I really don't need an app for that…

[Sean Clark]

I really don't need an app for that…
An impassioned plea for local control.

So everything these days has an App... Great, right?

Sure, App control can be nice, but what happens when that device manufacturer decides to no longer support your App controlled device?

You lose control.

You lose your device.

This could be compared to physical media-less media.
When you do not physically own a media, you do not actually own a media.

If the house of mouse decides to change your Star Wars so that Han does not shoot Greedo first, then that is the only media that you can consume.
Your old media is no longer relevant as it no longer exists.

The trend towards App control without physical local control is rampant.

It looks clean and convenient on the surface.

The impact is far more detrimental than most perceive on first look.

Remember when you could turn your light on and it would turn on?

Remember when you wanted more control so you added a timer plug?

Remember when you had onboard controls that allowed you to ramp up and ramp down?

Remember when you had WiFi App control to set those settings from the convenience of your phone or computer?

Remember when you lost the local control? When you were forced to use an App to interface with your device?

... Yes this is the sad environment that we now live in.

You now purchase a device and are bound to the App.

Your entire purchase is contingent upon a server being maintained and updates being provided to support your device from the Qphone 6 all the way the the Qphone 666 and beyond.

Remember when you could just turn your device on locally without an App?

Remember when you could adjust settings locally without an App?

I am sure that some will take this as some old person shunning some new fangled technology.

I would ask that person to reflect on what I am saying and then ask them to GET OFF MY LAWN!

 

[GobyGuy]

Arguably unnessecery evolution of the Internet of Things. Maybe it’s control maybe it’s just marketing and trend markups

I wish it wasn’t getting so much more expensive every year

 

[Imrahilwjz]

Good point.

 

[BaliReefBox]

not just control of the device but control over the user...Maxspect lights, Jeboa wont pair unless you enable your location to be known...all these companies are just data collectors for sale to others....
Like in Australia with the Optus and Medicare hack...all that personal info gone. I was a customer of Optu 20 years ago and I recieved a letter ssaying my info had been compromised....why do they need to keep my data for 20 years

answer data is control

rant over

 

[Dolphins18]

It is beyond frustrating. Who the **** needs to control their wavemaker from outside of their home?

 

[Toob]

I also dislike the apps and prefer local control. But I have products from kessil, red sea, ecotech, tunze, clarisea, the list goes on.

I think every single one is controlled with a physical controller as an option and I just skip the app…what devices are you using that “force” you to use an app???

 

[BaliReefBox]

dosing pump for one, lights for another

what devices are you using that “force” you to use an app

 

[mdb_talon]

It is beyond frustrating. Who the **** needs to control their wavemaker from outside of their home?

I dont need to control it, but it is very important to me to turn them off remotely...but I can do that using smart plugs.

In any case I have not ran into any issues with "app only" control on any equipment I have other than some knockoff orphek light bars(but the knockoffs actually have dimmers and the app is just extra functionality over the original). I imagine if I bought more high end or trendy equipment then maybe I would run into the issue more.

 

[Dolphins18]

I dont need to control it, but it is very important to me to turn them off remotely...but I can do that using smart plugs.

In any case I have not ran into any issues with "app only" control on any equipment I have other than some knockoff orphek light bars(but the knockoffs actually have dimmers and the app is just extra functionality over the original). I imagine if I bought more high end or trendy equipment then maybe I would run into the issue more.

It just adds up to so many apps. I have a folder with 12 separate apps for reefing at this point lol. I just don't think its overly necessary on every single piece of equipment.
App compatibility is one thing, App/wifi requirement is another. Many products have both local control and a wifi option,I think this is great.
Also some things are great with wifi (not against it all) - temp controllers come to mind.

 

[HBtank]

dosing pump for one, lights for another

I will say that for dosers I never saw local control. I had to use a separate controller for early versions, they literally had no control at all, not even a switch, just on/off via power cords. Not sure if that is better/different.

Lights are true, seems common with them, but might be due to the complex control we want being difficult to do in a physical interface without driving up cost.

 

[Sean Clark]

 

[Toob]

dosing pump for one, lights for another

How do you expect to program an accurate dosing pump without an app/controller? Why would you even want to do that?

And as for lights - there are lot of options available that do not require apps. Including LED (kessil), and obviously T5.

 

[Mark Goode]

Yeah, it really annoyed me too. Everybody knows Han shot first.

 

[elysics]

not just control of the device but control over the user...Maxspect lights, Jeboa wont pair unless you enable your location to be known...all these companies are just data collectors for sale to others....
Like in Australia with the Optus and Medicare hack...all that personal info gone. I was a customer of Optu 20 years ago and I recieved a letter ssaying my info had been compromised....why do they need to keep my data for 20 years

answer data is control

rant over

To be fair, that is not their fault. It's on Google. The phone won't allow apps to scan the wifi landscape otherwise, as that can also be used to track your location anyway.

Sue ethe app trend sucks, I'd prefer local websites that all work in the same browser, but I prefer both over local control. I wouldn't want to climb into my stand and become acontortion artist every time I want to calibrate or adjust my dosing pumps.

 

[BaliReefBox]

yeah dont get me wrong I do love a bit of technology, and I agree in general app do make it easier. I even bought a "old fashioned " 2.4ghz router to piggy back off the 5ghz router to hook all the stuff up to. It just annoys me about the location..

 

[Sean Clark]

How do you expect to program an accurate dosing pump without an app/controller? Why would you even want to do that?

I am not saying that the apps don't have their place. They just shouldn't be the only way to interface with the device. A controller is fine and can easily set any schedule that you like. A great device would have a controller and an app. If you don't want to get off of the couch then you can use the app. When the app is nolonger supported (which will happen) you still have the controller and a functional device instead of an expensive paperweight.

Kessil is a great example of having your app, a separate controller, and local control right on the device.

Simple timers do the trick quite well for dosing pumps. Grab a brs 1.1 ml dosser and run it for 10 min at 3:00 pm on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday and 11 ml of supplement X is dosed every other day.

Some dosers have the schedule programing built right into them. Bubble Magus, Jebao/Jecod, the old GHL units, along with plenty of non-aquarium themed units.

I am going to use Kamore as a a good/bad example; how to get it right and wrong at the same time so I do not come across as a fan boy of any particular brand.

The Kamore fx-stp wifi pump has it all. Control built in and an app. Have a power outage? The pump automatically starts back up and resumes normal opperation programing without any interaction of the user.

On the opposite end you have the Kamoer x1 dosing pump. Only local Bluetooth app control. No physical on-board controls. If the power goes out, even for a second, then the pump goes into a standby mode until the user re-establishes another connection to each pump separately before it will resume its operation. So when this power flicker happens while you are sleeping and you don't notice; your pumps just sit there until you happen to notice that they are not running.

 

[Petcrazyson]

I get the statement. But.….doesn’t Greedo shoot first?

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

my tank only has app for the radions and after reading this thread im going to sell those and get it back to appless.....
great thread!

 

[Petcrazyson]

Personally I like having a control but no app with it. Yea half my equipment has an app, and while I find it frustrating sometimes, I find that sometimes just a lone device/equipment is also frustrating, hence why I choose control over app and app-less/controlless.

 

[Sean Clark]

I get the statement. But.….doesn’t Greedo shoot first?

Only since 1997.