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  • EmileEmile Administrator, Athom
    edited February 2018
    The software update has moved to the Athom Blog: https://blog.athom.com/category/behind-the-magic/

    ---

    Summary Week 52 & 1 (December 26 - January 6)

    Happy New Year everybody! I hope everyone had a great time, and maybe made some New Year Flows as well!

    This week, one year ago, the first backers received their Homeys. Looking back, it might have been way too early to think Homey was ready for daily use. But little did we know! Not only Homey itself, but also everyone at Athom has improved a lot, and we're richer, more experienced and generally much better at creating a good product.

    Most of our lessons we have learned through you, the community. While sending Homeys last year might've been too early, for a startup like us feedback is the most valueable asset we have. And boy we have a lot of it! At Athom we are constantly amazed by the energy our community has when it comes to helping make Homey even better. We are very grateful for this, and even befriended entrepreneurs, some of much bigger companies, are so jealous. So thank you all so much and make 2017 Homey's year!

    The past two weeks Homey v1.1.2 has been released to the stable channel, which included Flow Tags & Wallpapers. Especially the Flow Tags seem to be very much liked, because it makes creating complex Flows a lot easier. The following Flow improvements are 'else' actions, also a much requested feature!

    Media is also around the corner and we expect it to ship it this month. It is a big update, dependent on many apps, so it took somewhat longer than we hoped, but in two weeks I hope I can say that we shipped it!

    Infrared is getting some love as well, because we have many more devices supported but they have not been imported in our database yet.

    Another problem we're working on is 433 MHz receiving range. We hope to have that resolved within short time as well. It's very unfortunate that Reinier had to stop working due to his health, and we will miss him greatly. But the show must go on!

    We're also still looking for an Android/Javascript engineer to give our app a most-needed upgrade. If you happen to know an enthousiastic developer, please contact me!

    That was it for now! Next week I'll publish a blog post about the inner workings of Z-Wave in Homey, which I hope will be a very interesting read!

    Enjoy your weekends!
  • EmileEmile Administrator, Athom
    edited January 2017
    Summary Week 2 & 3 (January 9 - January 20)

    Homey v1.1.3 is in our private Developer Preview channel, and we're tweaking some Z-Wave issues before releasing it to experimental. A next version will also include a visual map of your Z-Wave network, where unreachable devices can be identified and repaired.

    The long-awaited Media update has taken a lot longer than we had hoped, but we're still on schedule to release it to the experimental channel in January. From the start, Sonos and Heos will be supported as speakers, and SoundCloud, Google Play Music and YouTube as players. There will be a Spotify app, but for now it will only work with a Sonos speaker that has a Spotify account connected already. We're still fighting with Spotify to get the functionality we need to get this working, which often feels as David vs. Goliath, but we won't give up!

    Up for release as well is a new speech parser, which makes it much easier for developers to parse sentences, and will in general allow for much more natural commands.

    The next things we're going to work on are a major upgrade to Insights, Flow 'else' cards and then Dashboards and Bluetooth speakers. In the meantime you'll also see more integrations like Facebook Messenger, but for other platforms. Also the 433 MHz and Infrared parsing are getting a lot of attention this and next month. Please sit tight!

    Finally, this Sunday morning we'll publish a 'Behind the Magic' blog post about Z-Wave on our Blog!

    P.S: We're looking for two engineers, read about our positions here.
  • EmileEmile Administrator, Athom
    edited February 2017
    Summary Week 4 & 5 (January 23 - February 3)

    Homey v1.1.4 has been released to the experimental channel featuring many bugfixes, and will soon hit the stable channel if we don't find any new issues.

    Up next is Homey v1.2, the most expected (and much delayed) update featuring Homey Media. We're polishing the latest bugs and then it's ready for release. Finally!

    In the meantime we have been working on improving the 433 MHz & IR receiving range by implementing a new decoding algorithm, and the results look very promising so far! We might write a blogpost about our magic in the future as well. Talking about blog posts, in case you missed it, here is a background article about Z-Wave.

