Controlling HomeSeer Via Tablets

[MikeMcM1956]

Didn't know if this should be in the Touchscreen Hardware forum, so posting here.

Running HS3pi, starting to install a Insteon/Z-Wave based system to replace a ancient X-10 system. Want to control within the house using Android tablets. Would like to be able to have a decent looking/easy to use GUI, is there anything out there besides dropping big bucks on HSTouch Designer?

[Uncle Michael]

Running HS3pi, starting to install a Insteon/Z-Wave based system to replace a ancient X-10 system. Want to control within the house using Android tablets. Would like to be able to have a decent looking/easy to use GUI, is there anything out there besides dropping big bucks on HSTouch Designer?

Some people have designed some good looking screens with ImperiHome. It isn't as flexible as HSTouch, but it works well and is worth considering.

[Pete]

Here using a modded tabletop tablet that can be mounted on the wall from around 2009. It is a first generation iOT Intel CPU tablet built by Openpeak.

It was originally sold with a flash based cloud Linux. Later Cisco used the Openpeak tablet for a Cisco Cius VOIP system. Cisco also used it as an iOT energy management box with thermostat connectivity. Verizon and other Telcos used it for a touchscreen VOIP system.

It'll run Linux, Android or Windows. I utilize HSTouch designer running on W2016 and accessible via RDP on Linux.

I personally like using Windows HSTouch because I can use the speaker client with whatever SAPI speech fonts I want.

Specs are a dual threaded Atom CPU, 512Mb of RAM, EFI to Seabios for Windows use, Gb NIC, combo internal Bluetooth / WLAN.


Modifications are a 16Gb SSD drive, Realtek NIC ROM modification and a tiny RTC with battery (optional).

Runs XPe / HSTouch / Speaker (SAPI) just fine. Total remote control via Jon00's monitoring and management software.
Testing W7e (works OK) and W8E (slow but functional).



Recently saw 14" 4:3 new touchscreen monitors on Ebay for $25 with free shipping. You could just tack a micro PC to the back of one of these and run Windows 10 or Win7E or Win 8.1e on the microPC.

[Rvtravlr]

I’m using an RCA tablet to view cameras and it is working very well. Runs Win10. Doesn’t have 5g WiFi.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...0?ie=UTF8&th=1

[MikeMcM1956]

I’m using an RCA tablet to view cameras and it is working very well. Runs Win10. Doesn’t have 5g WiFi.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...0?ie=UTF8&th=1

Thanks for the link, just ordered one to play with.

[MikeMcM1956]

Some people have designed some good looking screens with ImperiHome. It isn't as flexible as HSTouch, but it works well and is worth considering.

I'll give it a look, thanks.

[Rupp]

Have you tried HSMobile? It's the newer entry level HS3 GUI and it's free. Just an FYI, if you purchase HS3 Pro it includes the HSTouch Designer and you can make some nice screens but it doesn't take some time.

Also there are so many affordable Android tablets now that it makes this an easy choice. I'd personally recommend staying away from the Window tablets as many of the touch interfaces are moving towards iOS and Android only.

[MikeMcM1956]

Have you tried HSMobile? It's the newer entry level HS3 GUI and it's free. Just an FYI, if you purchase HS3 Pro it includes the HSTouch Designer and you can make some nice screens but it doesn't take some time.

Also there are so many affordable Android tablets now that it makes this an easy choice. I'd personally recommend staying away from the Window tablets as many of the touch interfaces are moving towards iOS and Android only.

I'm running HSMobile on my phone now, I need to play around with setting up some dashboards.

[Tomgru]

I'll give it a look, thanks.

I can help you here if you want. I have multiple Android tablets around my house with a pretty customized Imperihome setup. In have a mix of Fire and Lenovo currently,....all working perfectly over WiFi.

[AllHailJ]

I'll take a different side of the discussion. How much time and money are you willing to spend to not spend the $220 or if you are patient buying it on sale at a steeper discount? You will have to invest time in learning hstouch but there are templates available. Some of the templates have incredibly sophisticated interfaces. I started my HStouch project from scratch and opted for a utilitarian design. My system has grown through the years and the ability to quickly modify for device changes has been necessary to keep a high WAF. I run all android.

Good luck in your endeavors.

[MikeMcM1956]

Thanks for the link, just ordered one to play with.

Finally arrived last night, I wanted to like it but it's going back. Sluggish, touchscreen seemed buggy. Next experiment will probably be 8" or 10" Fire tablet, the price is hard to argue with.

[sdanks]

Let us know what you think about the fire tablets. I am also considering a few options.

[MikeMcM1956]

Let us know what you think about the fire tablets. I am also considering a few options.

I put one on my Christmas list, if Santa doesn't bring it I'll be a bad elf and get it myself....

[dbvanb]

I have 4 7" Fire tablets on the wall for touchscreen control of HS. I use HSMetro Live Tile, which can be found under the user interface section. This is free, does require some editing to text files to modify it, but works well. Not completely customizable, but still I like it. Especially the price. I like the fire tablets, because there is no logo on the front of the
tablet, but because they are Amazon, there are some tradeoffs. Really would like to root them.
Bruce

[Guest]

The first thing I did with my fire tablet was to side load the Google Play store (instructions for doing so are on the internet). Having access to the play store minimizes a lot of the annoyances of the fire tablets.