Control page access and security request

I bought the Ultimate version last night so I could unlock everything and play around with this more.

For most controls I use my iPhone and iPad...these are like master devices. Unfortunately, they are expensive and I don't leave them around for use by others in the house.

I've got a Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1") that I'm testing this with...I installed the Plugin also so Indigo knows about the client device, and I'm creating control pages for this unit to learn from.

What I'm wanting to do is purchase 5 or 6 cheap Android 4.4 tablets on Amazon and dedicate them to only running the client and wall-mount them in certain rooms. My idea/request would be a way to limit a paired client to selected control pages only. Be able to restrict what the device can do...really down to a "dumb terminal" that can only see and open authorized control pages.

For example, the tablet in the kitchen should be able to control Kitchen, Dining, Living Room, Entry/Hallway/Stairs and Outside light control pages. It should not be able to see or operate control pages or devices in the Master Bedroom, Master Bath, Computer Room, Gameroom, or Office. Nor should it be able to see or open the pages designed for the iPad or iPhone since those were done at different resolutions and all. No actions, no Device menus, etc. Only those assigned control pages designed for that device/resolution/orientation.

Also would like to be able to restrict what the roommate can or can't do if he were to purchase the client too. Would like to be able to Geofence him so if he comes home after the Outside lights have switched off they will come back on for something like 10 minutes. Also restrict him to rooms that are shared and none of the device/action menus...just control pages.

Is this a possibility?

Thanks
Ross

Hi Ross...

I do plan on doing some more features centered around the dedicated tablets... but I had postponed any security-related development waiting to see if Indigo 7 supported multiple users (which would mean we could use the built-in security to lock down the accessible pages/features). Of course, we've been waiting a long time for that and I have no idea if it will be in there or not.

Once we have some information in that regards, I will make a decision how to proceed. My "wish list" in terms of Domotics Pad in an ideal world would be:

1. Limited access to certain areas / control pages -- either built in or via Indigo's security
2. Ability to launch the app in a state where it goes straight and ONLY to control page(s) so there is no worry of exiting to devices, action groups, etc.
3. PIN or fingerprint security to either launch app or "break out" of certain areas (would go along with the above one in a way)
4. Ability to go into kiosk mode that prevents exiting the app via the shade or hardware buttons

Some of these features will be limited in how far we can go back (e.g. fingerprint APIs are really 5.0 and 6.0+ I believe and the kiosk mode was introduced in KitKat or Lollipop). I am going to begin working on some shortly - such as kiosk mode - and others hope to determine once we see 7's features. I think that will get most of your wishes / desires listed...

Adam

Yeah...I understand. No point in re-inventing the wheel if Jay and Matt are including the same capabilities in version 7.

Custom control pages on cheap tablets will be superior to any kind of current Z-wave device/remote so regardless I'll end up moving forward with a few for now and can lock down later as needed. I don't actually worry about the roommate doing anything, just mainly to keep the interface as simple as possible. I do like the KIOSK plan so nothing could be done with the tablet connected to my Google account.

Is that something that depends on v7? Or something you are looking to do now?

These cheapo tablets are Android 4.4 so they'll be minimal devices.

This is along the lines of what I'm looking at getting:
http://www.amazon.com/Haehne-Android-Allwinner-Capacitive-Mali400MP2/dp/B01E3DIY7U

All it needs to do is connect to Wifi and run the client. It will be mounted on the wall and powered by AC adapter.

Well, the kiosk features are really independent of Indigo 7, at least to some degree... however, I did take a look and the key features for kiosk mode were made available in Lollipop, so you would need Android 5.0 or later to take full advantage. In my current vision, here is what I see as possible:

v5.0 - pretty true kiosk mode that can lock the device to an application unless a PIN is entered to exit to the home screen. Technically a person could reboot the tablet to get out, but they wouldn't gain any Indigo features. But while in kiosk mode anyone using the tablet can't accidentally exit the application and become "confused".

v4.4 and below -- no ability to lock into the application... but *within* the application we can still lock to control pages (and those you link off of there). So the user could get back to home screen and launch other apps without a PIN, but still somewhat restricted in Indigo.

The parts that depend on Matt/Jay adding multi-user support would be to fine tune access to specific pages by device along with (perhaps) overriding access when needed via another user's credentials. Having said that, in this kiosk mode that I envision, you could somewhat accomplish that by not providing any links to other control pages outside those that you want the user to access. Not foolproof, but I think probably accomplishes what most of us want in this - which is to keep "experimenters" that will touch and try anything out honest as well as just keep the UI clean for all users.

I hope that better explains it, but feel free to ask any other questions or share your thoughts as this has not been fully designed, thought out or realized. I just got my development device back after an absence to the warranty center so will be picking back up enhancements here before too long.

Adam

The Galaxy Tab 2 I have is running 4.2.2 and says it's current...I don't know if I could put anything newer on it. Same goes for those cheap Amazon tablets. They say 4.4 in the description and not sure if you could bump them up to 5.x

Being an Apple tech for years I never messed with the Android stuff much. None of my employers past and present really support Android since there's little uniformity across makes and models. I put iOS 9 on my sister's iPhone 4S so even a device that old can run the current iOS release (slower, yes...but usable.)

I may can beg/borrow a second Tab 2 to test with if you need help outside of your own devices+environment. Otherwise I might buy one of those cheap ones in a few weeks.

[jay (support)]

but I had postponed any security-related development waiting to see if Indigo 7 supported multiple users (which would mean we could use the built-in security to lock down the accessible pages/features). Of course, we've been waiting a long time for that and I have no idea if it will be in there or not.

Multiple users won't be in the initial Indigo 7 release.

The Galaxy Tab 2 I have is running 4.2.2 and says it's current...I don't know if I could put anything newer on it. Same goes for those cheap Amazon tablets. They say 4.4 in the description and not sure if you could bump them up to 5.x

A quick search on Amazon pulls up a couple of cheap Android tablets that ship with 5.0 now... but I have to warn you that some of them really are very cheap. You might purchase one to test out before committing to several at one time.

Multiple users won't be in the initial Indigo 7 release.

Thanks, Jay... I know that has been on the list a long time so it was hard to get a feel for whether or not it would make it in... that confirmation definitely helps on the planning side of things. Still don't want to do anything too dramatic with updates hopefully coming more frequent in the future, but if I can make an easy-and-quick workaround on the client side I may move forward.

Adam

I've rooted one of the Galaxy Tab 2 units now and upgraded to 5.1.1 (CyanogenMod 12.1 Unofficial) successfully. So far, one upside is it strips out all the Samsung "bloatware" that was on it...there's a 6.0 Marshmallow version I may try just to see if there's a benefit.

And yeah...on the cheap tablets I'll get just one to try out. See how it works for a month or so looking for glitches. One of the $40 ones I saw has a 4-star average on Amazon with a couple dozen reviews. As long as there are no major display glitches or the unit doesn't freeze up/crash it'll probably serve its purpose.

FYI, the new $49 Kindle Fire tablets work great, and sometimes they can be had for $39. Granted, because there isn't a version of DomoPad in the Kindle store, you have to install Google play first, but that's a 5 minute process. Vidabox now sells a very nice wall mount for the Fire tablets, sadly it's twice the price of the tablet at $99


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Also, it would be wonderful if a version made for the Kindle store were to be created...


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Also, it would be wonderful if a version made for the Kindle store were to be created...

I looked into that a while back but it ended up being very non-trivial to migrate the APIs from Google Play to Amazon. The documentation implies the API is close, and I guess it relatively is, but would still take hours and hours of work for very little payoff. There is a way to install it, after all... as you mentioned.

Adam