    I must admit, these software updates aren't the most exciting to write when most of our work is invisible backend and bugfixes, but trust me, we're working very hard on those new features!

    One more thing - Next to our Facebook Messenger integration, soon another very popular speech integration will join the Homey family...

    Enjoy your weekends!
  • EmileEmile Administrator, Athom
    edited February 2017
    Summary Week 6 & 7 (February 6 - February 17)

    While I am writing this, Athom's office is filled with uplifting music while we're getting excited for the weekend. The music I'm hearing is played by our Sonos speakers, streamed from Spotify, controlled by Homey. With a simple click I open up the speaker selection, select 'Chromecast' and within a few seconds the music resumes on our TV. With another click, the music output switches to Homey's line-out.

    In the meantime, the song has changed from a festival's livemix streamed from SoundCloud.

    Homey Music is not only amazing, but it will finally be shipped to the private Developer Preview channel next week, where the hardcore enthousiasts will help us find any bugs to prepare the Music update for the rest of you.

    Please take a moment to enjoy the following screenshots, and get excited what's coming in the next Homey update.









    From the start, we will support streaming SoundCloud and Google Play Music to any .mp3 compatible speaker, which includes Homey itself. Spotify will be streamable to Sonos, and we aim for more integrations later on. Supported speakers from the launch are Sonos, Denon Heos, Google Chromecast, Google Chromecast Audio and ofcourse Homey's lineout. More music apps will be made by us, and hopefully our community in the future.

    And Homey Music isn't the only thing we've been working on the past two weeks! Last time I already teased a little about a new voice integration, and yes, it is Amazon Echo. We're currently in their certification program, and will launch the integration when Amazon gives us the green light.

    Another much-requested feature that's almost done is Bèta and Alpha channels in the App Store. App developers will be able to publish unstable versions to an opt-in group of users, and even private alpha releases can be made which will not require the regular App Store approval process.

    Homey v1.2.0 will also feature a brand-new speech parser, which will improve the way Homey understands the command it receives. For example, before Homey couldn't understand 'Turn on <My Light Name>', now it does! Many more improvements have been made, which will soon be published on our 'What can I say to Homey?'.

    And last but not least, we have massively boosted the 433 MHz receiving range by a huge amount in Homey v1.2.0. We actually outperformed many brand's own receivers during testing! We still have to perform more field tests in different environments but the results look very promising!

    Enjoy your weekends!
  • EmileEmile Administrator, Athom
    edited March 2017
    Summary Week 8 & 9 (February 20 - March 3)

    Homey v1.2.0
    In the last two weeks, we have worked on Homey v1.2.0, and shipped the update to the private Developer Preview channel, where it is now being tested. Next week, we will most likely upgrade the update to the public Experimental channel, where everyone can test it. To read about what's new, see the post above.

    Alexa
    The Homey + Alexa integration is also live as of this week! Enable it from within the Alexa app by searching for 'Homey'. You need an Amazon Echo device set to US, and a Homey set to English for it to work. We are creating this and more integrations to satisfy everyone's need to interact with Homey in their own prefered way. Read more about Homey's speech integrations here.

    App Store bèta & alpha channels
    Developers can now publish apps as a public bèta or private alpha version in the App Store, to increase the quality of their apps and prevent existing users to experience breaking apps.



    Website
    We gave our website a much-needed update as well! It didn't mention a lot of things Homey could already do, and we're very proud of what we have achieved so far and are becoming less afraid to share it! Check out some new pages about Speech, Flow, Music and Privacy & Security.

    What's next on our roadmap?
    In no particular order, this what we'll be working on next:
    • Insights v2 + Insights Reports
    • Bluetooth Audio speaker support
    • Smartphone App improvements
    • Google Assistant integration
    • Dashboards
    • Apps, apps and more apps
    Enjoy your weekends!

    P.S: As celebration of our 1000th Athom Chat (Slack) user, we have made an infographic with some very fascinating numbers. Be sure to check it out!

