Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[tlh523]

i woukd like to use active home pro usinf an iPad device either as a host application or using the my house online interface.  does anyone know of a solution?

[DB]

I use a program for the ipod touch called x10 commander. It works great alongside AHP. It should work for the ipad as well. There should be info on it on this site as well.

[Brandt]

VNC, rdp, remote desktop, etc etc


For mac i've used 'chicken of the VNC' app

[tlh523]

DB, I stumbled upon the commander from the melloware site.  In chatting with those people, it will work on the iPad but the screen only sizes to the size of the iPhone or iTouch. They have no plans on building an iPad specific inteface.  Too bad, I think they might me missing an opportunity.

[DB]

Just purchased an iPad. Melloware was correct and it does work on the iPad although the interface does not look all that great blown up to double size. I agree with you they are missing an opportunity. The melloware software is almost instantaneously responsive on my iPod touch and the iPad. I am sure you would agree the iPad is perfect device to control home automation. Even speech control could be possible using it's built in mic,  Push alerts on motion, camera viewing, remote control of a/v equipment all available via touchscreen from your lap. The technology is available we just need someone to create the software.

[Melloware]

The tough part about X10 is all the different hardware.  I made X10 Commander for the lowest common denominator (LCD) like the old Serial port CM11 as well as the newer USB CM15 and CM19.  Obviously the older serial devices don't support things like camera feeds and all the new fangled stuff the CM15 does with AHP.

There are 3 problems I have:

1. The AHP SDK is not very robust.  It is essentially a COM Object/ActiveX control that allows you to do things like turn lights on an off and tilt and pan cameras etc.  It is serviceable but not great.

2. Another sticking point is MacOSX/Linux support.  I get requests every day to make the server side work on Linux or MacOSX so they can run it on a NAS and not have to run a full PC.  Problem is the SDK is Windows Only.  Especially with the iPad and iPhone becoming more and more popular more and more people are buying Mac's to make it play nice with all their shiny new Apple gear.

3. Do I invest in a Google Android version of the app or an iPad version of the app.  My time is limited and I do this work on the side outside of my day job.  So adding ANOTHER platform to support is just more code to maintain and that becomes expensive in both time and resources.   And don't let Apple fool you, you can't simply take your iPhone app and make it an iPad app.  You have to build a NEW application for the iPad and recompile it and release it for the AppStore as a separate app. 

So I have thought about building an iPad version of X10 Commander but for now I figured at least it works and you can control your lighting instantaneously with it.  I was waiting to see where the home automation market is headed before diving into an iPad version because it is just one more version of code to maintain.

Just thought I would chime in with my two cents.  Thanks to those of you that have purchased X10 Commander!!!

[Lockandload223]

Melloware and the "X10 Commander" Rock. ... I have bought all kinds of remotes for my X10 stuff. But I find myself always grabbing my iPod touch with the X10 commander.

The best $10 I ever spent. ... I would gladly spend 3 times that for a simple app (like the X10 Commander) for my android cell phone.

[DB]

Thanks for the response Melloware. It's great software like yours that have made the iPhone and iPod so successful. It was the first app I purchased for my iPod and would recommend it to anyone. It was good to get a programmer's perspective. I guess it's easy to forget good software takes time and money to develop and the market for home automation is probably not a large one. Most people I know have never heard of home automation and wouldn't have a clue were to begin. And let's face it, h/a is not for those with little patience.

[Melloware]

Thanks for the response Melloware. It's great software like yours that have made the iPhone and iPod so successful. It was the first app I purchased for my iPod and would recommend it to anyone. It was good to get a programmer's perspective. I guess it's easy to forget good software takes time and money to develop and the market for home automation is probably not a large one. Most people I know have never heard of home automation and wouldn't have a clue were to begin. And let's face it, h/a is not for those with little patience.

DB, I could not agree more.  And some of the people that want to get into HA don't really have a technical background and they get really angry when something doesn't "work immediately" like their Apple stuff does.  Home Automation takes patience mixed with a dash of tech savviness!

[lodtrack]

I use Logmein (.com) to access my home automation. (on a pc) I recently tried to use Logmein via a friend's Ipad. They recognize that you are not using a pc to enter their site.They sell an app for remote access via Ipad. ...should work, as I have good results from their other products.

[JMac]

The (free) Logmein will work but the program sold for this purpose is "LogMeIn Ignition", and it works very well.

[B.A.]

Can you leave it connected/logged in 24/7?

[lodtrack]

Logmein will "log you out" automatically after a period of non-interaction.  I could not get the Free logmein to work with my Archos 7 android tablet. It won't display the PC screen after credentials are entered....the video mode is not supported...flash?