Is anyone else still using the Windows Client?

[dzee]

Is this really the case? Am I the only one still using the HSTouch Windows Client?

I have HSTouch on our Android phones, but I can't do what I can on the big-screen client with every light, shade, HVAC control, security, irrigation, solar, weather, etc. in one command center. I use the Windows HSTouch application on four Windows touchscreen systems with the interface below. Sure, it's not the prettiest, but looking at the new outdated HomeSeer Mobile interface with boxes around everything is no thing of beauty either. This layout that matches the house has a really high WAF while having to move between screens on a phone, not so much.

What the heck is HS3 support babbling about that it's for test purposes? I think they're confused about HSTouch and the new mobile software. Maybe you need to speak with someone else in support who's been there a while. BTW, what bugs are you experiencing? Mine is solid, but getting some things on the screen required either virtual devices or a bit of HSScript in the text boxes.

[w.vuyk]

The windows client is the main use for me of HS3Touch. It is here sitting on a PC with touch screen. I hate controlling the house over phones... A clear visible screen in the room is what does the trick....

Might be age too LOL

[mmn]

It's funny now that I think about it. I really don't "control" HS much. Everything is pretty much automated. Most interaction is when I'm changing something, i.e. an event, or chasing some sort of error. I did build some screens for the Windows and Android clients but I rarely use them.

Regards
Michael

[RJS]

I prefer the Windows client. It has fewer bugs than the Android client. I have the Android client installed on several Android tablets and phones of different manufactures and it crashes frequently if left on continuously. It is rare when the Windows client crashes.

[dzee]

I prefer the Windows client. It has fewer bugs than the Android client.

Same experience here. The Windows client is much better. Then again, the Windows client isn't jumping back and forth between cell data and Wifi like Android is. I'm tired of restarting the Android app when that happens.

[teladog01]

Wow, sorry, guys, didn't realize there were so many replies here that I have missed. I am "subscribed" to the thread, but have not been getting any notifications of these replies. Come to think of it, I haven't been getting many emails period from this forum since it was upgraded. Hmmmm.

Let me read through these replies and I will respond where questions have been asked...

[teladog01]

Same experience here. The Windows client is much better. Then again, the Windows client isn't jumping back and forth between cell data and Wifi like Android is. I'm tired of restarting the Android app when that happens.

Yikes. I don't use the Android client, and it sounds like that's a good thing if it is worse than the Windows client bug-wise.

I prefer the Windows client. It has fewer bugs than the Android client. I have the Android client installed on several Android tablets and phones of different manufactures and it crashes frequently if left on continuously. It is rare when the Windows client crashes.

I agree that I rarely see the Windows client outright crash, it is just little bugs all over the place that I have issues with. I will detail some of them in another post.

It's funny now that I think about it. I really don't "control" HS much. Everything is pretty much automated.

Same here...that's why it's called home automation. Too many people get wrapped up in the "control" aspect...how cool it is they can control their lights from their phones. I say it's even cooler for the lights to just automagically turn on and off without you have to even think about it.

My Windows tablets and displays around the house are mostly used as "status dashboards", similar to what dzee posted above, each customized for the location it's at. Of course, they do offer the ability to control things when needed, but as you mentioned, that doesn't happen very often if the proper automation is configured in HomeSeer.

[DaveW42]

+1 for using the Windows client.

[teladog01]

This is the one of the issues I have with the Windows client...

I get this error sometimes when I launch the Windows client while it is loading the project and drawing the screen. When I click OK, the client proceeds to finish loading the project and things seem to work normally after that. It only happens occasionally, even with the exact same project. I have two main project files I use the most, and this happens with both of those projects. There are no errors in the HS log or Windows event logs when this happens. I also get this error sometimes when I open the Designer.

Anyone else seeing this error?

[teladog01]

Another one of the issues is that the "Misc: Launch Application" button action stops working after client has been running for a while.





The issue I am seeing is that this action no longer works after the client has been running for some time, i.e. a day or more. The button action will work when the client is initially launched, i.e. the batch file in the screenshot will run as expected. And this button action will work for a while, a day or so, after the client is launched. But after a day or so of the client running, this button action will stop working, i.e. cmd.exe does not launch and the batch file does not run. If I restart the client, it will work again until some time passes again, and the process repeats.

I have been working around this issue with a scheduled task (in the Windows Task Scheduler) that runs every night to relaunch the HSTouch client. But then this sometimes causes the HSButton error (in my last post) when the client relaunches! So it's a lose-lose situation...

[teladog01]

A third issue I see is that after the client has been running for a while, a few hours maybe, when a device changes status, the wrong status graphic is displayed. It will change to a graphic that isn't even one of its own status/graphic pairs. The graphic that displays will be that of a different device that is also on the screen. Sorry, I don't have a screenshot of this one right now.

Again, I have been (sort-of) working around this by simply relaunching the HSTouch client with a scheduled task. But as mentioned in the last post, I often get the "HSButton" error when the client relaunches. It's a never-ending fight...

[dzee]

I'm using the HSTouch for Windows, but haven't ever seen the first error. For the second, I've got several buttons to launch applications on the HSTouch screen (though none are CMD or batch files), but they all continue to work for as long as I have the HSTouch client open. They've been there for a long time, and while I may go a few days without using them, when I do, they always do what they're supposed to. I don't precede them with playing a WAV file, but it doesn't seem likely that's the problem. The third issue I've never seen either. If I have a status tracking image on the interface, I'm always getting status/graphics pairs defined for the device. Once or twice I've had holiday lights set up, then I unplug the dimmer or whatever, and the HSTouch shows a (?) indicating it no longer knows status for the device. The (?) isn't one of the defined graphics, but means it doesn't know.

I'm wondering if that first error isn't related. It sounds like there is a reference to something outside the bounds of an array, and that array may well be the status icons you're referring to in the third issue. Have you tried deleting and recreating the device, status graphics, and the referencing element in the HSTouch to see if you can get it to go away?

What has happened MANY times to me is, while editing HSTouch screens, I have copied elements or hit the delete key while editing a parameter and the new item becomes an invisible square or is overlapped with others. I have to select a large area, then sort out what visible and invisible graphics/text I've got in that area. If I don't, when running and status changes, I get weirdness on the screen like graphics over the top of each other, or something peeking out or clipped. Those are operator error on my part while editing.

Have you tried creating a new HSTouch project with just the problem devices on it to see if you can duplicate the problems? If you can, it's probably something on the HS3 end, but if not, it might just be the XML definition files in HSTouch.

Finally, what version of HS3 and HSTouch are you running, which Windows, and is it x86 or x64?

[Scotta1575]

+1 for using the Windows client.

I have a 23" touchscreen connected to a Windows PC between my dinning room and kitchen, its my primary interface to the system.

[codemonkey]

Mostly use Windows clients because the android ones are a bitch to design for due to the fact that what you see is most certainly not what you get in the design editor. If they both functioned equally then I'd probably shift over to android tablets.

[Guest]

Mostly use Windows clients because the android ones are a bitch to design for due to the fact that what you see is most certainly not what you get in the design editor. If they both functioned equally then I'd probably shift over to android tablets.

Funny, but I don't notice that. There are a few differences, but nothing that can not be coded around easily.

But I did notice the Android display was distorted when I had the "autosize" options set (you can set it in the design editor or on the client). Especially when the porportions of the client display were not the same porportions as on the application window.