I just tried this myself to confirm; That's correct - to use cloud mode you need to grant location permission to the app. Just the "Allow only while using the app" permission. If you deny this permission later on the app won't know what WIFI Access Point you're connected to - and thus will default back to local mode, not cloud mode.
I can assure you the app isn't using your location in any way or sending any kind of data anywhere. But, I understand how many people don't like giving these permissions to apps anyway which is why I don't even prompt for it unless you want to enable cloud mode.
While the permission needed is called Location - I'm only interested in the WIFI AP you're connected to and comparing that with the one you logged in on. If they're equal -> local mode; otherwise -> cloud mode. Older versions of Android didn't require this permission but it was introduced with Android 10
EDIT: I actually thought of an alternative to using the WIFI SSID that won't require location permission. I might be able to get the IP address of the device and compare it to the IP you logged in with to determine local or cloud mode.. I'll do some investigation
This makes sense, as I did allow the location permission when I initially installed the app, then tested with @j.dechlan's instructions, and everything still worked.
Way too many routers use the same subnet. e.g. my office public facing router is 192.168.1.x as is my home network (with both having the same gateway address) and I didn't setup the office router.
You also may want Location later for something else, e.g. for automating a radar or weather map or something.
Thank you. I don't mind using the gps especially when I'm out of the lan.. the problem I have is when enabling cloud mode.. the app now wants gps permanently (actual gps) on regardless of if I am on the lan or not..
Your message above makes sense..
However since gps is a battery hog, I keep it on only when I have to. Now I'm faced with can't connect to server even on both my networks detected...
Thanks for the help..
I use this as I have a server linked to cameras and door sensors and when I get messages from either, I prefer one app to rule them all..lol..
Also please make a way to select multiple times for deletion md or editing
I don't see how that's possible.. the app never gets or requests location data. It only gets the current WIFI SSID and only when the app is brought to the foreground. This doesn't use or need GPS in any way.
What device / OS are you using? I turned off Location entirely on my device and the app always connect to the cloud endpoint. You're saying in your case it's always trying to connect to your local IP?
I've worked on location-based apps in the past and even they often don't use actual GPS. Android/iOS use a lot of other ways to determine location that don't require GPS (network strength, nearby WIFI connections, etc). That last part is likely why Android now requires apps to get location permission if they want the WIFI SSID. Only a few apps like Maps require GPS the entire time -- and yes, they do drain the battery very fast.
@jpage4500 not sure if you missed this post. ^^^
Did you make any changes to the dark grey/ blue theme?
Previously the icons were all blue when on or off, but now they go yellow when on.
Is there any way for me to download an older apk in the meantime to restore the previous look? I could only find links in this thread to the latest apk which always gets updated
Ahh, yes I saw that but wanted to think about it more before replying. This is probably a longer explanation than necessary but technically, the way it was originally implemented wasn't how I wanted it to look. The original logic I used for changing icon colors changed everything to that color. It worked great for all-white icons but didn't look good IMO for the 'on' light bulb and switch which had yellow in the middle. It also looked worse for custom icons so I had to disable it if a custom icon was used.
I'm using new logic now that can replace a single color with another color. That's seen here for an RGB/color light bulb that's set to some purple-ish color.
Since I now have logic to just change a single color, I decided to try it for custom icon colors as well. That didn't look great either though:
So, I decided to ignore the 'on' light bulb and switch cases -- not changing the icon color at all for these 2 cases and that's how it is today:
The downside is what you're saying.. showing yellow for light 'on'. But, the upside is that I can now change colors for custom icons as well (that snowman on the left for example).
Anyway, long story short - I like the new replacing a single color logic - but I also think I understand what you're looking for as well. Let me see if I can figure out how to change those 2 cases (light and switch 'on') so they use the custom color instead of the yellow.
I actually got used to these guys so anything else looks a bit odd now.
I think though I'll get used to the new icons. They're much more inline with the rest of the theme.
I've one more small one for you if you think it will be easy and it will look good. Any chance of changing the yellow dot on the brightness slider to blue as well?
Thanks a million for your time making these updates
if custom icon color is set, use that color instead of yellow for dimmer highlight
When I modified the login page I didn't add proper support for remote controls so anyone with Android TV wasn't able to login. This should be fixed now. I also fixed several other places where the remote control wasn't able to select an option.
done!
btw - any color can be used for the icons too.. it's not super obvious but if you long-press on a device -> edit -> icon color -> select 'all devices + on/off' and pick a color. You have to hit OK to see it take effect
The changes are for running the dashboard/app on a FireTV and using the remote control to navigate. Are you asking about controlling a FireTV with the hub? I got that confused too when someone asked me for FireTV support recently. I'm not aware of any way to directly control the FireTV from the hub
