New Features on battery life...

[Chameleon]

It's become the nemesis of everyone using the location features of the iPhone. However, I now completed a full review of the options for iFindStuff and I've completed some additional options including getting the Stationary option working. We've also had some ideas on using IFTTT to trigger updates to reduce battery drain (and data use) as well as a new concept called vector management.

I'll release a trial version tomorrow for those that would like to test the new options before releasing it into production.

I've also started work on a client (e.g. phone) app to trigger iFindStuff from the phone ONLY when something is happening.. I think that will be the holy grail if I can get it working.

Regards

Mike

[scsmith]

Looking forward to some testing!

The only problem with your holy grail solution is that some people might not launch the iPhone app or might quit it without realizing/remembering the importance of it. I, for one, hope you can find ways to simply limit tracking using other methods rather than rely on iPhone app solutions.

The thing I love most about your plug in is it takes NO action on the phone (except, I guess to have location services turned on). It doesn't need to have an app running. Just take your phone and it will work. If you quit all running apps and restart your phone, no need to remember to re-launch an app....if find my phone is working, indigo can find you. I hope you will consider using your energies to "perfect" your own energy savings features, rather than creating another app or relying on another 3rd party app.

I'll be honest, if it is going to rely on an app on the iPhone, I'm likely just as well off using indigo touch and turn the alarm on/off (or run whatever action). If the app only supplements the plugin (i.e. the plugin works better with it than without it), I'm still "all in". I just suspect that spouses/children might not be as diligent in ensuring an app is running or restarted when necessary, and think that a plugin to an app shouldn't need another app to function properly

Just my two cents - take it or leave it! I'm looking forward to testing whatever solutions you attempt....

[nev]

I for one am also "all in" for the holy grail! Bring on the Holy Grail! I think you're right on the money with the iPhone being the trigger.

[Shutter]

Looking forward to some testing!

The only problem with your holy grail solution is that some people might not launch the iPhone app or might quit it without realizing/remembering the importance of it. .

A valid point. Using the iPhone as the passive device is what gives the current method a lot of potential.

But let's just say make the the phone the active device with an installed app improves the experience tremendously, how do we fix the potential issue of have the app's background process quit? What if the plugin running on Indigo detects that the app is no longer running (using some sort of magic) and it sends a push notification to the phone so the user is reminded to re-launch the app?

I'm just throwing that out there. I see lots of potential annoyances with this but it's just an idea.

Simon

[Chameleon]

Looking forward to some testing!

The only problem with your holy grail solution is that some people might not launch the iPhone app or might quit it without realizing/remembering the importance of it. .

A valid point. Using the iPhone as the passive device is what gives the current method a lot of potential.

But let's just say make the the phone the active device with an installed app improves the experience tremendously, how do we fix the potential issue of have the app's background process quit? What if the plugin running on Indigo detects that the app is no longer running (using some sort of magic) and it sends a push notification to the phone so the user is reminded to re-launch the app?

I'm just throwing that out there. I see lots of potential annoyances with this but it's just an idea.

Simon

Thanks for the comments - that's why I'm keen to discuss new features rather than impose them.

I wasn't going to remove the passive feature - I liked that use case where the phone doesn't need to actually do anything mainly because I know that my daughters would forget to run an app. However, I do see that it could be a parallel piece of functionality that some users would want to use.

Your points are well made - I think I'll need to think about the application and user experience more to see what options I have. Exploring the passive update frequency management still has a lot of mileage in it.

Mike

[Shutter]

I figured you would think this through and not remove anything. And am I seeing improved battery life with the new version? I think so.

Are you going to this meet up on Friday? If so I need to buy you a drink, if you partake?

[Chockymonster]

If the app is built to allow location services in the background then it shouldn't matter if it's running. The location services framework does magic based on configured geolocations. The tado app I use for heating never needs to be open but uses background location updates to control my heating. There's even a few coding examples out there to do what you're thinking of.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[haavarda]

I agree that an app that is only talking to indigo when needed is better power wise than polling more or less blindly from Indigo.
Ideally this would be integrated in the Indigo touch app, and I think Matt and Jay have that high on the pri list.

Håvard

[Chameleon]

I agree that an app that is only talking to indigo when needed is better power wise than polling more or less blindly from Indigo.
Ideally this would be integrated in the Indigo touch app, and I think Matt and Jay have that high on the pri list.

Håvard

Agreed - but in the meantime it'll make a good learning exercise for me and who knows when it'll make the cut

M

[haavarda]

Exactly!