save url link (without NavBar) to Indigo to home screen?

Posted on
Sat May 20, 2017 8:15 am
Professor Falken offline
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save url link (without NavBar) to Indigo to home screen?

Is there a way to save a Mobile Safari linked address, which opens another app, as a home screen icon?

I am trying to use this method to get rid of the NavBar/Status Bar on my control pages. It seems if I use the correct url (along with view until quit) I can accomplish this. My idea is to save the long address (with all the modifiers) and have that available to launch Indigo touch in "full screen", which will hold unless I fully quit the program and relaunch (to, say, view the log, deal with troublesome devices, etc).

But I can't figure out how to "add to home screen" when the link actually opens another app. Once the app is open, you are no longer in Safari, so that option is no longer available. But until you go to an address, you can't save it as a target for a home screen icon.

Posted on
Sat May 20, 2017 4:31 pm
durosity offline
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Re: save url link (without NavBar) to Indigo to home screen?

I used the iPhone configurator to accomplish this (or the macOS server configuration tool). It's been a while since I've used it but I seem to recall it being quite easy.

Alternatively if Matt & Jay could just add a 'default to kiosk mode' option to indigo touch that'd be a lot more efficient


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Posted on
Sat May 20, 2017 7:30 pm
Professor Falken offline
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Re: save url link (without NavBar) to Indigo to home screen?

OK, I'll check that out. Thanks.

Posted on
Sun May 21, 2017 1:13 pm
Professor Falken offline
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Re: save url link (without NavBar) to Indigo to home screen?

I used the iPhone configurator to accomplish this (or the macOS server configuration tool). It's been a while since I've used it but I seem to recall it being quite easy.


OK, so using the Apple Configurator, as suggested above, I was able to create 2 new homepage icons, one of which loads Indigo without the status bar, and one of which keeps the status bar so that I can reach the rest of the app-- logs, devices, etc. And the state seems to hold either way, so even if I go back and press the main Indigo app icon, it'll stay in the mode that it was last launched in. This is pretty cool.

But using those does pop up the little Safari warning "open in Indigo Touch?" dialog box, so I don't think those will be my main ways to access the program-- they are just a handy way to toggle back and forth between the full app and the kiosk version as needed.


Which brings me to my next question. As a final trick, what I'd really like to do is change the icon on the main application (the one I will mainly use). It seems like there are possibly 2 ways to do this:

1) Change the PNG file in the directory of the app. I thought I could do this with something like iExplorer, but it seems that somewhere back around iOS 8 Apple has made these directories inaccessible to the file explorer programs. Does anyone know of a way to do this? I actually have xcode installed, from back when I thought I might get into working on apps, though I have never done anything with it. I would assume that it's not as simple as importing the compiled/published app into xcode and messing around with it.


2) Is it possible that there is a way to do this via the Configurator? Is there a file address on the iOS device that doesn't route through Safari (and thus would avoid that pop up box asking if I want to open in Indigo Touch)? If so, I could just use that that address.

I realize this is an absurd level of customization, but isn't that what HA is all about?

Thanks for any ideas.

p.s., I have no idea why this thread isn't showing up in the "active topics" section of the forum. Hopefully at least some users are seeing while it is in the "new posts" section.

Posted on
Mon May 22, 2017 6:52 pm
Professor Falken offline
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Re: save url link (without NavBar) to Indigo to home screen?

Not sure if anyone has much interest in doing this, but figured I'd post the answer to my above question in case there are others who would like to customize the icon to launch Indigo Touch on their iOS devices.

After a while messing around with various attempts, I sort of stumbled on the answer back in Configurator.

When making a web clipping profile, if you check the "launch as full screen app" box, it skips the pop up "open in app?" warning after the first time launched.

So now I have two custom Indigo Touch icons, one (which is mainly used) launches it in Control Page "kiosk mode" without a status bar. The other one, which I drag several screens over, is the trouble shooting version that puts it back into the full program with access to the log, actions, devices, settings, etc.

My only request now would be some way to ditch just the NavBar but keep the thin Status Bar (which would keep the time/signal strength/etc while looking at CP's). I think I saw a url that did that, but on scrolling pages, the page scrolled under the (translucent) status bar, superimposing the graphics on both parts. I assume that's something innate to the Indigo Touch app-- that the status bar isn't completely opaque. So I'll just have to wait on that I guess.

Posted on
Tue May 23, 2017 4:10 am
durosity offline
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Re: save url link (without NavBar) to Indigo to home screen?

Oops sorry, I meant to write a reply to your previous post telling you that! As for the status bar I seem to recall that being a bug in iOS.


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Posted on
Tue May 23, 2017 9:41 pm
howartp offline
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Re: save url link (without NavBar) to Indigo to home screen?

Cool, might play with the extra URLs in configurator.


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