I hope it’s not april fools, as already HTML5 notifications on androidstart to suck… 
I hope one of the first features would be it and coords reporting. Rest can be (at 1st release) just lovelace-webview.
good luck!
Incredible news!
There’s a pretty good app under development at About HA Client - native Android client for Home Assistant
Which, IMO, is getting it right at being fast, lightweight and reliable. Perhaps a join effort could be done?
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I feel that I need to voice my position.
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Home Assistant Companion 2.0 for iOS is absolutely incredible.
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Ariela for Android is really great, and a $4 one-time payment for the ads-free version is totally normal. It’s rated 4.8⭐️ on Google Play with reason.
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Mobile App component that you’re working on is a great foundation.
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BUT I’m afraid spreading your focus on EVERYTHING will probably hurt quality and growth of the iOS app.
Competition is great when it comes to Android vs. iOS vision difference as every side can get inspiration (like cams, tre/hum sensors on Android and native integrations on iOS), but not inside one platform when the official status of the app kills innovation and already invested efforts.
I believe the better way is to overcome obscure frictions with Ariela developer @Ionut.
I will support your every decision, but that’s something to consider.
@balloob @robbiet480 Please join the discussion.
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Paulus have opened up for the existing android apps to become official, but apparently that doesn’t seem to be something they want. On the latest podcast he explained what is needed of app devs to make an app official. There need to be an official app.
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Hi there, actually even few days ago i made the proposal of making Ariela open source in order to became the official Android app for Home Assistant, proposal which was rejected for a couple of reasons. Still, the idea of having an official Android app is a very best one, and if i can and if i am allowed i will like to contribute to the new application and of course support and add new features to Ariela. Having multiple apps to choose from will allow users to have best Home Assistant experience based on their needs, users being what it matters for me and i suppose for the team behind Home Assistant.
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@teachingbirds I think you miss my point.
@Ionut I didn’t see it, what were the reasons for rejection?
There’s always a place for discussion.
@mu3 the main reasons for rejection were:
- Ariela tend to have native implementation for the UI, and a web based UI is preferred
- The application do not use the new mobile_app component yet
- Ariela makes wrong assumption about the way users needs to use the authentication (they always need to use the web login)
Anyway, like i said before, there is no reason multiple apps couldn’t coexists for Android users. At the end users will choose the best app that suit their needs in order to have best Home Assistant experience. And of course if i can i will going to support the new official android app.
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I personally only use the web UI (Lovelace) inside Ariela on all Android-based dashboards, and obviously use all these fancy custom components.
So these reasons sound ridiculous to me. Especially, when you compare fully functional, well-known and powerful app to something that don’t even exists.
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Robbie will be THRILLED to have someone else assisting him with this app. His biggest problem with the iOS app was doing everything himself and not having any help. He would welcome your assistance with both arms…
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H @Ionut Love the Ariela app, so big thank you there.
In regards to the items mentioned of why it was rejected, would it not be possible to overcome them so that it could become the official app, that way yourself and robbie have a good base to start with?
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Yes, from my end its possible to resolve those issues but at the end its not my decision if Ariela can be official Android app or not
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I’ve tested most of the current Android apps.
With every each of them I have issues either regarding visual side or vision for development.
I’ve just looked up HA App in Apple Store (as I don’t own apple device) - and it’s exactly what I would require from app! It supports GPS, notifications and pure webview.
I like my lovelace UI, why does all the devs try to do anything with that…
I hope to see just an clone from iOS on Android and called ‘official’ so it’s always up to date with the API and growing with HA.
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I’m using Ariela and very happy with it, but generally, I think having more options is a good thing so I welcome the news.
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I’d love to try an Android app with HA, but I’m sort of stuck on justifying it. I mean, I can already use the browser into Lovelace, and it works great.
I can certainly see the benefit of carrying around an HA client in your pocket, if you’re doing presence or location detection, but I haven’t gotten into that yet.
Is there some other killer feature an app offers which would bring me into the fold?
The features of Ariela I like most are
- Widgets (great for adding on the families phones for easy use)
- NFC tag reading (shows as a sensor in HA)
- Reporting of on board sensors including next alarm ( I can base automatons on what time I am
getting up using that info from my phone. - The device tracker works really well however I am still using life360 for that.
These are just the main features for me that make the app better than just using the webui
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If “official” Android app implies it must be open-source then that narrows the field of available options.
The inherent risk of elevating a closed-source app to “official” status is the app’s developer may ‘go dark’ (looking at you Zanzito). Without access to the developer or the source code, the community has no ability to update it and must find another “official” app.
An open-source app may be chosen as the official one but that doesn’t necessarily eliminate the market for a paid, closed-source app that offers superior functionality and performance. Competition breeds innovation and users will be drawn to whatever serves them best.
All in all, there’s room for more than one.
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Well, my answer wasn’t directly aimed at you, but please do explain then
I’ve highlighted my point in bold:
It is the same person who is developing iOS app, mobile component and now an Android app.
I really love and appreciate @robbiet480’s work but who was waiting for new releases for like literally years, knows what I mean when I’m talking about losing the focus.