Is there a way of using an old iPad mini as a local dashboard?
I have tried installing Hubitat, so I could use its dashboard, but it says that it is not supported on that iOS.
I have seen mentioned about people using the iPad mini via the web link and the Fire tablet in the same way, but I want it to remain local.
Any ideas?
Can't claim any experience in this myself (Android shop here...), but could you use a browser to display the local URL? Not sure what mean by the web link not being local... If I have interpreted that part correctly...
And welcome to the Community 
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Thank you, sburke781.
Well, that’s certainly the first step towards it. It does display the list of stored dashboards using the url of ‘192.168.0.2/dashboards’ and I can select one, and it functions okay.
I thought I might be able to select a specific dashboard by adding ‘/dashboard name’, but that did’t work.
One slightly queer thing is that it displays them in a different order. I.e. the HSM should be on row 1 column 1.
Any thoughts?
P.S. How do you include images in a post? I used the image button at the top of the post, it uploaded them okay and then told me I couldn’t include them?
Give it time, I think you have to post a few times for the system to allow you that option. Probably some kind of protection again "bots", who knows...
Dashboard links is a funny thing, I'll give a couple of tips, but I remember there is some nuances to other links within those depeending on how you access them, can't remember all the details.
Go to the Apps page in the HE Web UI
Click on the Hubitat Dashboard App heading
Click on the Dashboard Menu and Links option
With the Local Links option selected at the top of the screen, copy the link to your dashboard, which should be something like:
http://<hub-ip>/apps/api/<dashboard-id>/dashboard/<dashboard-id>?access_token=<access-token>&local=true
This is where my understanding / knowledge of the implications of this are a little fuzzy. This option may have issues with dashboard links in the dashboard in certain situations. See how it goes for your setup.
Simon
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Hi Simon,
Thanks for that. I’ll keep trying/posting.
I’ve followed your suggestion and it works perfectly in terms of going directly to the dashboard I want, so again that another step in the right direction.
The displaying things is the wrong place is still happening though.
I experimented a bit and found that it appears to be something to do with the browser on the old iPad. My new iPad works perfectly and displays exactly how it should.
I’ve tried installing different browsers on the old iPad but every one is saying not compatible because of its age.
I tried setting up a new dashboard one tile at a time, and it displays each one after the other regardless of where I place it . So basically it displays the tiles in the order you enter them in without spaces. If it try moving them around in the design, the old iPad layout is unchanged.
I think this maybe a stalemate?
Any further thoughts?
Glad to hear you had some success, but I'm a little stumped on your current problem... Might have to think on it myself, hopefully someone else may come along with a solution in the meantime.
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Thanks for your help. Much appreciated.
Andy
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Can you try a different browser maybe? If that works then set it as the default..
I tried several different browsers, but none of them would install on the iPad because of its age.
So for a first generation iPad mini the consensus is these browsers work:
- Perfect Browser
- iCab mobile Web Browser
- Dolphin Web Browser
- Aloha Web Browser
- Puffin Browser
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Thanks for these, erktrek.
Perfect browser wouldn’t install.
Icab is a pay for browser - might try it anyway, but haven’t as yet.
Dolphin installs and works bu has the same problem as Safari.
Alpha doesn’t install.
Puffin does install but errors when using the url.
Since the browser is tied to the os and more than one browser exhibits the same behaviour, I am starting to suspect it might be the underlying os that has the problem.
Thanks for looking those up.
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I do that with our old iPads. You have to generate a "Legacy Dashboard" link when you are in the Dashboard App for each dashboard. That will give you a big, lengthy URL. Copy-cut-paste it to your iPad and you are in business. Don't forget to save it in your iPad to your home screen so you can access it again without having repeat this whole process.
I've noticed that older iPads like iPad 2 and iPad Mini tend to display the dashboard icons in some bizarre random order. But on newer iPads, the configuration in landscape mode is exactly what it is in my desktop.
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Hi Krishna,
I had a go with the legacy link and it works, but still gets the formatting wrong.
Thanks for taking the time to respond.
If by formatting you mean the arrangement of the dashboard icons, I think that's iOS issue. It's a problem on my older iPads (iPad 2 and original iPad Mini) but not my newer iPads (iPad Pro and iPaid Air).
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Yes, that is the problem I’m having. The tiles appear in the order they were added and cannot be rearranged. So any gaps on a given line are ignored.
I agree it seems to be iOS related, so I think it’s time to explore other options such as a Fire tablet or other cheap android tablet.
What happens if you use the older iPad to create a unique Hubitat Dashboard for just that device? Does the formatting work afterwards?
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To clarify - my newer iPads are displaying the dashboard in exactly the same way as I have them arranged in the computer.
I plan to upgrade my iPad every few years and use the older one to display dashboards in different rooms. Trouble is, the old iPad Mini and iPad 2 have the messed up button order, but newer iPads do it just fine.
I don't remember if I did this with one of my older iPads. I assume if I did, the formatting would look messed up on my other devices.
Sure, but you could have a few iPad Mini specific Dasboards. It would be a lot cheaper than buying a new tablet.
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As @ogiewon mentioned you can easily copy the JSON ('Layout' tab) to a "new" dashboard, and customize it to fit the mini's OS. You would have to edit separate dashes per device type, but long term that's generally not a big issue.
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