The Alerty App

[roobarb!]

Alerty

Available Now!

I've been working on a third-party interface to AlertMe based Energy and Security systems. Developed for the iPhone and iPod Touch, Alerty uses AlertMe and British Gas APIs to bring a new control interface to users of AlertMe's systems. It has been built to be quick and straightforward to use, but also able to provide a few more technical details about your Hub and its devices.

The app works with AlertMe-based system purchased directly from AlertMe or from British Gas!

This includes 'Safe and Secure', AlertMe's original Security system and the currently available Energy Kit. The more devices you have on your system, the more features are available in the app. It can currently control SmartPlugs, provide readings and summary information on your energy use, as well as provide full control over arming and disarming the alarm system.

There is also a handy Devices view, which lists every device on your system and a variety of pieces of information about them, such as battery level, temperature readings and much more.

I welcome comments and support questions for the app in this forum; I've priced it at £2.99, which is what I would like to think of as 'pintware'. It seems to have become a theme for any software I develop.

NB. The app is not currently compatible with the Hive heating system.

[wobbles]

Hi Roobarb!

I have sent you a PM but it is still sitting in my Outbox for some reason.

Q - Will you be able to accessing from there?

Cheers

Wobbles

[roobarb!]

I have sent you a PM but it is still sitting in my Outbox for some reason.

Yeah, they sit there until they're read. Read and responded now!

[roobarb!]

I'm in the midst of the iOS 7 update to Alerty at the moment and I've had to make a decision with regard to iOS 6.

Unfortunately, although it was not originally my intention to do so, I'm going to drop iOS 6 support in the next release. There have been so many user interface changes in iOS 7 that maintaining a cross-compatible version is just going to be too time consuming for a one-man-band and would probably result in a compromised app for both platforms.

In reality this really means that I'm dropping support for the iPhone 3GS, but I'll make sure that the previous release of Alerty is always available.

Apologies to anyone that might be affected by this.

[daroca]

Hi Roobarbi,

I've just purchased your app.

I'll let you know my thoughts after I have had a play... I like to look of it in the screenshots.

-Daroca.

[roobarb!]

I've just purchased your app.

I'll let you know my thoughts after I have had a play... I like to look of it in the screenshots.

Great stuff - hope it's working out well for you! Next on my fix-it list with the app is improving its behaviour on cellular networks; it's a little impatient at the moment, but there are some new features in iOS 7 that I can make use of to hopefully make this better.

Cheers!

[gadgethome]

Any plans to port it to android or a web based app?

[roobarb!]

Any plans to port it to android or a web based app?

Nope, I'm afraid not.

There are plenty of API scripts out there on which to build a web interface and as everyone's needs are different, I can't see it being massively helpful. As for Android, there's such a variety of devices, capabilities, versions, development systems, screen sizes... that's a headache I just don't need!

[CM75]

Hi,

I bought my AlertMe system in 2009 when I was living in the UK. I've since moved abroad but I'm still using it. It's a shame you can't get replacements any more, as one of my keyfobs is slowly disintegrating.

Anyway, about your app: I would love to buy it, but I'm not using the UK AppStore. Would there be any disadvantage for you if you made your app available in other countries? I'm currently using the German AppStore, but maybe there are more users abroad.

Cheers from Sweden (yes, I move around a bit)
CM

[roobarb!]

Anyway, about your app: I would love to buy it, but I'm not using the UK AppStore. Would there be any disadvantage for you if you made your app available in other countries? I'm currently using the German AppStore, but maybe there are more users abroad.

Apologies for my delayed response! Yes, I'll happily make it available in other stores. I chose a selection of stores where English was the primary language (UK, US, Aus, NZ, etc) because the app doesn't have language localisation, but in hindsight that probably wasn't the cleverest of moves!

I've just submitted v1.50 with a fairly major update (for new users rather than existing, but it's still pretty exciting) and I'll have a look at making that available in other stores as soon as possible.

Hope you like it when you can finally get hold of it!

[roobarb!]

Right, the app should now be available in all App Stores and now has support for British Gas Safe & Secure systems!

[jb5ep]

Hi,

Over the moon to find an app that supports the BG safe and secure system!

I've bought Alerty, but when i open it, it just freezes. The message 'Head over to the details tab...' is shown, but touching there (or anywhere on the screen) doesn't do anything.

I'm on an iPhone 5S, running iOS 8.0.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Jon

[roobarb!]

