some simple turning on and off of switches; however, I would like a company supported one. I have a desktop server that runs all the time at home so I have some feature requests below.
Ideas I had for the app include:
Webcam implementation - Turn your desktop webcam into a instant “Dropcam” that takes photos based on triggers from other devices (motion, sensors, etc). Store photos taken from all webcam devices to the hard drive (Dropcam Connect) so they are easily saved for security purposes.
Audio implementation - Similar to the Sonos integration, but directly from your desktop.
Simple device control - Lights/switches on/off, etc - device setup can still be left to the
SmartThings App
I’m a Mac user myself. I just thought that type of integration would be practical for a lot of users who do not want to invest in other devices that can be expensive and most likely already have a webcam and speakers for their desktop.
I’d definitely be interested in this as well, but for PC (just purchased my SmartThings setup yesterday and it’ll be here today, booyah!).
Wouldn’t it be easier/more logical to have a web app instead of a desktop app through, to be accessed via browser? I’m not a pro in either world so I couldn’t tell you for sure…just seems easier.
A web app would be easier for simply turning things on and off; however, I would think you would need an actual piece of software to implement my top two ideas, else you would have keep the browser open all the time or face losing the webcam and audio features.
ST is so compelling because it is, so far, quite developer friendly.
Keep this going by making a REST API plus some way to subscribe to events and have them pushed, like over a websocket or (more scalable) a Pusher (http://pusher.com/) or PubNub (http://www.pubnub.com/) or AWS SNS channel, or even some generic AMQP service.
And (or), publish SDK’s for Windows, Java and OSX developers.
If such things were available, then you would soon get a whole ecosystem of apps and integrations created by third parties.
After that, “official” desktop apps from ST with notification support would be great.
I agree. A web app would be much easier. Nest does not use any install applications, just log on through home.nest.com. This would be much more platform compatible @Ben
I also vote for a webapp - this would also allow for control via tablets as well! I’m a mac household personally, but a webapp (should) be platform agnostic right?
We want to have my.smartthings.com launch this year allowing account management on some device and location control as well but I do not know that it will be full featured like something along the lines of ActiON Dashboard.
I’d really like to see an app for Windows allowing configuration, etc like the IOS and Android apps - mainly because it’d be easier to do on a bigger screen. Action Dashboard is great - the only complaint I have with it is not being able to do configuration and setup.