The current mobile app (I’m using Android) is becoming increasingly and needlessly difficult to use, due to the limited icon support and the lack of full-time visible tile names.
Multiple tiles of anything present a confusing visible display… multiple lights, switches, doors… they all look the same. Shaking the phone is clearly NOT a good solution for seeing what the tiles represent. There needs to be an option to show the NAME of the thing full time… and allow arranging.
Group tiles at least allow custom icons (pictures) and show their name, but only group tiles.
I don’t mean to sound like I’m complaining… but… come on… usability is very important, and currently lacking… at least on Android.
And icons do not always get set to what is selected… and I’m not understanding when and why the selection uses the icon for the on or off state (for switches). In some things, the icon is just broken and will not allow setting at all, or stuck with something previously set without the ability to set it to something new.
Lately, the icons on the android app aren’t working either. Every device I add shows the default ‘plug’ icon, and when I go to change it, either nothing happens or the icon only change for either the ‘on’ or ‘off’ state, but not both. Now that I am upward of 50 - 60 devices, no persistent tile names has put me in the position that I am about to ignore all the predefines device types and make my own so I can customize the icon with a picture or just the text name.
Also, there has got to be a way to put different device data into different dash boards, such as all the temperatures form the window sensors in one panel instead of having to click through. I will probably have to create a page using Dashing for that, but it would be great if it was something in the design doc for the next version. I am off most of the holidays, so I have time to do these things, but it makes it a really tough sale when I show the default application to visitors.
Also, the bottom right icon never shows the text label when shaken. Only workaround is to make sure the bottom right icon is always a group and not a device. At the very lowest level patch, there should be a preference to turn the shake on and off (I hate the shake, and my wife dropped her tablet trying to do it). and it should just toggle the text labels or icons.
I completely agree that you need to be able to set options for the tiles. Show name, show temp, show state, show selected (lets you select multiple things to always show). The “things” screen is probably the worst part of the app.