Suggested HE feature : App showcase?

I'm not sure if something like this exists here in HE. Would anyone see any benefit in a monthly app showcase of an existing app? Honestly, I do not peruse the available apps unless I am looking for something specific or happen upon a post about one that might interest me. There are dozens of great apps out there, and I think it would be nice to showcase these apps on a monthly basis so newer HE users can get an idea of what is available without just randomly searching through the list. I would envision it as a closed topic, no discussion. Just a place to say "This is the featured app this month."

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Are you referring to built-in apps, Community developed apps or both?

Both? Either?

Built-in apps I could maybe see working... Community one's could get a little tricky, whether the showcase is managed by Hubitat or by us in the Community.

But I do understand what is driving your request. Part of the reason I occasionally setup broader topics on an area like presence to get people talking about what works for them. And others have joined in creating similar posts, which is good to keep information currents. But a central spot of some kind would be useful as well. Perhaps some kind of wiki where people can share their experiences with a certain device or app or setup.

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I recall this topic... I think the feeling I got from responses was 'good luck with that!'... :innocent:
There is a deprecated app 'Package Explorer' - I held hope that it might evolve - even let you see 'last 7 days' or 'recently updated'... It's not to rough to pull the json and create records in a CRM like drupal or wordpress, my native tongues, but the hosting, support - and creative differences of the community devs (where all the really good stuff comes from) might just kill this before it leaves the nest - take BM vs HPM, for example. I for one will always keep a weathered eye open on this topic! (also - see cobra...eg;)

This has been tried before... Hardly anyone used it.

It works just fine.

It does this now. The problem is that most devs don't update the fields necessary, within their own Json files, for it to work properly.

There should be no 'VS', just an 'AND'. This is well documented on why it is what it is. If anyone needs a refresher, please see the Bundle Manager thread post #1. :smile:


As for an App Showcase, maybe. It just depends on how it's done. I personally wouldn't want any grading or other types of review or critiques.

Final answer: :man_shrugging: :grinning:

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Yeah I'm with @bptworld . It could get ugly. I mean ranking products of companies is one thing but it could get petty real quick in the community. I mean just because all of @bptworld 's stuff sucks, we wouldn't want to tell him that.... (I keed! I keed!) Seriously though. It could lead to a lot of bad feelings I would think.

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My original thought was not a ranking of apps. I was suggesting more of a "hear is an app that we (community or staff) are showcasing this month." Maybe, at first, just starting a list of popular apps (not sure if percentage use is tracked or not). Certainly I would not expect something like an "app commercial" thread that encourages you to "use this app, it's great!" But more of an FYI type of thing. All of that can probably be found in BM and HPM anyway, so my suggestion may be redundant. I just don't see myself casually searching through HPM for something interesting. But, if I could quickly see an app title and possibly a short description of that app on a monthly or bi-monthly period, it might encourage me to check out the app. And, it may be an app that I have really wanted to have but did not know that it existed.

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There's nothing stopping a community member from doing that, I don't think. :smiley: I'd guess that staff would be less willing to showcase community apps, however, lest they seem to "play favorites" (or imply official support, etc., which they do not provide). That would leave them with the built-in apps, of which there are probably a few dozen, but maybe half of those are just integration apps you'd only use if you already have a reason to or want to use that service (Hue Bridge, Alexa, IFTTT, etc.), so not super-exciting for showcasing.

So, then we're left with only a few apps and they'd quickly run out of things to showcase until something new and shiny comes along. And when that happens, they usually do show it off:

So, some of this is already out there, maybe just harder to find if you don't know where to look. The Release Notes category is generally good to look at, or other announcement threads that are linked to from these.

For community apps...less clear, though if you pose a question/problem in the forums and someone is aware of something that might meet your needs, you'll usually hear about it. Again, someone certainly could create some specific community showcase--just a matter of who is willing to maintain the effort and whether people will utilize it, as a couple things have been tried in the past. :smiley:

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Perhaps some organizational techniques could help, like:

  1. Separate Categories each dedicated to Apps, Drivers, etc. where only the developer can post "[Release] Appname" topic including descriptions, instructions and updates. Everyone else has read-only privilege.
    2, Separate topics for each App/Driver/Etc such as "[Support] Appname" or "[Support] Drivername".
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