Coming from HS3 - Is the new interface really as bad as it appears?

[ewkearns]

The UI debate has been going on since HS4 was released to developers in 2019. Some people love the new UI; others really hate it. You can never please everyone. Heck the HS3 interface was slated for being old-fashioned!

The brief for the HS4 GUI was to setup/operate on Mobile devices which it does fairly well. Not something I would do but younger generations seem to love.

<snips>

As we seem to be dividing into camps consisting of how we use HS4 and/or what we run HS4 on, would it not be advisable for HST to create a switch that can be flipped to use the new interface or the old? If it would make it more palatable, think of it as mobile vs. desktop UI. This faux pas isn't new, I'm not sure why I am having to relive the debacle of Windows 8, but here I am. I don't want HST to force something on me I don't want and would never have asked for, nor do I want to force the telephone only crowd to use a UI interface they don't find usable. I think we can have both, if HST will help
.

[Demusman]

As we seem to be dividing into camps consisting of how we use HS4 and/or what we run HS4 on, would it not be advisable for HST to create a switch that can be flipped to use the new interface or the old? If it would make it more palatable, think of it as mobile vs. desktop UI. This faux pas isn't new, I'm not sure why I am having to relive the debacle of Windows 8, but here I am. I don't want HST to force something on me I don't want and would never have asked for, nor do I want to force the telephone only crowd to use a UI interface they don't find usable. I think we can have both, if HST will help
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Not gonna happen.
They're going all in on the new interface. A lot of people are wondering which new release will remove the old HS3 links.
Looks like just a matter of time.

Of course, if enough people complained this may change but I wouldn't bet on it.

And, my opinion, the new interface isn't all bad but it just needs some work.

[akurz]

Not gonna happen.
They're going all in on the new interface. A lot of people are wondering which new release will remove the old HS3 links.
Looks like just a matter of time.

Of course, if enough people complained this may change but I wouldn't bet on it.

And, my opinion, the new interface isn't all bad but it just needs some work.

Yeah because HS have a reputation of putting a lot of work into UIs after have they've been released. We've been dealing with "not quite there yet" UIs since HS2.

To me its actually quite simple: The new UI targets "New Users" who want to do everything from their mobile. To achieve that, functionality for "power users" is sacrificed. The real strength of HS - the powerful automation features - becomes more difficult to handle. On top of that time was put into coming up with a new control UI (Grid View), that only works with very simple devices and isn't customizable at all. I really fail to see the strategy here.

From a more economical perspective I'd say that a system like HS, with the ability to deliver on very complex automation requirements, will NEVER appeal to the same people who want to do stuff from their phones exclusively. It's a completely different customer group. Bolting a haphazard "mobile" UI onto it doesn't make HS a mainstream solution for the TikTok generation either.
It is and (hopefully will stay) an very powerful expert system with a loyal user base. I'll stay with it as well, but not because I love what HS is becoming. I stick around because I've put 20 years of work into this automation system and have become dependent on it. This makes me a loyal customer, but definitely not a fanboi. I can imagine there's more users like me around that buy every upgrade no matter how much they lose with the switch.
To me this is a very strange view on customer retention.

Cheers,
Alex

[fresnoboy]

Well, I just did a pretty (except for needing to go to the registration page first to get anything to work - I don't run HS on port 80) smooth upgrade to HS4. That's the good news.

Boy, this thing really is ugly and painful to use. The mobile interface is merely cumbersome, but not that ugly. The whole desktop experience really is just plain ugly from a font/color/readability POV. Hopefully HS5 will improve on this. An HTML5 driven UI could give you the best of mobile plus desktop ease of use.

Fortunately I don't have to deal with it much after things are setup and running. And why did the zwave controller section and other pieces not get the new UI treatment? Or this is a figment of my browser cache's imagination?

[akurz]

Well, I just did a pretty (except for needing to go to the registration page first to get anything to work - I don't run HS on port 80) smooth upgrade to HS4. That's the good news.

Boy, this thing really is ugly and painful to use. The mobile interface is merely cumbersome, but not that ugly. The whole desktop experience really is just plain ugly from a font/color/readability POV. Hopefully HS5 will improve on this. An HTML5 driven UI could give you the best of mobile plus desktop ease of use.

Fortunately I don't have to deal with it much after things are setup and running. And why did the zwave controller section and other pieces not get the new UI treatment? Or this is a figment of my browser cache's imagination?

I'd guess that the easy migration is because HS4 is just the old HS3 (plus a few changes) with a new interface. Good on one hand, meh on the other.

I've done the leap to HS4 yesterday to stay compatible with future development, plugins and stuff, but I wouldn't have done it without Jon00's great tools. HSTile gave me my status screen (floorplan) back and things like the Plugin List just make life a little more bearable with HS4.

As to the Z-Wave Plugin I've read somewhere that this is because this plugin is the only part that needs to be Z-Wave certified - so maybe that takes a bit longer. Be that as it may - it only contributes to the beta-ish feeling of HS4.

Alex