Product Changes for 2017

The details are on our blog. Please use this thread for discussion.

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As per ST Blog, the v1 to v2 Migration tool is dead

So, here are my questions:

  1. What does this mean for replacing an existing v2 hub when it dies? I assume the answer is “same procedure
no tool provided.”
  2. From the blog post, it sounded like they were shooting for perfection. I never thought it would be automated. I would have loved to have seen a device replacement process when you can swap a device out within ST and the new device takes over all of the SmartApps of the old one. That is really all I ever wanted, which would, in theory, allow for a migration between hubs since you would have to re-associate the device anyway.

and for the most obvious question


Why was Wink able to create one? What is different about their process/system compared to ST?

Basically, I was only ever looking for a way to not have to recreate EVERY
SINGLE
AUTOMATION
 in the system, which is what the manual process entails. There is no back up and restore option, there is no export settings option so you can refer to the way everything is configured. The process is “write everything down on paper, hope you got everything, then start over.”

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We’re not sure yet. We are still taking about this internally and if/when we have an answer we’ll make sure to let everyone know.

We don’t have a path forward right now so we thought it best to announce that it isn’t happening in the way we promised.

Unfortunately I don’t have a better answer than that. [quote=“brianlees, post:2, topic:73587”]
Why was Wink able to create one?
[/quote]

I know they created one and that’s cool. I’ll just share a response to the same question I had to a high level wink employee who now works for us.

“I’m sure we’ll get the ‘Wink can do it’ comments but I can personally attest that the experience isn’t great, especially for larger networks”

So while yes, they did it
 It’s not a great experience and can make the whole process more messy and harder. We found the same thing, that a migration tool not properly implemented can make lives harder and that is the thing that was unacceptable to us.

It was a better the devil you know than the devil you dont kind of thing.

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Thanks @slagle, for the quick response. I still come back to one of my core questions - why was Wink able to do it? This is not me saying “dude, your competitor can do it so you suck” since ST does things they can’t. However, the basic premise is still the same and I’m curious why they could do it.

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You picked Friday the 13th to announce this?!

Seriously though, the transparency is appreciated, thanks.

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I had hoped for some good news as well, something to look forward to. What a bummer to read the announcement with only ‘bad’ news in store for 2017.
Thanks for being open about it though.

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Response above.

This is just clearing the air so we can move forward. There are great things coming for 2017 just not anything we’re ready to announce.

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Thanks for coming out with the info even though it isn’t what people wanted to hear. On the upside I assume stopping work on a migration tool and Windows phone frees up resources to be used elsewhere.

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Yeah I understand. Can’t wait to hear more about your plans for us. Honestly, I need more to play with. Such as an ST app for my gorgeous Gear S3 :slight_smile:

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(Let me offer the usual disclaimer up front that this is in no way aimed at you personally, as I realize that you’re just doing your job.)

More messy and harder for whom? I’d be interested to hear how whatever migration tool Wink came up with actually made things harder for the customer than having to recreate everything manually. “We couldn’t make it great” is not a valid excuse for not at least coming up with something that is better than nothing.

And the fact that ST isn’t able to create an effective migration tool means that migration was not taken into account when designing and implementing the v2 hub and ST software, which is either an extremely amateurish mistake or a sign that ST simply had a “screw our existing customers who might want to upgrade, migration is their problem, not ours” attitude.

And I say these things as someone who has been developing software professionally for nearly 30 years.

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Here is my take


SmartThings never started on the migration utility. Yes, it may have been on an engineer’s to do list, but it was quickly pushed to the bottom when fires had to be put out.

Secondly, version 2 should not have been released until a migration utility was complete. It should have been part of the beta and considered part of the version 2 product.

Hopefully, SmartThings can learn from this. At least it must relieve SmartThings staff erasing a promise they knew they couldn’t fulfill.

This still begs the question about the backup, restore, recovery or move hub need.

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@slagle Regarding the smartapp curation, Apps that are no longer supported by their developers etc. etc. etc. Does this mean that if we have rule machine installed, it will disappear from our account.?

I’ve always thought about this my self. How do they make money? I personally hate subscriptions to things and prefer the buy to play model but the reality is without some form of consistent income stream a company can’t sustain itself. So I’ve resigned my self that a well priced sub may be the most transparent and direct solution. Maybe they thought they’d make it on additional hardware like sensors and such but I can’t see the margin and volume on that really cutting it either. Seeing the announcement by Nvidia though makes me think there could be a model where other companies pay for use of the ST platform to make their products more appealing. So users see it as free but really its baked into the price of what ever product or service they sell.

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You know the saying that sometimes the best thing to say is nothing 
 keeping your mouth shut if you don’t have anything nice to say at this point I keeping my thoughts and mouth quite.

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It just says they’ll be removed from the Marketplace list. I don’t imagine they’ll remove custom code you’ve already got in your account.

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I need to stop adding devices to my v1 hub. :grimacing:

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Thank you for the transparency and clear statements about the migration tool’s demise. While this obviously is not the answer people were looking for I can understand the reasoning and have an official statement will make it easier to decide when to upgrade my hub.

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Does no more Windows Phone OS mean no Windows UWP app? Or are those two different types of apps?

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