Over the moon to find an app that supports the BG safe and secure system!

I've bought Alerty, but when i open it, it just freezes. The message 'Head over to the details tab...' is shown, but touching there (or anywhere on the screen) doesn't do anything.

I'm on an iPhone 5S, running iOS 8.0.

Any ideas?

That's weird - are you sure it's crashed? There's a 'pulsing' tick icon on the dialogue box. You should just need to tap on that and the box will disappear, after which you can switch over to the Details tab, choose your system and enter your account username and password.

I've just reset my copy here and there's no crash on my phone or the simulator that I can see. Give that tick a tap and see what happens! If it crashes, it should drop you back to the Springboard (Home Screen).

Perhaps I should put a timeout on that welcome message, so it vanishes on it's own after a few seconds.

[jb5ep]

DOH! Yes, that worked fine - thanks. Yeah, a timeout would maybe help.

This is fantastic - breathes life into a system that I thought was dead and gone! Great stuff.

I'd heard a rumour that BG were rolling in a relaunch of safe and secure into Hive - are you aware of anything along those lines?

Cheers,
Jon

[roobarb!]

Great - glad it's working for you! I spotted a couple of minor cosmetic things in v1.53, so another update will appear at some point soon. Just wish I had more time to work on it! Definitely want to add firmware upgrading one day. They're not always pushed automatically, so a control for it instead of phoning support would be nice.

Don't have any insider knowledge on the Hive system, but those additions wouldn't surprise me in the least. It's 100% AlertMe underneath and they've done a great job getting those little hubs into people's homes. Wouldn't make sense not to expand the features!

[Braeside]

Thank you for Alerty, it works with iOS 11 too unlike the AlertMe app
Is this Safe and Secure still available? If so it might be the answer for me with my otherwise orphaned AlertMe gear.

[roobarb!]

I’m trying to find out about this myself. Safe and Secure is no longer actively sold by British Gas, but they do still have a number to call to order additional devices - not that I’ve tried calling it, mind you. I have a S&S system which I used for testing the app with (as has a friend) and we’ve had no notification that it’s going at the same time as the AlertMe branded gear. So, I’m taking the Hive offer (because it’s actually a pretty generous one when you check the pricing - even if you were to ditch it later and eBay the parts) and will shift all of my AlertMe devices to S&S and use it properly.

It’s just a shame some features I really liked in AlertMe are missing in S&S. I was given access to the API docs some years ago and I believe the functionality is in there - just not brought out on that early revamp of the UI. A lot more work has gone in to the Hive variant.

I get very little time to work on programming these days, but I was going to push a minor iOS11 update to Alerty with a notification in the update info about the discontinuation and offer, just so people don’t miss out.

Rambling away from the point there; I think eBay would be your best bet for a second hand S&S system - though how long BG will keep it online is another matter. A different deal to AlertMe though (who probably want to ditch all but B2B support at this stage) so it may be with us for a while yet. The real shame are the devices - there’s really no technical reason they couldn’t be used on Hive.

Oh, one last possibility - you could try to import a Lowes Iris system from the US. No guarantee it would pair with the UK gear, but that was a pre-BG system licensed direct from AlertMe.

And thanks for using Alerty, by the way!

[Braeside]

Thanks for all that. After due consideration I have decided to cut my losses and ditch the AlertMe hardware, as I doubt any of it will be useful after the cutoff date. I don’t even think it could be sold on eBay, though it is amazing what useless junk people will buy there

I don’t plan to use Hive as it doesn’t meet my needs at all, though I could indeed get the hardware less the thermostat as they have offered. They will instead offer a sensor pack which is what you would get less the Hive thermostat but with an additional motion sensor.

I don’t think you can get the Hive thermostat without getting it installed by BG, I presume they are paying for this free hardware offer by getting you to take out a subscription, as there is no such thing as a free lunch.

I suppose I could eBay the new Hive stuff, and chase AlertMe for the credit accumulated on the SIM card in the hub, and that would go part way towards funding a different system which currently looks like the Samsung SmartThings which has no subscription, and as it handles both ZigBee and Z-Wave devices, has a huge range of sensors, supports my existing RING video doorbell (highly recommended). I’ll be able to add a siren/strobe, CO and smoke detectors, outside lights etc etc. I can build it up slowly as time and money permits.

Thank you again for Alerty, I used it a lot as the official AlertMe offering was so poor and unsupported and now broken in iOS 11.