  • EmileEmile Administrator, Athom
    Summary Week 10 & 11 (March 6 - March 17)

    Homey v1.2.0
    The last two weeks we haven't released that much, but Homey v1.2.0 is ready for experimental. We have learned from previous experiences, which made us don't release on Fridays anymore. Homey v1.2.0 features Homey Music, a brand new speech parser and much improved 433 MHz receiving range. Be sure to enjoy the weekend, because next Monday, v1.2.0 will be pushed to the experimental channel!

    Smartphone Apps
    Our iOS and Android apps have gotten a much needed update, which fixes many bugs, adds custom wallpaper support and has a 200% - 300% speedup overall. They're currently in bèta and will be released to stable as soon as possible.

    Google Assistant

    The Homey + Google Assistant integration is the third of its kind, next to Messenger and Alexa. It allows you to talk with Homey through any Assistant-enabled device, such as Google Home, Android or a smartwatch. We've finished the integration and it's currently under review at Google. Thumbs up!

    Alarms
    "OK Homey, wake me up at 07:00!". While v1.2.0 is just around the corner, some of us are already working on v1.3.0. One of the features is Alarms, where Homey can wake you gently. Combine this with a Flow, e.g. "30 minutes before my alarm goes off" and say goodbye to blue Mondays.



    Apps SDK v2
    We've introduced the first version of Homey's Apps SDK over a year ago, and we've learned a lot since then. Somewhere around Homey v1.4.0 we'll release a new version of the Apps SDK which will make it much easier to create apps and drivers for all developers. We hope to improve the overall quality of community apps by helping a hand where we can.

    Flows with 'or' and 'else'
    Yep, they're on the list and will be shipped very soon :-)


    Enjoy your weekends!
  • EmileEmile Administrator, Athom
    edited March 2017
    Summary Week 12 & 13 (March 20 - March 31)

    Homey v1.2.0
    Our most recent update, v1.2.0 which includes Media, improved 433 Mhz range and an improved speech parser, is still in experimental. The final bugs are now being polished and it's ready for stable any moment now.

    The Homey Smartphone App has been updated on iOS and Android as well, and we've seen 100% - 300% speed improvements and many bugs that have been fixed. Great work!

    Note: as of Homey v1.2.0, a much requested feature was feedback when Homey did not understand what you said. That now works, with the small drawback that it requires everyone to migrate their 'When Homey said something And the text contains' cards to the 'When something specific was said' card, if that hasn't happen yet.

    Homey v1.3.0
    While some of us work on v1.2.0, in the meantime others have been working on v1.3.0 already. It features an updated version of the Flow Editor, with 'else' support (we heard you!), sortable columns, and a much needed improvement for the Flow picker component, which is also used in Insights.


    Sorting cards is possible as of Homey v1.3.0
    Create 'else' actions when the conditions aren't all true

    Alarms
    As of Homey v1.3.0, you can set, update and delete alarms using speech, the Homey Smartphone App or the Homey Desktop App. Flows where you automatically wake up later when that calendar appointment is cancelled are now possible! Or wake up a little bit earlier so you won't get rained at work.

    Manage your alarms from the Homey Smartphone App

    Or from the Homey Desktop App
    App Store
    We've made an update to the App Store which improves the search function (for the techies: we're now using Elasticsearch as back-end) and makes finding any app a lot easier.

    Enjoy your weekends!

  • EmileEmile Administrator, Athom
    Summary Week 14 & 15 (April 3 - April 14)

    Homey v1.2.0 & v1.3.0
    The last two weeks we have mainly been focusing on stability and resolving smaller issues. Homey v1.2.0 is ready for the stable channel next week, and we're only updating a few media apps before we make the big jump.

    Shortly afterwards you can expect Homey v1.3.0 to be available in the experimental channel. We plan to keep up with those faster releases in the future by splitting features in smaller releases.

    As a bonus, and because we believe clear communication is very important, we've added a 'What's New' feature to Homey. After updating, you will be greeted with a screen that tells you all that's new. View these for any future update on https://whatsnew.athom.com.



