RBoy
(www.rboyapps.com - Making SmartThings Easy!)
1
How does one go about submitting bug fixes and enhancements to published SmartApps?
For e.g. in the SmartWeather Station Controller I found a bug that if one selects some modes (like Away/Night) then the app stops working. The solution is simple to add a subscription to mode changes etc etc.
Question being without having to write my own custom app is there some way to submit bug fixes/enhancement to ST for published code?
tgauchat
(ActionTiles.com co-founder Terry @ActionTiles; GitHub: @cosmicpuppy)
3
Great topic! I can think of a few things to be considered…
SmartThings support email might (probably!) have/has integration with their bug-tracking system (bug report, and fix timeline). So the first option is to report the bug (along with suggested code fixes if you wish) to support@smartthings.com and see what their response is.
We could have a new Category here on the Community Forum where each “buggy” SmartApp gets a thread for it’s bugs and proposed fixes to be discussed. This way the Community has a chance to input before the fixes are actually made and released. This might also be a place to discuss beta testing of SmartApps and Device Handlers.
The ambitious among us might grab and put a copy of the existing SmartApp code into GitHub, make various code edits, optionally release for beta testing, and then submit to SmartThings as a “replacement” SmartApp. It could be a complete rewrite of the app, in some cases. In other cases, the “diff” will be self-explanatory. For a small bug-fix, this process doesn’t make much sense. For a genuinely innovative “replacement app”, starting from scratch eliminates the need for the initial “cloning” … though it still is a reference point.
I like the idea of a category for reporting, discussing, and fixing bugs. I think finding and fixing bugs is a great way to learn about coding and there are a lot of us here who could use some learning opportunities (counting myself in that group, BTW). If there was one place to troll to watch this activity and try to contribute when possible, that would be helpful.
I found a bug in a published app and ended up getting the attention of an ST dev here in the community. We had some messaging exchange and the code just got quietly fixed. Maybe there can be 2 process paths - if its just an error, it can just be fixed. If it is a re-write that improves in addition to fixing something, maybe that should be a re-submittal.
i think the forums here need to learn from other places like say XDA forums or AVS forums in regards to this. A developer should get forum developer status, and a thread for his app in a development forum.
Tighter integration with github or having a version control system built directly into the ide would go a long way to solving some of these issues. Why can we not have an option much like android does where a user could check a box and be able to install from unknown sources. Then put the list of publicly shared apps right into the mobile app. The approval process is a major deterrent at this point. Incremental bug fixes should not have to go through the approval and testing process again. If there were ratings and comments on the smart apps, the market would help weed out the buggy and useless apps.