Make it work in Edge browser

elco@outlook.com

Hello,


The Homey interface doesn't work in the Edge browser. That's a pitty because the Edge browser is really becoming a good alternative to Chrome and Firefox.


Check the screenshot: all icons are just green squares. Can it be fixed?

mruiter

Browsers aren't supported. (you also see this as a message on the main screen) and Use the homey desktop app. Because then everybody wants all 34 populair browsers supported. Just use Chrome if you don't want the app. 

And please don't put any extra time into that half baked browser. It's not called edge for nothing. The rest isn't finished yet  

underground

mruiter said:

Browsers aren't supported. (you also see this as a message on the main screen) and Use the homey desktop app. Because then everybody wants all 34 populair browsers supported. Just use Chrome if you don't want the app. 

And please don't put any extra time into that half baked browser. It's not called edge for nothing. The rest isn't finished yet  

What a weird reaction in my opinion.
First of all is Edge one of the 3 (or 4) major browsers. Your and my preference in browser shouldn't be forced on others. Just the fact that you like to use Chrome doesn't make it the standard.

Second, Homey can be controlled by a webbrowser (now only Chrome). I hate the Homey desktop app. This, because I can't access Homey using a browser on any computer, because I need to install an app first (e.g. if I would like to access it on a computer if I am somewhere else than home). Now, I just use Chrome and not the app. And I really hope they won't force the app later on. And with this, I can imagine that none Chrome users (e.g. FF or Edge users) want to use their default browser.

honey

Or just make Edge work, Microsoft...

posthok

Weird. Why do you use a browser? You can control homey with speech. No need for a browser

mruiter

@underground Ok. Again, browsers are not supported . You can alo see that in a big fat message. So nobody is forcing you to use chrome. It just works.

I bought a nice bmw... i cant put diesel or gas in it. dawn ... there forcing me too so i catch youre drift

Use the Homey App then. It also works in safari mozilla and even on other less known browsers. 

If you do want to use a browser because you are running linux then the advise is chrome.

Edge has a big user count. Mainly because of the way it is being forced down the hatch to all users same as windows 10.most of them without any pc knowledge.

And Edge is still work in progress and not finished yet. Its mentioned on every MS seminar the last year that had a edge topic.

It would be a waste a precious athom dev time to even look for a second to edge.
They have way more important stuf to develp 

GeurtDijker

Nothing more personal than a favorite browser, 

But as stated several times by Athom (on the forum, github and slack) this will take a lot of development time to support using different browser that all comply to different html compatibles standards.
The small team at Athom prefers to use the time to develop the Homey firmware and new capabilities first and not spending time to fix different browser interface issues.

Therefore they state that the Homey Desktop app programmed around chrome is the only one supported. Chrome on Windows or Linux is also fully working. 
Chrome on iOS uses a different engine.

jeroenbos22

Since When is edge or IE considderd to be a browser? 

underground

Hm, a bit, no more than a bit, childish to say Edge is not working, is not a browser. Wow, really? Is this the level we want to discuss on this forum? Is this going into the same childish direction as Windows vs Linux, really? Please people, grow up!

I am programming for a web application for business and we have the requirement to support IE 11, Edge, FireFox , Chrome and Safari. Why? Because we cannot force the user to use a specific browser. And you know what? It is not that difficult.

As for Homey, for the desktop app they use CEF, This is bassically what Chrome is using too. The only thing the Homey desktop app can do is inject javascript class/ call back functions  so that the front end can call method in the app itself. This is probably also how they detect that it is running in the app or not (method exists or not)
I don't know what they want to do with this to force users to use the app instead of the browser. As we can see now, it still works in the browser.
Now the question is: will they continue to support Chrome?
If the answer is yes, then why not support the major browsers too (FF, IE 11 and Edge).?

caseda

so if there was no browser support from the start, but only the desktop app,
then there would have been no discussion at all here...

they only have 1 guy that is working on the front-end GUI and that is not the only thing he is working on.
so why no major browers yet?
because there is just not enough man power for it at athom...

we just need to learn to live with, that homey will not support other browers for a long time.
and only need to see chrome as a fallback for devices/computers that can't handle the desktop app yet.

they choose for chrome because of the easy implementable core it is using
(also what you call now the desktop app)
and the biggest range of supported scripts and object usage (like SVG files, the reason the OP came here for) out of the box

HansieNL

If you don't like to install Chrome browser I can advice you to use a portable version.

rob_houweling

underground said:

Hm, a bit, no more than a bit, childish to say Edge is not working, is not a browser. Wow, really? Is this the level we want to discuss on this forum? Is this going into the same childish direction as Windows vs Linux, really? Please people, grow up!
Totally agreed

Because we cannot force the user to use a specific browser.
Maybe in your case you can't, but why can't Athom do this? There's the question if it's nice to force users to use Chrome but I doubt people will leave homey on the shelf if Edge is not supported.

Now the question is: will they continue to support Chrome?
If the answer is yes, then why not support the major browsers too (FF, IE 11 and Edge).?
Because, as more people pointed out, they need their resources for development of homey. Plain and simply put, every hour they spend on making it work in a different browser is an hour they can't spend on homey. And it will cost them a lot of hours even though you say it's simple. I've been developing web apps for 20+ years by now and no, it's not that difficult but testing alone in 3 or 4 browsers alone takes a lot of time.

mruiter

For the record.... Nobody said edge isn't a browser. (except in a funny but near reality joke ) Neither is anybody going in a Linux or Windows debate they are both full of bugs

mitch

Hell, Athom can't even get voice (their biggest selling pitch) to work properly. Think they can add another browser to support? 

elco@outlook.com

First of all: Edge has some advantages next to Chrome, such as it not being made by Google, which lives just by using your personal information to advertise. Next: Edge is not just another browser: it's the replacement of IE which was horrible.


