[Published] CountDown timer (1.0.6)

aloft · April 2016

Homey CountDown timer

This is a CountDown timer which you can use to initiate flows.

Examples: When motion is detected, turn on light and start a timer for 90 seconds After 11 seconds, when motion is detected again, restart the timer for 90 seconds When the timer reaches 0, there was no motion for 90 seconds, turn off the light.

Settings

After installing the application, first visit the Homey Settings and navigate to the 'CountDown' application.

There you can add CountDown timers.

If you see a value '-1', this means the countdown timer is not active and waiting to be set ( via an action card in the flow )

Flow support

Triggers

There are 4 triggers - When a CountDown timer reaches 0. This will be the most used trigger. - When a CountDown timer has started - When a CountDown timer has stopped before reaching 0. - When a CountDown timer has changed its value

Actions

There are 3 actions:

Start CountDown timer: set a value and a number (in seconds)
Start random CountDown timer: set a value and a range (inclusive); when action starts, it will randomly selected a number between 'min' and 'max' (including those numbers) and start the CountDown timer
Adjust CountDown timer: increase or decrease (with negative numbers) a running CountDown timer
Stop CountDown timer: the CountDown timer will be stopped (and reset)
Stop all CountDown timers: All CountDown timers will be stopped (and reset)

Conditions

There are 2 condition cards:

Timer is (not) running: check whether a timer is running (or not)
Timer is (not) exactly value: to be used in combination with the 'value changed' trigger card. You can use this to check if a CountDown timer has reached a certain value.

Speech

No speech support

Acknowledgement

The CountDown timer is heavily influenced and inspired by the BetterLogic app. https://apps.athom.com/app/net.i-dev.betterlogic

The Condition card was suggested (and code provided) by GeurtDijker

The Start/Stop triggers cards were suggested by MarkSwift

Import / Export code by Patrick Sannes ( Better Logic app )

The trigger/condition combination for checking a value was suggested by YvesGeffens

Readable format of timer dates in settings menu was provided by jghaanstra

Donate

If you like the app, consider a donation to support development

ToDo

Clean-up code
Translation to NL

Known bugs

Settings screen doesn't always update if a countdown timer updates
- Workaround: Click 'CountDown' again in left-bar, after this, page will update when a timer is running

Changelog

V1.0.6 2017-09-27 : Add 'adjust timer' action card
V1.0.5 2017-09-27 : Add 'stop all timers' action card
V1.0.4 2016-12-20 : Human readable format for LastChanged dates in settings menu
V1.0.3 2016-12-05 : Fixed bug for tokens in action card when CountDown value changed
V1.0.1 2016-11-16 : Added trigger/condition combination to check value of a CountDown timer
V1.0.0 2016-11-01 : Added start/stop Countdown trigger cards, implemented export/import
V0.2.0 2016-07-20 : Added random CountDown action card
V0.1.0 2016-05-20 : Added condition card, fixed app for 0.8.35 compatability
V0.0.3 2016-04-18 : Optimized memory & cpu usage: the memory leak shouldn't be occuring anymore
V0.0.2 2016-04-16 : Optimized settings screen
V0.0.1 2016-04-15 : First public release

jovink · April 2016

I like the idea!
I hope it would be possible to start a timer if a door opens.
so if longer a a minute that homey can set the thermostat to 15 degrees

aloft · April 2016

jovink said:

I like the idea!
I hope it would be possible to start a timer if a door opens.
so if longer a a minute that homey can set the thermostat to 15 degrees

That's the exact use-case for this app. So then you need these flows with this app:

When [door opens] -> Then start timer door-open with 60 seconds
When [door closes] -> Stop timer door-open
When timer door-open is 0 -> Set Thermostat to 15 degrees

You might want to use an extra flow or integrate it with 'door closes' to also reset the thermostat if door closes.

p0nts · April 2016

if door opens
timer 20 seconds
if door open or movement detected and alarm still armed
alarm
else
nothing

DaneeDeKruyff · April 2016

But does it also support this?

Movement detected
timer 20 seconds
(after 11 seconds)
Movement dected
reset timer to initial start (20 seconds)

aloft · April 2016

DaneeDeKruyff said:

But does it also support this?
Movement detected
timer 20 seconds
(after 11 seconds)
Movement dected
reset timer to initial start (20 seconds)

If after 11 seconds, movement is detected (triggered by a flow), you just set the timer back to 20 seconds and the timer will go from 9 back to 20 seconds. So no need to first stop the timer and then restart it. So basically the first flow (movement detected -> timer 20 seconds) can be reused also for new movement detections.

DaneeDeKruyff · April 2016

ok, great! Thanks!

brot84 · April 2016

Sorry but how i can install on homey without the app store,i want to use the timer for the motion sensor,thanks regards

Uranday · April 2016

brot84 said:

Sorry but how i can install on homey without the app store,i want to use the timer for the motion sensor,thanks regards

See https://developers.athom.com/library/introduction/

aloft · April 2016

Pending approval in the App Store, you could download the source from github , and install it via command line.

