Which 3 technologies/devices would you like to see supported

[jay (support)]

We're working very hard on Indigo 7, and have some great new features and extensions of existing technologies lined up already. However, we're hoping to add one big(ish) new platform/technology/device, and we're looking for some feedback from you, our loyal (and vocal) users. So, we've come up with this poll to get that feedback.

[NOTE] - it's not necessary to post your votes below - just select your options and click Submit vote above. I suspect that the Tapatalk app doesn't handle polls and may be why some people are voting by posting to the thread. Please do not do this, it's much too hard to try to reconcile thread votes vs actual poll posts.

Some options are for currently unsupported things and a few are to add an "officially supported" integration, even though there may be a 3rd party solution. We've heard from many folks that prefer something that is supported directly by us. This is by no means meant as a negative comment on the quality of any of these wonderful 3rd party plugins - it simply means that we've had enough requests for "official" support for these things that they're on our radar.

Here are the links to the various options:

Amazon Echo
Apple Watch
Belkin WeMo
ecobee Smart Thermostat
garageio
Lutron Caseta Smart Bridge
Nest
Philips Hue
Rachio Irrigation
Sonos

<WIGGLEWORDS>Of course, the results of this poll are non-binding, and whatever order they finish in doesn't guarantee that we'll address them in that order or if we'll do any of them at all in Indigo 7.</WIGGLEWORDS>

[Chameleon]

Echo and Sonos for me


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[mclass]

Echo bee thermostat and Sonos, please.


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[RogueProeliator]

Some options are for currently unsupported things and a few are to add an "officially supported" integration, even though there may be a 3rd party solution. We've heard from many folks that prefer something that is supported directly by us. This is by no means meant as a negative comment on the quality of any of these wonderful 3rd party plugins - it simply means that we've had enough requests for "official" support for these things that they're on our radar.

I'm not sure if you are prepared to answer this, or if there really IS an answer, but I am curious what "official" support buys over a 3rd Party... is this a user-perception / guaranteed support issue more than anything or would you consider official support to include additional features not available to plugin authors, such as Indigo Touch control, etc.?

Don't mean to put you on the spot, just curious, as it could affect a decision... and I understand if the answer is a "who knows, it is just a poll" answer.

[richo]

Sonos pls


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[jay (support)]

is this a user-perception / guaranteed support issue more than anything or would you consider official support to include additional features not available to plugin authors, such as Indigo Touch control, etc.?

It's mostly a guaranteed support issue. Our integrations may add (or remove) features, because we will likely have a different view of what users need and how that effects usability, but they wouldn't be something that a 3rd party couldn't implement.

Any Indigo Touch controls that we develop will either be: 1) a new standard device type (for instance, a lock, a phone, or a garage door controller) akin to the current built-in types (dimmer, sprinkler, thermostat, etc.) so that any plugin that implements that device type will inherit the built-in controls (which is what we have today) or 2) an API for developers to add their own device controls. The former is likely to happen in Indigo 7, the latter probably not.

[jay (support)]

I realize the CSS for the poll results is messed up, I'll work on getting that fixed tomorrow.

[jens]

Sonos


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[autolog]

I am struggling to understand what the benefit would be of providing "official support" for a well supported plug-in such as Sonos.

Arguably there would be some significant downsides, i.e.:

• The existing 3rd party Sonos plugin is well supported by Nick who spends a lot of time working on it and responding quickly to Sonos changes.
• Indigo has got a large backlog of what I would consider to be much more important requested features / fixes i.e. "the list"
• Sonos "official support" would most likely suffer as it would be competing with other Indigo priorities

What I think would be of immense benefit to Indigo, is if plugins could be made more tightly integrated with Indigo so that to the end user there is no difference between using a plugin and and embedded command - so I would definitely favour an enhanced UI API and this is where I think the Indigo 7 (+) effort should be focused.

What would benefit the Sonos plugin (and for that matter my Squeezebox plugin) is if Indigo provided media controls in the UI that plugins could use.

What would "official support" provide above and beyond what is already been done?
It could be an expensive and costly use of resources just to make people feel more comfortable about it being "official".

Just my few thoughts on the matter

[rapamatic]

Autolog just put it better than I could have, but I agree.

I don't see the benefit of competing with well-supported 3rd party plugins or reinventing the wheel.

I just had some issues with the Sonos plugin (related to my very unique setup) and Nick turned around several updates of his plugin over the course of a few days. With all the other stuff that Indigo is working on, I don't think we would get (or should expect) to see turnaround times like that...

[matt (support)]

Official support for some of the functionality currently provided by 3rd party plugins could work several different ways, so don't jump to conclusions that if it was officially supported updates would come less frequently. How it works out will depend on several factors.

We get lots of requests for official support for functionality provided by 3rd party plugins. The reasons vary for the requests, but one of the big ones is the comfort in knowing the functionality will continue to be maintained, supported, and updated indefinitely.

[jay (support)]

Further, there are potential customers who won't buy Indigo because we don't "officially" support some technologies. So, we have to make sure that we're balancing all of these factors when making these decisions.

[kw123]

I believe that is an interesting discussion and I can see both sides..

I would vote for more protocols supported and for some requests from the past i.e. right click on device state to launch an plugin action.

As for the protocols / devices:

I am not sure if we want to add a "better" version of amazon echo / nest ... if we do it in the same way as the current ones i.e. connect to their web servers instead of connection directly to the local device. ONLY if all the communication is local I would see a real step forward.

I would vote for general zigbee support that can be customized to 3rd party devices

Karl

[durosity]

I know 'middle ground' rarely works in business ventures, but perhaps some sort of 'official support' and inclusion of 3rd party plugins may be the best option? Select 3rd parties are bundled with the program with a pre-defined level of support even if that developer falls off the face of the earth. That'd save you having to re-invent the wheel and concentrate your efforts on other technologies (hint hint control pages but for end users to have the re-assurance that technology is guarenteed support regardless of what happens to that developer? (of course i know the headaches that could also cause.. i've got a very limited knowledge of programming but even i can identify the different ways different people program the same thing.. trying to pick that apart can be a timely process - in fact the well known accountancy software company i work for once had a rather expensive snaffu with a program they bought.. then found there was a bug with that they couldn't work out how to fix because he'd programmed it in such an odd way, and ended up having to pay the original developer £1m to fix.)

[durosity]

... and ended up having to pay the original developer £1m to fix.

I've just completely voided any interest in that idea haven't i?