Domotics Pad vs. iOS Touch

[Vig]

Never used Domotics Pad but am thinking of have shot at it since I can run it on a cheap adnroid table. What is a main difference between Domotics Pad and iOS Touch? Anything you can do in DomoPad that you can't do through iOS Touch?

[Different Computers]

Full time iOS guy here. I find Android clunky and foreign.

100%, my sole reason for experimenting with Android at all has been DomoPad. And the #1 thing that DomoPad does that iOS doesn't, is push.

With DomoPad and the matching Indigo plugin, Indigo can make an Android device open a specific Control Page on a specific trigger or schedule. That sort of function is unavailable on an iOS device.

And of course, Fire 8 tablets are way cheaper than even iPad 1s, though I have to say that the quality of a brand new Fire tablet is not equal to that of a nearly 10 year old iPad, visually or in terms of touch responsiveness. I also see slow network response on image refresh on the Fire tablets. This causes image garbling, which again, I never see on an iPad, even an iPad 1.

That said, I have three Fire 8 tablets and a Nabi 24" "tablet" all running DomoPad. Can't recommend the Nabi though, as it's easily the most unreliable hardware I have. And that includes some X10 modules!

[RogueProeliator]

Anything you can do in DomoPad that you can't do through iOS Touch?

Yeah, there are several things that DomoPad does that Indigo Touch does not do -- primarily centered around in-home tablets. A few of the major things that people are using that come to mind:

• Run DomoPad as the home screen with a control page as the default view
• Ability for the Indigo Server to instruct the tablet to display a particular control page (such as to a camera page when the doorbell rings, a video control when a movie starts, etc.)
• Ability to wake the dimmed/sleep screen when someone approaches the tablet
• A handful of additional, built-in device controls for A/V equipment (iTunes, TiVo, Roku) as well as ability to create your own popup controls
• Popup (windowed) control page on a control page... e.g. clicking an icon can bring up a larger view of a weather radar
• Ability to directly control timers/pesters, schedules (on/off/execute), and plugins (enable/disable/restart)
• SOON... a few more enhancements to control pages such as the ability to show a web page; this has been pending a LONG time and after a couple of false starts that i was not happy with the results on, I think I am close...

Other features if the tablet isn't mounted / fixed in a location that might be of use:

• Geofencing - though admittedly this is hit or miss depending on the device... an area that needs improvement
• Push notification messages to the device

Others may chime in with other things they do differently. I believe DomoPad does everything Indigo Touch does except perhaps doesn't have a dark theme and I believe there is one UI control (binary devices?) that is missing. Perhaps other small differences, I don't use IT enough any more to know.

Adam

[RogueProeliator]

And of course, Fire 8 tablets are way cheaper than even iPad 1s, though I have to say that the quality of a brand new Fire tablet is not equal to that of a nearly 10 year old iPad, visually or in terms of touch responsiveness. I also see slow network response on image refresh on the Fire tablets. This causes image garbling, which again, I never see on an iPad, even an iPad 1.

I'll add something here as I think it is relevant -- the Fires are excellent tablets for the money, but @DifferentComputers is right that they are not going to match the better tablets. I have tried several and my current best bang-for-the-buck in terms of a step up (but not TOO expensive) is the Huawei Mediapad M3 Lite. They have 8" and 10" versions and are around $200. Great quality, much faster and better screen than the Fires. But, of course, not nearly as cheap!

That said, I have three Fire 8 tablets and a Nabi 24" "tablet" all running DomoPad. Can't recommend the Nabi though, as it's easily the most unreliable hardware I have. And that includes some X10 modules!

Yeah, I was all excited for the large format Androids a while back and have one, but thus far been a bit disappointed with the quality of these... mine was a ViewSonic but just the same, I think they make them pretty cheaply to keep the consumer's cost down. And it doesn't come out well...

Adam

[Vig]

thank you for the comparison rundown! I think push-notification factor is a big one, wish ITouch had that...