    ZigBee
    Homey has a ZigBee radio on-board, but we didn't write software for it yet because there simply aren't many ZigBee devices. Now that IKEA has released their wireless lighting products, we found it time to unlock even more devices, so we started working on ZigBee. Due to the similarities with Z-Wave, the development is progressing very smooth, and we hope to ship a first version in the v1.4.0 or v1.5.0 update.

    Alexa UK
    The Homey + Alexa integration already does a fantastic job for Alexa devices configured as US, and soon our UK users can enjoy it as well. Amazon's APIs differ between regions, and the UK API doesn't support a critical feature, but we've found a way around it, and the integration is currently under review at Amazon.

    Enjoy your weekends!
  • EmileEmile Administrator, Athom
    edited April 2017
    Summary Week 16 & 17 (April 17 - April 28)

    Homey v1.2 is stable! We are very proud of this update, and can't wait to see what Music apps the community will come up with.

    Homey v1.3 has been released to the Developer Preview channel last week. We haven't found any new major issues we couldn't instantly fix, so it will be upgraded to the Experimental channel most likely next week. It will bring Alarms and a lot of Flow improvements (else column, sortable cards, improved menu).

    For the updates after v1.3, we're currently spending most of our time working on ZigBee, Bluetooth Audio, the new Apps SDK, Dashboards, Insights Reports, the Homey Smartphone App and of course all of our Homey Apps.

    We've also updated our Blog, as it's becoming more active recently because there is a lot about Homey to share.

    Admitted, it's a short update, but not every week is exciting! Enjoy your weekends!
  • EmileEmile Administrator, Athom
    edited May 2017
    Summary Week 18 & 19 (May 1 - May 12)

    The last few weeks we have been focussing on stability first before adding new features. Homey v1.3 will feature many stability improvements next to the new features previously announced (Alarms & Flow Editor improvements).

    One of these improvements is Z-Wave stability in larger networks, or when many devices were talked to in a short amount of time. We have found the problem (for the techies: the communication with the chip was too slow, so we created a kernel module to improve the speed by multiple factors) and this will be shipped with v1.3 as well.

    While some of us are working on current issues, others are working on ZigBee (planned for v1.4) and the Apps SDK v2. With the new Apps SDK, it won't be only much easier to write Apps for Homey, but also will increase the stability of apps in general, because community developers won't have to reinvent the wheel all the time.

    We expect to release the v1.3 software update to the experimental channel next week, and hopefully to stable the week after. Shortly afterwards v1.4 will hit developer preview, and from there the cycle continues.

    Enjoy your weekends!

    P.S: The Homey + Alexa skill is now also available for our UK users, go check it out!
  • EmileEmile Administrator, Athom
    Summary Week 20 & 21 (May 15 - May 26)

    Homey v1.3 is on the verge of being released to the stable channel. It fixes many Z-Wave issues, as well as adds Flow Editor improvements and Homey Alarms.

    In the meantime we've been working on squashing existing bugs, as well as adding new features. Zigbee will be shipped with Homey v1.4 and adds support for IKEA TRÅDFRI, and various other ZigBee devices.

    An update later, the Apps SDK v2 will be released, which makes it a lot easier for app developers to create apps and makes them automatically more stable as well, because we've done a lot of the hard lifting now.

    Homey Insights Reports is another feature that's taking shape, and will give you insight in what's happened in your home very easily.

    The Homey Smartphone App is getting some love lately as well, and you'll see more features of Homey being integrated there as well. Eventually we want to embed the entire Homey Desktop interface to the Homey Smartphone App.

    Enjoy your weekends!

    P.S: Have you seen our commercial video yet? Make sure to like and share it!
  • EmileEmile Administrator, Athom
    Summary Week 22 & 23 (May 29 - June 9)

    We've intended to release Homey v1.3 to stable this week, but unfortunately we've found a bug that caused Homey's clock to reset in some rare instances, and would not synchronize afterwards. This can be a problem when Homey connects to our secure Cloud services, because when the time is off, the certificate is marked invalid. So we are fixing that problem right now, so we can finally release v1.3 to stable next week.

