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WIll HS4 PRO bring a new HS4 Touch designer?

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    WIll HS4 PRO bring a new HS4 Touch designer?

    See the topic title..
    Thinking about the HS3Pro to HS4Pro upgrade.
    We do use customized interfaces on out mobile devices (Thumbs up for the Touch designer)
    will this be upgraded to? are there any possible things to watch while upgrading? will the customized interfaces on the mobile devices continue to work?

    #2
    No word on it yet, probably not even thinking about it since it needs so much work.
    They'd really be better off open sourcing it but that would be too much of a hit to their wallet.

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by Demusman View Post
      No word on it yet, probably not even thinking about it since it needs so much work.
      They'd really be better off open sourcing it but that would be too much of a hit to their wallet.
      Not sure I understand your comment. Do you mean outsource it?


      Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

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        #4
        Originally posted by mterry63 View Post
        Not sure I understand your comment. Do you mean outsource it?
        Open source software

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source

        Comment


          #5
          I think HSTouch is a pretty amazing product. It takes some time to learn to use but I have seen some really amazing screens built with it.

          I personally have it running on HS4 on my Android phone, an android tablet, the HomeSeer table top device, a 7 " Raspberry Pi touch screen and my Linux Mint Desktop (sits in the upper right corner like a widget).

          The trick is to find the right client version for your device and design the project just for that device.

          For example: On raspberry Pi I cant get any version over .53 to run and you cant use Button releases, only Button presses.

          I think the designer is OK, but the clients could use some attention, especially when it comes to Linux and Raspian operating systems.
          https://forums.homeseer.com/forum/de...plifier-plugin

          Comment


            #6
            With the flight to single board computers mostly based on the ARM processor I strongly doubt it would make sense to invest time and energy into creating a version of HSTouch for HS4. I’ve never used HSTouch but do have a licence for it. I doubt I’ve missed much either.

            There are plenty of open source front ends out there that can be developed to use with your HS server if you were that way inclined. Would HS open source HSTouch. Possibly. Would it be worth it. I doubt it.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by concordseer View Post
              With the flight to single board computers mostly based on the ARM processor I strongly doubt it would make sense to invest time and energy into creating a version of HSTouch for HS4. I’ve never used HSTouch but do have a licence for it. I doubt I’ve missed much either.

              There are plenty of open source front ends out there that can be developed to use with your HS server if you were that way inclined. Would HS open source HSTouch. Possibly. Would it be worth it. I doubt it.
              Besides HSBuddy, what other options are there?

              Comment


                #8
                Depends what platform you use. A quick and easy option is Home Remote. Works straight out of the box with HS. https://thehomeremote.com/ Of course depending on your skill level you can go right up to Javascript and create your own UI. That’s why I don’t see much point in HS going any further with HSTouch.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by happnatious1 View Post
                  I think HSTouch is a pretty amazing product. It takes some time to learn to use but I have seen some really amazing screens built with it.
                  <snip>
                  I agree one can build some great screens with HSTouch but it's really clumsy to work with it, e.g. having to create hidden buttons to update stuff and such. There is definitely a lot of room for improvement.

                  To answer the OP's question, HS did mention that the HSTouch client will NOT be replaced with the HSMobile client. However, they have not committed to HS4Touch. / HS4Touch Designer.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by concordseer View Post
                    Depends what platform you use. A quick and easy option is Home Remote. Works straight out of the box with HS. https://thehomeremote.com/ Of course depending on your skill level you can go right up to Javascript and create your own UI. That’s why I don’t see much point in HS going any further with HSTouch.
                    I can also just write my own aspx pages and circumvent HSTouch Designer. But that's not the point. HSTouch Designer allows non-programmers to create totally customized screens (mostly) without programming. For quite a few people this is a significant point for purchasing HS in the first place.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      HS Touch can be pretty powerful tool. With some graphic designer skills you can create really nice, intuitive custom UI. Mobile app can't replace it IMO especially if you decide to offer system for customer.
                      HS Touch needs some work. There are some bugs in it now that need to be fixed before doing anything else.
                      I hope they will start working on it at some point as I think it is very important part of HS ecosystem.

                      They have hands full now with HS4 and I have a feeling it'll be a while before they have any time for anything else.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        I have a lot of time and energy devoted to HSTouch, it's one of the reasons I chose HS3 as a platform. It's definitely a technical challenge, but then so is most design prototyping tools. But with patience, it's become the family's well understood interface to their smart home. I hope it makes a return to HS4. I won't be moving to HS4 until I'm sure a solid GUI tool is ready.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by drhtmal View Post
                          Sure, I'm familiar with the concept

                          As lots of other people have pointed out, HST already has provided an open API for interfacing to HSX server, and many 3rd party clients already take advantage of it, so I don't understand the OP's implied "hit on their wallet". How would this impact HST's revenue? I doubt they are generating any significant revenue on HSTouch.

                          When HSTouch first came out and got a lot of development time I believe the long term goal was having a number of Integrators install systems with touchscreen frontends hiding the back end HS2/3 server. I don't think that installer/integrator group took off enough to make continued investment cash-flow positive for HST. That is likely why there are crickets in future development conversations, as well as no effort to remove long-standing bugs in the current Designer/client platform.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by mterry63 View Post

                            Sure, I'm familiar with the concept

                            As lots of other people have pointed out, HST already has provided an open API for interfacing to HSX server, and many 3rd party clients already take advantage of it, so I don't understand the OP's implied "hit on their wallet". How would this impact HST's revenue? I doubt they are generating any significant revenue on HSTouch
                            HomeSeer Pro includes HSTouch designer and is one of the reasons one would purchase Homestead Pro. I imagine Homestead Pro sales generate some revenue.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by drhtmal View Post

                              HomeSeer Pro includes HSTouch designer and is one of the reasons one would purchase Homestead Pro. I imagine Homestead Pro sales generate some revenue.
                              Again, that cat is out of the bag. A non-HST touchscreen designer already exists.

                              I paid the upgrade price for HS3 Pro to HS4 Pro (along with everyone else who upgraded or purchased HS4) without any commitment from HST to provide an updated Touchscreen Designer/Client. I don't think HS4 Pro sales are tied directly to the Designer/Client software. As I mentioned previously, they haven't put any substantial effort into that platform in some time. Their costs for HSTouch are relatively nil at this point.

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