[Android 2.0 Build 214] SmartStart "Pending" message/UI and process is confusing

Added my first LR device via app.

Two things:

  1. Scan failed the first time: First time I scanned QR code on device the app returned to SmartStart screen as if nothing had happened.

  2. It is not clear that one needs to tap on the "pending" message to enter name and location in the app. There aren't any hints/prompts in the UI to communicate clearly that I need to tap on the "pending" message that appears after a successful scan. It just looked like a message and the app seemed stuck.

  3. The name and location info I entered in the pending notification were not transferred to the hub. "Location" is not a hub value - we have "Room" for info on where a device is. How is the "Location" info stored/used on the hub?

  4. The editing process for the pending info can leave you "stuck" w/the keyboard up over the dialog, requiring closing the keyboard to access the save button. Works, but clumsy.

  5. The choices offered when the pending notification is tapped are going to be completely unfamiliar and confusing to users. Particularly the two Boot Mode options at the bottom, S2 Boot Mode or SmartStart Boot Mode. I frankly wasn't sure what to do so left it at default (S2) but since the pairing process is via SmartStart it sounds like that might be the right choice. Need to insulate folks from these choices, or help them out to keep them from breaking things.

  6. Lastly, when I go back into the mobile app, the plug I added does not appear on the Devices tab in the mobile app, where I would expect it to appear.

Details:

After first scan I was returned to this screen as if nothing happened:

After the second scan the app displayed a "pending" status message and there were no indications that I needed to tap on it to edit the name, etc. The single trash can icon made it seem that the only function of the pending message was to offer an option to cancel the pairing via tapping on the trash can. Need to add a pen icon to indicate an edit option or something similar.

image

After tapping and editing the name and location details. The name and location info are not transferred to the hub:
2024-05-20 23_12_54-Main W

It's especially confusing if you go look at the hub while the pending message is still displayed, as the device had been paired to the hub and looked normal and was controllable.

Keyboard covering part of the dialog: May not be able to do much here, but it's clumsy as you can't scroll the choices up or down and have to close the keyboard manually.

Lots of confusing options/choices and opportunities for users to mess things up:
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Plug I added does not appear on the Devices tab in the mobile app. Appears normally on the hub:

2 Likes

Neither of those is correct. They have not added the Long Range boot mode to the Android app yet.

I am guessing you edited the name AFTER the device had already been included? If the devices was powered up when you scanned the code (or shortly after) it would include right away.

Based on the fact that you edited the entry and when you saved the Boot Mode would have been set to S2 that is why I think the device was already included. If you had saved it with boot mode S2 it would not have paired at all, definitely not in LR mode. I also just tested the name part yesterday and it carried over to the hub correctly, this is not an app specific thing once the SS entry is saved to the hub, it is fixed on the hub side (beta platform).

Also, check out my app: [APP] SmartStart Manager for Z-Wave

2 Likes

That's correct - though the status was still "pending" in the mobile app, when I looked at the hub the device had completed pairing.

It was actually already paired before I saved the settings in the mobile app.

  1. Scanned QR code and it seemed to fail - returned me to the "Add manually or use Scan the QR" prompt and nothing seemed to happen
  2. Scanned QR code again and then the pending message appeared
  3. Waited a bit (not sure how long - < than minutes) and then went to check on the hub and the device was fully paired
  4. Returned to the mobile app, figured out that tapping on the pending message opened it for editing, and put in the name and location and didn't change any other defaults and saved.

Went straight to your app last night after saving the name/location info. Your app was the only part of the process that worked as expected. :wink: