Considering Move to Indigo

I have been playing around with a Fibaro HC2 with a few switches, plugs, camera etc... and so far found it to be a little buggy. I am considering looking at other options when I came across Indigo and it seems pretty good. I do have a few newbie questions that would be great to get some feedback:

- We have a family iMac that I could use - however I see most people opt for a Mac Mini. Is there a reason people set this up on a standalone machine? The iMac is in the living room and pretty central to everything.

- I see there is an iPhone app, but it looks a little old. Was there plans to update it anytime soon?

- We are based in Germany, and really want to automate things like lights, shutters, door sensors, garage, alarm system etc... Would indigo work well for this?

Any feedback would be great
Thanks

Welcome!

I have run Indigo on a shared machine and on a dedicated mini and it works well in both environments. I like to use a "dedicated" machine but that machine is also running a Plex server and serving as an EyeTV server.

The iPhone app is being updated now--but there is no set release date yet. You can also use dedicated control pages that you create--which is my preferred approach--that are served through HTML.

Indigo works well with many devices and the proprietors here are great about adding support for new devices as they're identified.

rm2014: Wenn Sie möchten können wir telefonieren und ich kann Ihnen meine Erfahrungen schildern. Ich habe INDIGO seit ca 15 Monaten und bin sehr zufrieden. Zwar lebe ich in den USA und die Endgeräte sind anders in Deutschland aber das Prinzip ist das gleiche.

Sie können mich unter meiner email karlwachs@me.com erreichen.


MfG

Karl Wachs

Welcome!
You can also use dedicated control pages that you create--which is my preferred approach--that are served through HTML.

Hi Dave,

Don't think this is hijacking the thread when I ask if you wouldn't mind expanding on this comment. You mean you're making your own control pages via HTML for viewing via a browser and not the Indigo app, right? If so would you be kind enough to shed some light on the process?

I get the basic idea of using iFrames to get elements from the Indigo control pages into a browser, but is that it? Does one make a control page for each element and then use iFrames to add them to a webpage? That seems really clunky.

Is there a better way?

I've mocked up a pretty nice looking page in Keynote which I would like to use, I just can't see how to get the level of precision and typeface I wan't in Indigo's building control page options, so going the web route makes sense expect for the lack of clarity how I can actually do this.

Thanks

Hi shutter - there are several ways to skin that particular cat, but I don't do anything fancy at all.

From home, I just go to my Indigo server IP from any browser [http://123.123.123.123:8176] and browse to my landing page. Bookmark it, and then I can get back quickly (login credentials handled by LastPass.) Works like a champ.

Away from home I use the app, or the reflector in iOS Safari. I prefer the reflector because it can serve animated GIFs.

I only use iFrames when I want to combine content that the Indigo web server can't handle (which presently I don't do at all.)

I believe that. on a day to day basis, interacting with Indigo is best done through control pages--I think that was the original vision. When I want to turn on a light or adjust a thermostat, I use control pages. I primarily use an iPad in kiosk mode. It's like a big remote control for my house!

Here's a sample of a reflector page I use on my iPhone 5.

Sorry, I should add that you can create elaborate layouts, save them as an image, load them as a background image in Indigo, and then place transparent (empty) PNG files over the elements you want as controls. Then just link the PNGs to the actions you want to make.

I use this technique for images that I use as alert icons. The image is there when there's an alert, and not there otherwise.

Thanks guys - good to get some insight!

kw123 - will drop you an email shortly - thanks for the offer!