    Shortly afterwards, Homey v1.4 will be released, which adds ZigBee support. And even more shortly after that, Homey v1.5 is already nearing completion, which contains the Apps SDK v2.

    Especially useful for developers, Apps SDK v2 is a major step forward in the ease of creating Homey Apps. There is finally a decent documentation with plenty of examples. At Athom, we've worked really hard to make this happen, and we hope that our Community Developers will make use of it to the fullest.



    In the meantime, another project that's becoming beautiful as well are Insights Reports. While we're still designing it, every feedback is welcome. Please contact @Robert in our Athom Community Slack to share your ideas.

    Enjoy your weekends!
  • EmileEmile Administrator, Athom
    edited June 2017
    Summary Week 24 & 25 (June 12 - June 23)

    Homey v1.3
    Homey v1.3 has been released to stable last week, and while we're fixing a few minor bugs there, Homey v1.4 (including ZigBee) is already being tested by our 'Developer Preview' users, and will be released to the 'Experimental' channel next week.

    Up next
    Homey v1.5 (including Apps SDK v2) is already ready for testing, and is scheduled to be released to 'Developer Preview' next week as well.

    In the future we'll be adding Flow 'or' cards in the '...and...' column and image-type Flow Tags (as a preparation for Webcams).

    Mobile First
    Most of our development power has been allocated to work on the new Homey Smartphone App. The new app will be mostly native, and a lot easier to use for both existing users and newcomers. It will make it much easier to add new features as well for us, because currently we're working with a front-end codebase of over 3 years old.

    Our focus shift to mobile means that the Homey Desktop App (and all web-interfaces) will eventually be removed as of Homey v2.0. The new Homey Smartphone App will also work on tablets (Android & iPad), whereas for developers a simulator will be available in the browser.

    This is a big change, but we can't stay behind. Homey should be even more easy to use than it already is, and moving to mobile is a great opportunity to do just that.

    3rd party apps
    Some apps use elevated permissions by asking the user for it's 'bearer token'. With the focus on ease of use, some time after Homey v2.0 it will be possible for developers to access Homeys using the Athom Cloud API. This is similar to Facebook's 'Do you want this app to access your ...?', and works better for the user as well for the developers.

    We have a lot work ahead to make all of this happen. In the meantime we're aware that we mustn't forget features such as Bluetooth Audio. So it's going to be a short summer holiday!

    Enjoy your weekends!

    P.S: We're hiring! View our open developer position at https://go.athom.com/jobs
  • EmileEmile Administrator, Athom
    edited July 2017
    Summary Week 26 & 27 (June 26 - July 7)

    Homey v1.5
    Unfortunately, due to one of our developers leaving the company due to personal circumstances, the v1.4 update which was planned to ship ZigBee has gotten some delays. In the meantime the Apps SDK v2 -which was planned for v1.5- has been completed, so we've decided to skip v1.4 altogether and release them both at the same time.

    Homey v1.5 also features two Flow improvements. The first are `or` groups in the `...and...` column, and the second are Image Tags.



    Homey v1.5 will be released next week to the Developer Preview channel, and hopefully soon to the Experimental channel.

    We have also started working on apps that make use of the new SDK (docs available here) and a new version of ZwaveDriver & ZigbeeDriver.

    Smartphone App
    The new smartphone app has a lot of focus at the moment, and two weeks ago I announced that we will replace the entire desktop interface. For more background information about the future, we've written an article on the Athom Blog. Be sure to check it out!

    Google Assistant
    Our Google Assistant integration is live! Check it our on our website.


    Enjoy your weekends!

    P.S: We're hiring! View our open developer position at https://go.athom.com/jobs
  • EmileEmile Administrator, Athom
    Summary Week 28 & 29 (July 10 - July 21)

    The last two weeks we've been quietly working on Homey v1.5, the new Homey Smartphone App and new Infrared apps. Our Roomba Wi-Fi app will hit the App Store soon as well.

    Homey v1.5 will most likely be released to the experimental channel next week. To see what's new, read the mailing we sent to all developers and the What's New page.