Just make Homey HTML5 suitable so it functions in all modern browsers and don't say "we don't support browsers". If every complex website in the world can work in all modern browsers by using HTML5, Homey should be no exception. I am not going to install an 'app' for every piece of hardware I use, especially when the developer is just too lazy to make it's interface work in every modern browser.

Bumblez

It's not a matter of the developer being "too lazy"... it's a matter of priorities, as previously indicated by (eg) caseda!

Let me make a very simple comparison case:

If you would put this to vote:
- Let Athom spend time on fixing Z-Wave, Infrared, and voice control
OR
- Let Athom spend time on browser (Edge) support as replacement for their Homey app

Do you really think that there would be a lot of users who will vote in favor of prioritizing Edge support?
Sure, once everything else works great, they can look into adding browser support (HTML5), but for now, you can already choose between Chrome (no longer officially supported, but still working great) and the Homey app. If you don't feel like installing either, then you're free to just wait until Edge support has moved to the top of their priority list...


PS:

elco@outlook.com said:

First of all: Edge has some advantages next to Chrome, such as it not being made by Google...

I'd say that it being made by Microsoft is in the same league...  so in that field, I don't see any advantage in using Edge over Chrome.

DaneeDeKruyff

For the sake of argument: Let's not forget Safari (on iOS) support!

Every time when something fails with homey I have to get a laptop and boot that because the interface doesn't work on an iPad. Seriously, checking out why something failed in Homey is the reason for 90% of my Laptop use, for all other things I need to do personaly I can use my iPad. 

And no, at this point in time it's perhaps not wise to take resources away from fixing homey in favor building a platform independant interface but that's only because there's still enough to fix.
Not because it's an unusual request from users to be able to control their home automation (which is meant to make thier lives easier) in a easy method they prefer. 

underground

Bumblez said:

It's not a matter of the developer being "too lazy"... it's a matter of priorities, as previously indicated by (eg) caseda!

Let me make a very simple comparison case:

If you would put this to vote:
- Let Athom spend time on fixing Z-Wave, Infrared, and voice control
OR
- Let Athom spend time on browser (Edge) support as replacement for their Homey app

.

Hm isn't there a contradiction between your statement and the statement that there is one user working on the front end? Because if this is the case, could it be that the front end developer is not working on fixing Z-wave?
Have you read the news letter? They are not fixing things, but promising new features (like media, which they already advertising with, but that is a different issue).

We don't know who is working on what at Athom. So, I won't make any statements on resources. Honestly, I don't care. Do you care how many developers are working at Samsung? No, but if your TV does not do what has been advertised or gets stuck once in a while and have to restart, you complain.
And is has been advertised that Homey can be accessed from anywhere, but this is not the case. I need to install Chrome or the app. And this is not always possible.

In general (not specifically to you):
Good to read that there are some fans of the Homey (and Athom). Really, that is good for Athom. And it can be good for other users as well. But keeping an open mind to users with problems and other ideas would be nice. Some empathy towards others whom have troubles or another view on things that results in critisism towards Athom would be nice.

In this case; would like it to work in Edge (or FF, Safari for that matters) is not a weird or stupid idea.
Replying with: "Athom should not focus on that, but on other things" might not be the most constructive reply.
First of all, we don't know if one cannot be done without the other (don't know the resource at Athom) and second, if a lot of people are requesting this, maybe Athom can act on this (e.g. extra resource or shift in resource).

I feel that some users were there with the start of the Homey, with the first beta. They feel so much part of Athom that critisism might be felt as an attack on themselfs. I don't know. Please stop defending Athom if people have critisism. Athom can defend themselfs if they want to.

Bumblez

Not necessarily a contradition. Again, as caseda said earlier:

"1 guy that is working on the front-end GUI and that is not the only thing he is working on."

You're right in so far, that, I don't know what role he plays in the fixing of Z-Wave, Infrared, and voice control, in the development of the media update, or in any other of the current priority issues. But given how small Athom is, I am quite sure he is involved.

On the other hand, Homey CAN be accessed from anywhere. You can access Homey from your smartphone (through the smartphone app or through the Chrome browser), or from any computer (all you need is an internet connection, and be willing to install either the app or a compatible browser), anywhere you are. You want "from anywhere" to mean "from any browser", but I don't recall ever reading such a promise from Athom.  If you can dig up a statement where Athom promised that Homey could be controlled from any browser, then you're right... that is not currently possible.

But even if you could find such a claim... I believe you completely misunderstood my previous post. I did not post to defend Athom... I am defending the priorities of myself and (what I believe to be) the vast majority of Homey users here. If Athom is going to invest time on implementing Edge support, that means other issues are delayed even more. Is that really what we want? I know I don't!

And I did keep an open mind... I clearly said "once everything else works great, they can look into adding browser support (HTML5)". I just don't think that, at this stage in development, when so much of the promised functionality is not even working yet, support for Edge should be a priority. Chrome (or the Homey app) may not be the long-term solution you want, but it's a workaround that works, for the time being. For many other issues, there are no workarounds. So those should have a higher priority! I hope you can see the sense in that, too.

elco@outlook.com

@underground thanks for your reply. @ the rest: Edge compatibility isn't something on it's own; if they make their interface HTML5 then all modern browsers work so the title of this topic might as well be "make it work in Safari". If you build a web-interface these days, HTML5 is the standard to build it by. That the Homey interface isn't HTML5 is not just a request, I see it as a bug that it isn't.

@Bumblez I agree that for now working in Chrome is a good work-around, but in the future HTML5 should definitely be on the shortlist of the developers for the sake of being independent of apps and specific browsers. Aside from that: Homey won't get any better from all of us being quiet. For you HTML5 isn't an issue, for me it is.