Generic Information Tile

Hi Yan,

Could you provide an example how you would use this functionality?

Hey Alex,

What I was working on was a way to display my home energy consumption.

I have a Neurio, and it has no SmartThings app. That one guy made something but has turned it into a paid project and it's overkill for what I need.

Neurio offers a very straight forward way to get the current power use (among many other info) through a JSON obtained directly on the device on the local network via HTTP. What I would be doing is host a simple python web server on my Raspberry Pi, and make a page that would return the parsed value (number of kW) from a curl request onto the Neurio. Or a script that just dumps the value onto a text file on the web server every second.

So the info I would display is e.g. "345 kW". And optionally at the bottom of the tile some add'l info like "12¢/hr" or the day average, etc.

I realize I would have to open a port to my web server for ActionTiles to grab it, but essentially the tile would query e.g. http://my-ip:12345/neurio/data.txt and display whatever is returned.

I suppose the main issue is you having to poll... If somehow the tile could fetch local data that would be better for everyone :)

I'm sorry, Yan ... I don't understand what you are saying in this comment...

Can you rephrase it, please?

• What "polling"?
• What do you mean by "fetch local data"?
• Can your idea fit in the SmartThings paradigm? i.e., can the Tile be written as a Device / Thing ?

Thank-you!

(BTW: We already have an open Topic or two covering this Feature Request. I'll try to merge them together.

That's why I held this for moderation because we keep discussing the same (or very similar) Feature Request over and over again.)

Basically I think it's NOT something that fits in the Device / Thing paradigm. It has no link to SmartThings. But it's something I believe is very smart home dashboard-worthy. The information to be displayed is raw and is located inside my local network, and must (ideally) be refreshed every second to remain pertinent.

Ok for merging, or if you want point me to said similar topic, I can add my comments.

Thanks

Yan

That explanation helps, Yan, thank-you.

We'll discuss more after merging, but some quick points to note:

1. Our core focus is on SmartThings integration and control. We think there is considerable value for "device" (& service) makers to integrate with SmartThings first and if it matches an existing official Capability then it will automatically be compatible with ActionTiles; but also compatible with the entire SmartThings feature-set (ie, arbitrary SmartApps, CoRE, Alexa and much more).
2. ActionTiles has superficial "proof of concept" integration with non-SmartThings data display via Media Tiles. But obviously we have not explored or mined the full potential. Problem is that we need to focus on Video Streaming as a much higher priority than special use cases.
3. Integration into other vendors APIs directly is off the short-term table, especially since many cases can be handled via #1.
4. There is lots gray area, hybrids, comprises, etc. that may deliver "easy value", but much more research is required. This discussion is helpful, thank-you! ☺️

I totally understand your points. I was indeed targeting the "easy value" or quick win, as I thought this could be super generic. But I also get the dangers of the "while you're there, could you do that one small thing". :) 

At any rate, I could probably write a smartapp myself but I honestly have no time for it. So let's just see what the future has in store.

Great day! 

I would also like something like this.  My use case would be for my SumpPump.  I would like to display "cycles per hour" and "run time" which aren't typical/supported SmartThings attributes.

Thanks for the Feature Request, Jeff... 

I haven't attempted to do much consolidation or merging yet, but the desire for Tiles which can be populated with data pushed or pulled from various sources, is now in multiple Topics. 

Using the interface(s) provided by WebCoRE might be one of the fastest and most secure ways to do this — or it might be limiting, complicated and risky. We just haven't done enough requirements, use case and other research, testing, and alternatives analysis yet. Some folks are suggesting we just offer some sort of iframes in which customers can embed arbitrary HTML... 

So... We like the concept at a very high level, but no idea what our time frame would be.

Can Webcore push or provide a feedback  message accessible from anywhere?

WebCoRE has some sort of interface(s).As I said: We haven't done any research yet.

Our priority is on Features that an "average SmartThings customer" is likely to find useable and valuable. WebCoRE is a "power-user" facility that targets a different demographic.

I'm not a programmer, but it would seem to me that someone could create a simulated device with a settable variable. We can already use Webcore to set color and such on lights, so why not set a text string variable for a simulated device? Then Action Tiles could just display it like any other device tile, maybe?

I know you're not concerned with a lot of this "extra" stuff. I'm just thinking out loud more than anything. Maybe someone with better skillsz than me will be inspired. Lol

I am building out my own Alarm . As Part of this I have various settings - things like if this triggers 3 times then do something . I am using ActionTiles - simulated Dimmer and using the slider to set my parameter at the moment . Ideally I would like to set these using a variable in webCore and then using a tile display that setting . There are also other things I would like to do . To be able to have a tile where I can set its 'Display Text'  from webCore would be very useful ... 

