Any alternatives to the app for phone control?

⚙️ Custom Apps and Drivers webCore
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I've had a Hubitat for months, but have been stalling the switchover from SmartThings. The big holdup is needing to control devices from my phone.

The SmartThings app automatically adds every device, makes rearranging effortless, and is space efficient. (I won't bother mentioning it's also pretty, though it is.)

The Hubitat app dashboard (what I can tell) forces me to add each device manually, then tap on arrow buttons to crudely position them. I have HUNDREDS of devices--it would take days. And the result is a crude, blocky and inefficient layout that only fits 6 huge device squares on my phone's entire screen.

Please tell me there is a better way. Another app, a third-party app, something I'm overlooking. A web interface I could use instead? Should I install HubConnect and use the SmartThings app to control Hubitat devices?

I'm sold on the core functionality of Hubitat and already knew about the bad GUI before purchase, but didn't think it would be this challenging. If I can install webCoRE for rules and find any alternative to the Hubitat app dashboard, I think I can move forward.

** EDIT ** I am using an Android phone.

** EDIT ** Thank you for the responses so far. They offer some hope. I see it's possible to squeeze more on the screen, which is good. But it sounds like you still have to add and position each device manually. Yes, that is a problem when you have hundreds of devices.

Not all of them get frequent use, of course, but if they aren't on at least one dashboard, how will I be able to check them? I may not need to know the humidity of my crawlspace or the temperature of the garage very often, but at least I know they are instantly available and easy to find in the SmartThings app by quickly scrolling to the right group. I have my most used groups at the top and can drag and drop or move an obscure device to the top if I find it becomes more important.

I will also be looking into the alternatives you guys suggested.

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Have you looked at "SharpTools" or "The Home Remote"?

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Android or iOS? If Android, there is a community made Android app dashboard that is pretty great...extremely active/responsive developer. Add all your devices automatically, arrange in folders, drag and drop, share settings/layout across devices, etc.

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That can be adjusted to whatever you want. You can set column/row widths, and how many tiles in each column/row. You could put 100 squares on a dash if you really wanted to, or could read something that tiny.

And do you really have hundreds of devices that need control via phone? Even though I have way over a couple hundred devices, many don't get put onto dashboards. I don't know how you would keep track of that many things!

My last piece of advice is that you really don't want every device on one single dashboard, especially a couple hundred of them! You will really bog down the hub if you try to load that many devices at one time. The hub has to load everything on the dash every time you access it or refresh it. I would suggest a rethink of how you want things arranged. Maybe by room, or device type, or something.

Lastly, look at Smartly in addition to the suggestions above. It can transform the stock dashboards to something very nice. There is even a way to make it scale per device.

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And it has drag-n-drop tile rearrangements in the latest version (though I haven’t tried that out yet).

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webCoRE runs well on HE. A few small differences, but run local and faster than on ST. I’d recommend installing Hubitat Package Manager and then installing webCoRE from there, but it can be done manually also.

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If you are in the iOS ecosystem, take a look at Homebridge. https://homebridge.io
I have all my HE devices in Apple Home via Homebridge. I use that primarily to control devices from my phone and also link some non-Hubitat native devices (Ring doorbell and camera).

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I don't know how many devices I have on this dashboard - quite a few. This is the built-in Hubitat dashboard. It actually works better on the phone if I turn it sideways but, when I do that I can't get a good screen shot. This is on a Google Pixel 2 - Android 11 - Chrome browser.

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That actually does look just fine.

I wouldn't mind that at all and will see if I can squeeze more buttons into the layout.

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Here's how it is setup:

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If you want drag-n-drop (otherwise it is incredibly painful) you will need to use Smartley w/the stock Dashboard. Smartley is excellent.

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Home habit

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Google play hubitat dashboard.. best dash out there and exactly what like you frustrated me

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Honestly, you can make beautiful dashboards in Hubitat. That said why add all your devices? The whole point of home automation is Automation. A control panel is a last resort for the most part or should just be used for status. (My opinion anyway) The less I have to interact with the system, the better. That said, Smartly 2.0 would probably work for you

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on my android phone im using an app called "hubitat dashboard" it works with maker api on hubitat. it is insanely fast.

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I simply use the Google Home app when I need to manually do something. Everything is already there, lights, media, camera's, thermostat, etc. Works great.

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Yes, the Google Home Dashboard provides pretty good functionality.

In practice I have four simple dashboards for occasional use - one is the top level, it just has big buttons for the three sub-dashboards. One of the sub-dashboards is for exterior lighting, the buttons are arranged roughly like the shape of the house. One sub-dashboard is for upstairs (interior) lighting, the buttons are arranged and grouped roughly in the shape of the rooms on that floor. The last sub-dashboard is for the downstairs (interior) lighting, buttons are arranged similarly to the upstairs dashboard.

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