Is this the end of Gmail for Home Automation?

I know the python thing is going on now but that has been coming so not sure why it is an emergency, at least so big an emergency.

It's an emergency because everyone in the developer community (not just the Indigo team) thought that Apple would remove Python2 with the next major OS release (macOS 13 or whatever, this fall), but instead they pulled it in a dot release (12.3). So all the plans for getting the transition work done over 8-9 months got compressed to 2-3 months. Not cool.

Users have already totally broken their Indigo systems by applying an update (not installing a new OS). So yeah, it's an emergency.

[jay (support)]

Why haven’t you guys added that simple capability?

Demand plays a big part in what we do. Demand for push notifications for Indigo Touch is quite low compared to other things. So, yes, it's been on the request for a long time, but the priority has been low because demand has been comparatively low.

With only 2 people in the company, we have to prioritize what we do very carefully. We've said this many many times over the years, but sometimes it's good to reiterate...

I give up

I have my notifications split over two methods, that both rely upon the built-in email system. For things that I want to be alerted about right away, I send an email to my cell phone provider. It then converts the email to a text message (and I have that one set up as a VIP). For things that I don't need to see right away, I send an email as a standard email which I'll read.......eventually.

I have both the above addresses stored in Indigo as Variables, so if I ever change providers (or whatever), I can make the change in a single place. No need to hunt down individual notifications.

That is a good idea, wish I had done that - I was using my txt as way to get messages on top of email. But a few years ago when I switched from ATT to T Mobile. My txt messages stopped working and after about two months of trying to get it to work I just gave up - to this day I still sometimes find an old alert that still has a phone number in it (no way to really search for stuff like that).

I have tried so many different ways to get reliable fast alerts but I always end up with issues - too bad I’m the only one I guess. No way I’m going to set up an amp, run wires and install speakers in my house. Sad to think about all the money and time I have wasted and if I have a water leak I’ll probably see water before I get alerted (with my luck).

If I had it all to do over again I would just have avoided indigo and home automation…

There are rock solid email and SMS options out there. They're not free, but you get what you pay for.

[jay (support)]

If I had it all to do over again I would just have avoided indigo and home automation…

I don't understand how that would help you with your water leak notification scenario.

I have found that the Inovelli switches, some of which have a notification feature where you can flash/change colors/etc the LED strip on them to be a HUGE win for visual notifications. I have all of them in my house set to flash/chase green when the washer or dryer is finished, and flash/chase red when one of my water sensors goes off (which also sends a message to a Slack channel, which sounds notifications on my iPhones, iPads, and my computer). The HomeSeer and Zooz switches also have LED color adjustment as well, but they don't remember what they used to be before they are switched to a different color. Now, there's an idea for a plugin!

For super important stuff, you could get one of the siren devices and set it off when there's an emergency situation.

There is no 100% sure solution for notifications: internet-based services can be down, cell service can be be spotty, devices can be turned off, etc. The best way to handle notifications is with a range of notification methods that are appropriate given the relative importance of the event. For water leaks, along with the above I also send an email to the sms bridge for my phone and send a prowl notification. So with 3 different things that will try notifying my phone and the visual notification from the switches, and the audio beep from the water sensor devices that I use, I figure it's pretty likely I'll hear about it somehow.

Jay, as you can guess I’m not having a fantastic day - I’m not going to change all the switches in my house out and hope I see one of the tiny led flashing,, sorry

Please code an alert sound into the app that displays your control pages - if possible make it the alert sound that was used for general quarters in the original Star Trek series.

For super important stuff, you could get one of the siren devices and set it off when there's an emergency situation.

Maybe that would work the best - but I would rather have the ability to push audio files to all control pages as needed and have them loop until manually touched

Maybe that would work the best - but I would rather have the ability to push audio files to all control pages as needed and have them loop until manually touched

Just be aware that this is two capabilities that Indigo touch doesn't have a this time (push notifications and sound looping), and these are NOT trivial additions. So you would be better served finding a solution that works for you in the mean time.

Also, my sense of the Indigo community is that people are getting away from control pages in favor of voice commands, which I suspect is why the demand for new features for Indigo touch is low.

Personally, I did a couple control pages when I first got Indigo, found maintaining them to be a pain in the butt, and haven't touched any since.

Yes it is very hard to keep control pages updated - trust me I know.

For a while I had an Alex next to my mac (running indigo) - I would have it speak important things starting with the Alexa announce command and it would get repeated all over my house - but then it quit working, not sure why but lost the drive to redo everything once again - to bad the Alexa app does not let you send announcements.

Seems like such a simple thing but like everything else in life I’m sure it is a pain in the butt…

Kin d of randomly chiming in here, but the SendGrid free tier has been great for sending email from Indigo and my various other home systems. Their web pages are all assuming you're sending marketing emails and want to track clicks or something, but the SMTP service works just fine. Same company as Twilio.

(I use a mix of email, Prowl, and DomoticsPad notifications, depending on what device I want to alert and how urgent it is).

Also, my sense of the Indigo community is that people are getting away from control pages in favor of voice commands, which I suspect is why the demand for new features for Indigo touch is low.

Personally, I did a couple control pages when I first got Indigo, found maintaining them to be a pain in the butt, and haven't touched any since.

I have 1 control page that I use multiple times a day. It's kindof a beast but limits taps. 1 page with everything I need to do.

The only touch update I'd like to see is presence detection. Life360 can do it without impacting my battery at all. Why not Indigo ?

What we need now is WUPHF!

https://youtu.be/wMnWcBGFAhE

Seriously, I implemented something like this for water leaks and crying infants (when we are in the soundproof theater).

It’s comedic, and it scared the hell out of our cleaning lady once-
Sonos
Alexa
Email
Pushover
Twilio call (with 70’s Batman ringtone)
Twilio text
Flashing leds

At least one of them always worked.