This is something I would like as well.  Ability to have a tile with texts -- like last events, or some kind of pushed message.  I can also use this to display the last time my wife left home, or last time someone was allowed in by my security guard at the gate.

I fully understand you reasoning of sticking with ST capabilities. However there clearly is a need to include data on AT. In my case .. I already show different energy, voltage, power attributes which are standard capabilities from a smart meter. I just want to show the current active electricity Tariff which is either 1 or 2 (Day or Night) Tariff. The data is there, Webcore can use it, just need a way to show the Tariff in a tile. Any suggestions welcome !

Hi Tony,

WebCoRE is not an officially published "Works With SmartThings" application. ActionTiles has to follow standards that it does not. WebCoRE is also targeted to power-users. We are targeted mass average consumer market (it's the only way we can profit at our price point).

But combine the two and you have various solution options, for example:

• https://support.actiontiles.com/communities/12/topics/3831-webcore-value-tiles 

I've picked this thread to contribute to largely because it was the first one I came to that was already quite loose and has been active recently. I wouldn't be surprised to find myself having duplicated other suggestions.

I could see a use for a tile that calls a URL with an optional refresh interval in a similar manner to a media tile, except rather than having an image returned and displaying that, I would like it to accept a reply (in JSON perhaps?) that defines the content needed to build the tile (to start with, the header and footer texts and the icon/text content).

If you do release an 'iframe' tile I am hoping it will include the ability to pass on information about the current geometry of the panel and tiles so it is possible to 'roll our own' tiles more effectively.

This all comes from my finding that even though I can incorporate arbitrary content into my panels (up to a point) I find myself moved to present much of it as tiles. For example, rather than displaying bus or train arrivals in a typical list format or attempting to represent a departure board, I find myself thinking in terms of bus and train time tiles.

A SmartThings 'Tile' capability would be an interesting concept.

Hi Orange,

I don't understand what you mean by your closing sentence: "A SmartThings 'Tile' capability would be an interesting concept."

Yes it did seem a bit random. I crafted a couple of paragraphs explaining myself, but then I realised all I was saying was "wouldn't it be handy if something like Robin Winbourne's 'Value Tiles' could be implemented just using a standard capability with no bespoke commands or attributes?". Except I'd do it with specific attributes like header, footer, icon, text, status etc to emphasise the tile structure.

A 'tile' is perhaps rather a specific display concept, but then you look at things like the 'Speech Synthesis' capability which had 'proposed' status in the Classic environment and all it has is a 'speak( phrase )' command with nothing to infuence how the phrase is spoken. It could more usefully have been a generic capability to output a string of text in whatever way is appropriate but clearly they wanted to be specific. Maybe they have changed their minds now.

Yes - I agree this is a good idea, Orange.

Unfortunately, SmartThings does not have a streamlined process for considering and accepting new Capability definitions from outsiders. I actually proposed one many years ago - I was the person who originated this Category in the SmartThings Community Forum:  https://community.smartthings.com/c/developers/new-capability-types

We (ActionTiles) might consider making such a request (or squeezing the use cases of this Topic into a "Device Type" of an existing Capability) - but we might rather lean towards a more direct approach to avoid the hassle.

My 2 cents...being only 2-3 weeks into Smartthings/ActionTiles /webCoRE

I realize that supporting webCoRE opens another whole can of worms so to speak and nothing is every "as easy as...".  I spent my whole career managing IT development and/or COTS implementations so I get it. Although I do see value in formally supporting webCoRE.  Having said that, what I am looking for is to be able to determine for myself, of all the data that is available from Smartthings IDE, what data to expose on the tile. For example:

1. My Schlage Lock...last person to unlock the door and the time.
2. Smartthings Weather Tile...let me pick and choose what to display and I can make several tiles if I need to display all the data. Right now I can pick to add multiple tiles but they are pre-loaded with content...I like the text info for today's weather forecast but I cannot expose it on a tile.
3. SONOS tile - does not show the current station even though the information is available via IDE.
4. Current Color Temperature of my RGB bulbs
5. Open/Close Sensor - time of last event and was it an Open or Close.
6. And related to #2 which is a difference in workflow...add a tile and then pick the Thing I want to display on the tile and then choose the info.  Which lends to putting the same Thing on the same Panel more than once but with different info.

All in all I am very happy with the product (I paid up today) and it looks like the community here is well supported by your participation.  Well done!.