iOS or android for Dashboard use

Looking at getting a tablet to use as a dashboard with sharptools so i've been looking at either a ipad 4th gen or amazon fire 10" 9th gen, what would be your choice?

Tony

I have multiple HD Fire pads in my house and I am very pleased with them. I have never used an iPad. I feel that the Fire pads are easier to configure to my needs. And with the Toolbox software I can make lots of modifications to those pads as needed. Also, take a look at the Hubitat dashboard software for Android "[RELEASE] Hubitat Dashboard - Android dashboard app - Developers / Code Share - Hubitat" [RELEASE] Hubitat Dashboard - Android dashboard app. I am impressed with it.

The iPad 4 is getting quite old at this point so I would recommend against it. Originally released almost a decade ago (2012) and iOS 10 is the latest it supports so it's missing a number of improvements.

New model Fire HD 10's are a popular choice for wall mounted dashboards - lots of people have them, so there is generally good support for them and decent accessories (eg. wall mounts).

Amazon just released their 11th generation Fire HD 10 models and I think the primary upgrades were moving from 2gb to 4gb RAM, better rear camera, bluetooth 4.2 → 5.0, and wireless charging. The RAM is probably the most desirable thing out of that list for a wall mounted dashboard, so if you can get a decent savings on the 9th generation that seems like a reasonable choice.

That being said, the new model Fire Tablets frequently go on sale so if you don't need something immediately, you could wait a month or two and see if they go on sale - Prime Day is usually July and the 10" devices usually go for ~$99 (though last year Prime Day was delayed due to Covid)

2 Likes

Thanks, i think i will go with the fire HD 10.