    Additionally, we've added some generic device cards, such as 'When a device's alarm went off' and 'And all devices are turned off in a zone'. These are definitely useful when you have a lot of devices and don't want to create a Flow for every one of them.

    Enjoy your weekends!
  • EmileEmile Administrator, Athom
    Summary Week 30 & 31 (July 24 - August 4)

    Homey v1.5 has been released to the experimental channel. This is a major update, so we expect it to stay there for some time until we promote it to stable.

    Other developers have been focussing on our apps, such as infrared for various brands, a rewrite of the Smarter.am app, support for the Roomba 980 vacuum cleaner, a rewrite of the LG WebOS app and IKEA. We will also be supporting the new KlikAanKlikUit ZigBee products.

    In the meantime we'll be working on the new Homey Smartphone App, Bluetooth Audio, Spotify Connect and the new developer portal.

    Enjoy your weekends!
  • EmileEmile Administrator, Athom
    edited August 2017
    Summary Week 32 & 33 (August 7 - August 18)

    Homey v1.5 is getting more stable and the last bugs are being fixed. This update will be distributed among the stable channel Homeys hopefully still within August.

    Many of our new apps are using the new Apps SDK v2, which is a major feature of Homey v1.5. So when this update hits stable, many users can also enjoy the apps we've already made.

    The Homey Smartphone App is progressing as well, and we're aiming to release a first preview version within a few weeks, which will be available next to the regular app.

    The Spotify app has been updated with support to play Homey Music to Spotify Connect speakers. As long as this functionality is still in bèta at Spotify, our Spotify app will remain in bèta as well.

    The developer portal, with tools to debug speech, apps and a smartphone simulator, is also nearing completion and will be launched sometime after Homey v1.5 has been released and we're focusing on Homey v2.0.

    Enjoy your weekends!
  • EmileEmile Administrator, Athom
    edited September 2017
    Summary Week 34 & 35 (August 21 - September 1)

    Homey v1.5
    We didn't quite make August to release Homey v1.5.0 to the Stable channel, but the plan is to do so upcoming Monday. Then finally everyone can enjoy the newest version of Homey.

    Shortly after we will release Homey v1.5.1 v1.5.2 which includes Z-Wave MultiChannel Association and several other improvements.

    Athom Developer Portal
    Today we have also launched the Athom Developer Portal, which is made for developers to improve the development process. Read the announcement here.

    Homey Apps
    We have released, or are about to release: Dyson, KlikAanKlikUit ZigBee, NetAtmo Welcome, Bosch-Siemens Home-Connect, Nest Cam, Smarter.am, eQ-3/HomeMatic and Honeywell Lyric.

    Backup & Restore
    We have silently started working on Backup & Restore functionality, which will make life easier when migrating between Homeys, or to restore a backup in case of data loss.

    Homey Smartphone App
    The new app is getting better, and we think that it's ready within two weeks to be released to Developer Preview users. There's still a long road to go, but it's already much faster and more user friendly than the current app!

    Enjoy your weekends!
  • EmileEmile Administrator, Athom
    Summary Week 36 & 37 (September 4 - September 15)

    Homey v1.5
    We did it! Homey v1.5 has been released to everyone, with many new features. Most of our apps that were dependent on this release are gradually being promoted to stable as well.

    Homey v1.6
    Homey v1.6 will feature Bluetooth Audio and many Music improvements.

    Homey v2.0
    Backup & Restore will be introduced in this release. This will also be the release where all desktop interfaces will be removed and the new Homey Smartphone App will be available to everyone.

    Homey v2.1
    This release will feature Homey Cameras, to connect all your IP Cams to Homey.

    Homey Smartphone App
    This is one of the most exciting projects we're working on, because it redefines the Homey experience. The app is progressing very smoothly and is very close to a preview release. It's also very fast: we've timed only 3s to start the app and toggle a device on or off!

    HomeyScript
    As a surprise gift, we've released HomeyScript, the result of an 'Hacky Friday' where you can write scripts for advanced behaviour, similar to Lua on other platforms.