E.g. on Unix-based systems:

npm install -g athom-cli
athom login
athom project --instal /path/to/downloaded/source

aloft · April 2016

CountDown v0.0.2 has been published. Any feedback is appreciated.

One bug that is already encountered: there might be a small memory leak that will cause the app to crash over time, depending on the amount of timers and triggering of those timers. I am investigating what the cause is.

Vincent · April 2016

aloft said:

CountDown v0.0.2 has been published. Any feedback is appreciated.

One bug that is already encountered: there might be a small memory leak that will cause the app to crash over time, depending on the amount of timers and triggering of those timers. I am investigating what the cause is.

Great, I will certainly try it (but I'm going to wait until you solve the leak issue).

ThijsDeJong · April 2016

can someone post a flow picture, I'm still struggling with the flows. I read about When door opens then... and so on and so on, but... How does that look in Homey flow?
Need some visuals to get this stuff.
Appreciate it!

MarcoF · April 2016

Please check @Athom 's YouTube channel and see the several videos Emile made.

ThijsDeJong · April 2016

Thnx I will have a look

aloft · April 2016

Version 0.0.4 has been released in the App store.

- Optimized settings screen
- Lower memory usage & CPU usage. This limits the impact on the memory leak for operational use, although in extreme cases (thousands of updates) you will still be able to crash the App.

kasteleman · April 2016

@aloft: "(thousands of updates)"? how is that?

aloft · April 2016

kasteleman said:

@aloft: "(thousands of updates)"? how is that?

If you start / stop many timers at the same time with each a high amount of 'seconds', you'll be able to crash the app.

Every second that a timer runs is an update. So if you run 15 timers in parallel; you'll have 15 updates per second, or 900 updates per minute. If you keep that up for an hour, the app will likely crash. Under normal circumstances - a couple of timers, not running constantly - memory usage is limited and the app will function OK ( as far as I can test ).

Athom, myself and other developers -who experience the same issue- are looking into this root cause issue. I am also checking if there is a work-around possible.

aloft · April 2016

@kasteleman Good news! Athom might have found the issue with memory leaks in applications. This will be embedded in an upcoming release. As soon as it is available, I'll stress-test the CountDown app ;-)

kasteleman · April 2016

@aloft That is very nice to read. Until then i'm going to test it with my Living Colours in a flow for "softdimming" feature during "bedtime"

Upcomimg release is as firmware .31?

kasteleman · April 2016

Unfortunately have to wait until next firmware. Can not install apps anymore: something went wrong message. After installing HUE, KAKU and Philips TV, can not install anything. Kodi fails also with same error

Ronneman · May 2016

On version 0.8.34. I cannot add any new timers anymore.

I can add them in the settings but they are not saved when I leave the screen.
Someone else has the same issue?

Phuturist · May 2016

Ronneman said:

On version 0.8.34. I cannot add any new timers anymore.

I can add them in the settings but they are not saved when I leave the screen.
Someone else has the same issue?

This was mentioned on Slack. Seems to be a common issue for more apps (for instance adding a variable to Better Logic doesnt work either).

RobinVanKekem · May 2016

Could be related to: https://github.com/athombv/homey/issues/600

GeurtDijker · May 2016

Hi @aloft ;;
I was thinking about a "Debouncer" using your Countdown disabling and enabling flows:
https://forum.athom.com/discussion/comment/22576/#Comment_22576 ;

Is it possible to create a Condition Card/ Condition "Countdown [NOT] running"
This saves a flow in the example like above.

I tested it locally and it works, see my pull request.

aloft · May 2016

GeurtDijker said:

Hi @aloft ;;
I was thinking about a "Debouncer" using your Countdown disabling and enabling flows:
https://forum.athom.com/discussion/comment/22576/#Comment_22576 ;

Is it possible to create a Condition Card/ Condition "Countdown [NOT] running"
This saves a flow in the example like above.

I tested it locally and it works, see my pull request.

I saw your pull request, I'll take a look at it. Right now, my Homey crashed within a couple of minutes after restarting, so I need to figure out what is happening or do a full reset.

Thanks for the suggestion (and solution :-) )

aloft · May 2016

@GeurtDijker ;
I've implemented your suggestion (and changed it a little bit), but to test I need 0.8.35 , so it might take a day or 2. If you like to be contributed in the app.json file, send me a message with your email address, and I'll add you.

Thanks again!

aloft · May 2016

Version 0.1.0 has been submitted for approval to the app store.

* Added condition card ; so you can check if a CountDown timer is or isn't running in a flow
* Fixed code for compatibility with 0.8.35 ; otherwise it won't save variables.

bvdbos · May 2016

You're fast

aloft · May 2016

BasVanDenBosch said:

You're fast

All kudos to @Uranday ; he found the issue in BetterLogic within minutes, I merely typed very fast to update CountDown's code.

TedTolboom · May 2016

Great work @aloft and @Uranday. Looking forward to setting up my flows again with both your apps!
@Athom, priority lane please!