Absolutely! What the Hell was the point of blurring 90% of the photo? I just moved into a house with a very nice garden and now I have a picture of how the house looks to someone with glaucoma.
And some one from ST claimed that it was a bug not a UI design error. OK, not buying it, but whatever. Regardless of the reason, it is a bug that should have been killed in alpha testing. I wondered if we were the beta testers, but now I think we are actually the alpha team.
Give us an option of large or small icons we can arrange however we want. Windows has been doing it since, what, 1985? A hard to read interface in inexcusable. 20-somethings with perfect eyesight and the money to invest in this product are kind of a small percentage of the market.
While I agree with some of your comments, the above is not exactly true. If you open either device and tap âSmart Appsâ itâll present you with all apps assigned to the device, which you can edit from there.
Personally I like the changes (minus the bugs of course). For me I wouldnât call it an epic fail by any means, just released too early for sure. Overall for me itâs more functional and simpler than V1.
In the end this is HA, not remote control so everything I setup has the end goal of not having to dink with any interface.
I know this isnât the popular response as of lateâŚbut I agree with Mike. I actually somewhat like the new interface. NowâŚthat doesnât mean there is A LOT to be tweakedâŚbut I think itâs much better than the last version when they iron out some bugs and tweak some things. I think if they are doing agile, they should be able to make a lot of these changes and push stuff out every couple of weeks.
HA is roughâŚyou put a lot of time in and you figure out ways to get around the âquirksâ of every system. Then you have ST that flips their system on its head and prior bandaids donât workâŚit sucks. I appreciate the effortâŚnow they just need to get it rightâŚbut I am very confident they will. Call me an optimist.
I would like the new app a lot better than the old app if they hadnât put the primary navigation at the very bottom of the screen.
Anyone using accessibility options, either someone who is blind or someone like me who has limited hand control, has to step through every single thing on the screen in order to get to the primary navigation at the bottom. Itâs physically exhausting. I havenât even looked at all the screens yet just because itâs so much work.
I know most people are going to think itâs no big deal. All I can say is I hope those people are never in the position where they find out for themselves how much it matters.
For those who are curious about how someone who canât use their hands can still use a touchscreen, see the following Wall Street Journal video story:
I actually like the persistent nav targets at the bottom. It is one of the best features of the new design as it cuts down on a lot of constant backing up/stepping down that was necessary in the 1.x version. I actually would like to see it on room and things screens as well.
But I understand your plight. I havenât done a lot with accessibility, but what I have done tells me that the physical order of controls from top to bottom doesnât necessarily mean that is their âtab orderâ. I âthinkâ that tab order should be able to be whatever the developer wants it to be and you are just seeing the default behavior.
Now it is possible that the accessibility on Android and iOS is so dumb that it does not permit or recognize a set tab order for onscreen controls, but that would really surprise me.
Maybe one of the mobile devs at SmartThings could weigh in on this? @Ben, @Tyler⌠maybe you guys could poke around a bit for an answer.
@JDRoberts Yeah, I am sorry about that. I think this is an opportunity for ST to really shine and be a disruptor in the space. They should really have an âaccessibilityâ interface for those with your challenges JD. Given the importance of HA for those with disabilities, I think it would be a very appropriate thing to spend time and effort in order to make it truly an accessible platform for those who may need it the most as opposed to those of us how just like automation and view it as a hobby/interest. I would be all for them diverting time to make that a reality as I think itâs an important consideration for them.
Iâve already recommended that they get in touch with both the national Federation for the blind and Komodo Tecla Labs for advice on improving the accessibility of the mobile app. Those people would be a lot more help than I would.
@ffingers is right though. This isnât some random Sudoku app where accessibility isnât necessarily a primary concern. This is an industry ripe with purpose in the accessibility space, and SmartThings is in a position to lead the charge. I hope they take advantage of that, especially given the contributions of our own @JDRoberts. If necessary, I would certainly support having some of the things Iâve requested of the platform set behind efforts to work with the organizations JD mentions in order to provide a first class accessibility experience.
Imagine someone with a visual impairment trying to read a Light green font on a white screen. Imagine them trying to figure out why the image they set for their home is suddenly blurred.
I am colorblind, and I had no idea anything was even there. Thought it was a blank app. Now that I think about it - my hues probably have been working all this time.
Seriously though, I am colorblind. It is tough to read.
My motion controlled lights that use a Smart App have a fault. I use the default Smart Things Smart App and on the Android UI I can not tell which light the Smart App is trying to control. I have to go into the IDE to check/edit this. Poor.
When switching locations the text of the location name on the Rooms/Things/SmartApps/Family scree doesnât change. The picture changes. But the name of the location is wrong.
Frequent crashes.
My Ecolink Garage Door Tilt sensor is now stuck reporting âOpenâ.
Dashboard reports one device reporting motion, but when selecting Motion on the Dashboard, under âRight Nowâ all of my devices âsees no motionâ.
I know people are upset about the UI choices. My issues are more that functions simply donât work, report wrong values, and the app crashes frequently.
I am running Android 5.0.2 on a Samsung Galaxy S6 (SM-G920A).
I am in complete agreement with everything @DrMiguelitoLoveless is saying. This is a step backwards in terms of usability, that much is certain. This has that âNew Cokeâ feeling about itâŚ
This is not in their defense, but there is a trend to use a grey font because, they think, it is âcoolâ or some such; I am of the opinion that it is done in the name of âfashionâ and I have never felt functional things need to be fashionable. As I said in another post, that is why I spend very little time on this site: I generally immediately close any website that uses that style.
I agree about the font color. Itâs nearly impossible to read even with reading glass. I complained as soon as I upgraded. at least give us choices in font sizes, styles and colors! light grey, fine font on a white backgroundâŚreally?
I hate that concentric circle graphic too. it ridiculous and makes absolutely no sense. Why allow us to upload a photo, then alter the photo so it is unrecognizable??
It is to Samsungâs benefit that users post their grievances with ST here before they hit store shelves. As harsh as it might seem this community is far more forgiving than the average Best Buy shopper will be.
We are just beta testers whether or not we accept that label. The negative feedback is useful. You wonât be able to laugh at the people returning the hub to BB because most will never stop here.