    Enjoy your weekends!
  • EmileEmile Administrator, Athom
    Summary Week 38 & 39 (September 18 - September 29)

    Homey v1.5
    Homey v1.5.3 has been released with many small fixes and improvements.

    Homey Smartphone App
    The new Homey Smartphone App -which will become the future interface of Homey- has been released to our Developer Preview users, and so far they're enthusiastic about it!

    It will take some time for it to be completed, but we will continue a public rollout within two weeks. The new app will work next to the current app, so you can test both of them.

    ---

    And all the other projects mentioned in earlier posts are still being worked on.

    Enjoy your weekends!
  • EmileEmile Administrator, Athom
    Summary Week 40 & 41 (October 2 - October 13)

    Homey Smartphone App
    Good news! The new smartphone app is available for bèta testing. Android users can get it in the Google Play Store and iPhone users can signup here for early access.

    Our main focus has been to make the app functional, so do not expect any eye-candy. But you should know by now that at Athom we live to create beautiful products, so the final version will look a lot different.

    Share your experience on the forum and report any issues in our Issue Tracker.

    Bluetooth Audio
    We have resumed working on Bluetooth Audio, as well as many stability improvements for Homey Music. Homey v1.6 will include these enhancements.

    Apps and stability
    Half of our focus is on Homey Apps, and among many existing we're also working on Bosch/Siemens HomeConnect, Xiaomi, Foscam, Nest Cam and NetAtmo Welcome.

    For the rest stability is a major priority, because as we see the amount of our users increase, more special scenarios are being found.

    Enjoy your weekends!
  • EmileEmile Administrator, Athom
    edited October 2017
    Summary Week 42 & 43 (October 15 - October 27)

    The whole team just came back (in one piece, luckily) from a company trip to an indoor skiing hall, so I'm writing this update while drinking hot chocolate with very sore legs. We found out that some of us (actually, me) are really better at creating a beautiful product than moving through the snow. Anyway - the bi-weekly software update for you is here!

    Our main focus has been on two key themes: the Homey Smartphone App and stability. Let's find out what we did.

    Homey Smartphone App
    The new app for iOS and Android is already available for bèta testing and almost everyone seems to like it very much. This week an update has been shipped that added all Homey's settings, and up next is the Flow Editor.

    In the meantime, while the functional part of the app is being created and released gradually, we're working on a complete user interface overhaul. The current app is, and I can't stress this enough, functional but not sexy. In the upcoming weeks we hope to share some sneak peaks of how it will eventually look like. And I must say, it's already looking very beautiful. More on this later.

    Eventually the new design will be merged into the new app, yet we're working simultaneously to get the new features already out there for our users.

    Stability
    Our focus has been dedicated to stability and performance a lot, because there are simply many issues that have been open for a long time. Before adding new features we've set a target to solve many of those, to give everyone a better Homey experience. Key issues we're working on are Z-Wave stability in larger networks, some Homeys being disconnected from Athom Cloud and Homey's behavior after a reboot (e.g. triggering Flows). Keep an eye on the issue tracker.

    Enjoy your weekends!

    P.S. Winter is coming! Have you seen our Thermostat comparison?
  • EmileEmile Administrator, Athom
    Summary Week 44 & 45 (October 30 - November 10)

    With the end of 2017 in sight, our entire development efforts are focused on two themes: the new Homey Smartphone App, and Stability.

    This year we will most likely not leave the 1.5.x release branch, which means no new features until we're ready to jump to 2.0.0. All our existing apps will get a lot well-deserved attention as well.

    For Z-Wave, we have made some major progress in stability in larger networks. We have created new Developer Tools to aid in identifying problems. These will become full-featured with the newest Homey release planned (1.5.6).



    Our Linux kernel has been updated as well to increase stability. Zigbee is being worked on to resolve any remaining rough edges.

