Wink remaindered PRLAY-WH01-CK

The PRLAY-WH01-CK wall-mounted controller is down from $300 to $30 and would make a great controller if it weren't locked into the Wink ecosystem. This is a long-shot question -- anyone pried on of them open (pried in the software sense - no physical objects were harmed in ...)

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Wink-Relay/45628943. Alas mine is now for demo purposes only

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As the developer of the project @Ranchitat linked to, just a fair warning that these have relatively mediocre hardware.

If you already have some and are looking to keep using them as you move to Hubitat, great... but I would not recommend going out and buying these. You would be much better off getting a modern tablet and running a dashboard like SharpTools.io or the built-in HE dashboard.

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Not even worth that. Old, slow, and just not that great to begin with.

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I installed about 4 or 5 of those suckers. Never got them to work as intercoms. Ripped them out a couple of years ago, even before neutering the whole network of Wink hubs. Installation was also wonky, as a very slight bend of the case would cause them to fail, or reboot.

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I currently use smartphones and use 3M Velcro Command strips to mount them. I was interested because of the mechanical aspects -- the ability to mount in the wall. Not worth a huge effort but would be useful if I could get to Android and run a browser.

As I mentioned I've got lots of control surfaces and specialize the interface for each location using my own webapp with Hubitat being just one back end. If you know how to do it I'd consider giving it a try. (Enough caveats?)

Yes...old, slow, not well recommended. Still gets the job done when needed and where a full-size tablet would be an over-kill. Thanks @josh. I bought a couple and they serve their purpose instead of a wall switch.

Is this your app or from Wink? Can you run a web browser?

Gene's picture is of a web browser displaying a dashboard - looks like the built in HE dashboard running Smartly.

Correct! (of course) Heavily modified and trimmed HE dashboards (5 different dashboards, inter-linked together). Real estate is very limited. I had to steal pixels from the margins :-). The device has Bluetooth, so I can use a normal keyboard when needed.

So I can run a web browser in the device? It seems closed so how do i get to that capability?

Read that link above that Ranchitat posted.

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Thanks ... I think. Now I have yet another project tempting me. In my case, since I only show limited options on any screen (out of over 200), I can use small screens. The value for me is that, in the mechanical sense, it is a polished product for the home so demos well.

But it does look like a cost/benefit issue.

I think it's worth $29.. it's UL listed & works well with @jpage4500 's Hubitat dashboard (which is an android app and doesn't need to run in a browser, though you'll want to install a browser to download & maintain it). If you want something that's primarily used as a status display (you can configure an easily readable 4x7 tile matrix) the speed won't be as much of an issue, and it won't look like a hobby project stuck on your wall.

Only downside is reliability.. I've been through about a four of these in a couple years.. seem to inevitably get corrupted after a while. I might pick up a couple as spares since I like the form factor (and have had so much practice rooting and configuring them).

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I thinks. I just need to spend the time figuring out how to install the app. I presume I'll have to connect it directly to my PC rahter than OTA.

Not necessarily, I think (haven’t actually installed one myself, though I looked into it a while back). See the detailed instructions in the linked thread.

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No need to attach to a PC; there is a built-in bare bones web browser which you can access (mainly useful for downloading a more fully featured one that works with Android 4.3, like Firefox or earlier Opera versions) once you supply your wifi credentials on the initial Wink setup screen. The process is described in the Wink Relay Lan Integration thread linked above.

I just ordered one! I had one that died a while back (touchscreen became unresponsive) and while I wouldn't call it the best thing ever.. for $30 it's basically 2 smart switches with a motion activated touchscreen built in -- so hard to beat the value.

Anyway, I'll make sure the Hubitat Dashboard (Android app) works well with it