    As for the Homey Smartphone App, it is progressing very well. As I've said before, our focus now is on functionality, and then we will make it fancy. Here are some very early design mockups:

     

    Enjoy your weekends!
  • EmileEmile Administrator, Athom
    Summary Week 46 & 47 (November 13 - November 24)

    The last two weeks have been focused solely on stability and fixes. We have released Homey v1.5.6-rc.2 to Developer Preview which includes many fixes, and the newest Developer Tools have been made available.

    As for the new Homey Smartphone App, we hope to ship a new version next week with a preliminary version of the Flow Editor.

    Many of our Homey Apps have received updates as well, to improve their stability and fix some long-standing issues.

    Enjoy your weekends!
  • EmileEmile Administrator, Athom
    edited December 2017
    Summary Week 48 & 49 (November 27 - December 8)

    Our focus on stability and bugfixes are paying off! Homey v1.5.6 solves many issues users experienced, and we're planning on releasing this update next week to experimental.

    A new version of the Homey Smartphone App has been released as well, which includes a functional version of the Flow Editor. For the first time you can now manage your Flows from the couch, bed or toilet. Brilliant.

    We have also worked on maintenance of our apps, and even released a few new ones: Nokia Health (Withings), Homeyduino, Tado, Sunway & Bosch-Siemens Home Connect.

    And as a bonus, a sneak peak of the new Homey Smartphone App's mobile view.


    Enjoy your weekends!
  • EmileEmile Administrator, Athom
    edited December 2017
    Summary Week 50 & 51 (December 11 - December 22)

    With the holidays around the corner and it freezing outside, our feature freeze is slowly coming to an end. The last two weeks have been full with stability work on Homey v1.5.6, many of our Homey Apps and the new Homey Smartphone App.

    Homey v1.5.6 will be published to all Homeys in the stable channel in the new year, because with the holidays now we cannot monitor if everything goes right. And we wouldn't want to risk a Christmas tree not turning on due to a new bug, or Homey not saying 'Happy New Year' at 00:00 January 1st.

    We've started work on implementing the design in the Homey Smartphone App as well, and it's starting to look good. Our goal is to have a first release with the new design in the 2nd week of January. Stay tuned!

    Merry Christmas everyone and enjoy your holidays!
  • EmileEmile Administrator, Athom
    edited January 2018
    Summary Week 52 & 1 (December 25 - January 5) 

    Happy New Year! On behalf of Athom I hope you all have a wonderful 2018!

    As for us, we had a holiday as well, so there weren't exactly many exciting things happening. Nevertheless, we have some news to announce!

    The Alexa Smart Home Skill is currently under testing and certification by Amazon and will be released hopefully next week. This will allow you to address your devices through Homey by simply stating 'Alexa, turn on all lights'. Best of both world, we'd say.

    The new Homey Smartphone App is looking gorgeous already, and development is going steady. 

    We have a lot of fixes ready for Homey v1.5.6, while in the meantime we work hard to make it ready for the stable channel. The update has eventually became a lot larger than we anticipated, so it took somewhat longer to get ready.

    We've also released Homeyduino, a library and Homey App to connect your DIY Arduino projects. Read the blog for more information.

    And for anyone visiting CES in Las Vegas this year, come visit us! We have a booth to showcase Homey to the world.

    And last but not least, this is what the Homey Smartphone App is going to look like, for now.



    Enjoy your weekends!
  • EmileEmile Administrator, Athom
    edited January 2018
    Summary Week 2 & 3 (January 8 - January 19) 

    Last two weeks we have been slowly shifting our attention from stability improvements to Homey v2.0.0, which will be released together with the new Homey Smartphone App. There's still a lot of work to be done, so you might find us being more quiet than usual in the meantime.

    We have also released the Alexa Smart Home integration. Read more about it here.

    Enjoy your weekends!

    P.S. This will be the last software update on the Athom Community Forum. I felt that by writing them bi-weekly it's very hard to really go in-depth for certain developments, which is something I actually want to do. Therefore, as of February, we'll publish a much bigger in-depth blog on Athom Blog every first Friday of the month, where we will look back at the preceding month. As a bonus, February 2nd I'll start with the summary of January.
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