The guys at www.virtualremotecontrols.com have put together a new iPhone app to control the IrrigationCaddy.
We haven’t gotten our hands on the app yet, but it looks like they have done a great job! The IrrigationCaddy iPhone app seems to be part of a host of other remote control apps designed for home automation type devices.
The picture below will give you a good idea of their handy work, or if you need more details you can go to their site.
I see that you only offer a 5 device option and that it is $99 annually. Are you planning to sell the app at a laater date? For the most part I set up the controller once and it runs itself but I would like to show off the “cool factor” with my iphone being able to control my IC. However I can not imagine ever thinking that once in a lifetime need to actually do so will ever be worth $99 yearly for the home user when other apps sell for $.99 to $9.99. I also have a ecobee thermostat which is fun to show off but they do not charge for the app which was nice. Please let me know when the app is available for purchase. Thank you very much, Ed.
Ed, keep in mind that IrrigationCaddy does not sell these apps. A third party developer at http://www.virtualremotecontrols.com develops and sells these apps. You should probably post on their site so that they are aware of your feedback.
For our part, we will release an iPhone app, hopefully sooner rather than later.
In the meantime, remember you can still access the caddy using your iPhone, however you need to use the iPhone’s Safari web browser. Clearly not as nice as having a native iPhone app, but it still works.
Hope that helps.
I’ll echo Ed’s comments and feelings. It appears what allows this third party app developer to charge a subscription fee, is that they’re the only game in town. Gustavo, when I first ordered my timer from you guys, I sent in a service ticket asking what your plans were for offering a smartphone app. The response I received acknowledged that an app would be nice, but was noncommittal and referred me to using the browser interface.
I only hope that this changes the dynamics (and hopefully the priority) of offering an OEM app. It does not have to be fancy.
Further, if it is set up to allow direct phone-to timer communication (with or forwarding) it would eliminate the server based costs - something
Totally see your point. I think you will see an app sooner rather than later.
Thanks for the feedback.
Thanks for teh Reply Gustavo. My Tablet submitted my comment before I completed my thoughts.
I was going to emphasize the importance of offering an app-to-timer direct line of communication. So many of the internet-enabled devices today require the use of a third-part or OEM-supplied external server. Rather than the customer logging in directly to the timer, users must enter credentials on an internet-based server. That raises security issues - as well as additional expense for the company running the servers (and probably accounts for the virtualremotecontrols.com subscription fees).
Setting up port forwarding will probably make configuration a little more complicated for many non-techie users, but with UPnP automatic router configuration, that could be reduced or eliminated. Besides, how many non-techie people would be installing these anyway?
I’m glad to hear that you guys are working on the app, and look forward to testing it. In fact, if you need BETA testers, I’d be happy to sign up
I am the CEO of Virtual Remote Controls, makers of the EZ-VRC application. First, I want to thank all of you for the comments. EZ-VRC is positioned as an application “designed by the customer for the customer”, so your feedback is invaluable to us. Second, I want to thank Gustavo and the folks from KG Controls for producing such a quality device, making our lives at Virtual Remote Controls easier. The comments in this blog were recently brought to my attention and so I thought I should respond both in writing and with a limited time special offer. As Erkme73 presumed, our application is hosted on internet servers — but not just any servers. The EZ-VRC application is hosted in Amazon’s Elastic Cloud – the largest, most scalable, reliable and secure virtual server cloud infrastructure in the world. All credentials are encrypted with the most advanced cryptography such that they are only available to the EZ-VRC subscriber. Amazon promises 99.95% availability and they protect server-side data through a massive investment in redundant data centers and data backup plans. Erkme73 is correct that with the cloud comes additional expense to Virtual Remote Controls but it is worth it as it brings functions and features to the end user that would otherwise not be possible. For example, our cloud servers are plugged into local weather forecasts and we leverage that to generate emails and/or text messages to EZ-VRC subscribers whenever it sees that there is a 30% or better chance of rain and you are scheduled to water your lawn. Further, for customers that have to manage multiple Irrigation Caddies, we allow Irrigation Caddy settings to be saved and reapplied to other (say newly installed or upgraded) caddies. This is a big time-saver for property managers; helping them keep all their Irrigation caddy devices in-sync. Looking further, our cloud-based implementation allows us to supplement the hardware-based capabilities of the caddy with software based logic. Imagine limitless shut-off valves (virtual zone groupings) and multi-start times (beyond what the hardware supports), auto-shut-offs around weather forecasts and integration with other device types. The possibilities are endless. EZ-VRC provides one interface for multiple controllers; normalizing presentation and functionality along the way so that the look and feel is the same regardless of hardware manufacturer or version. The cloud technology employed also ensures our application works and looks the same regardless of smartphone – what you get and see on the iPhone is also what you get and see on Android, Blackberry, Microsoft, and Palm. Ed was correct that the list price for EZ-VRC is $99 annually but it is important to keep in mind that it includes far more than just control over a single Irrigation Caddy device. At that price, you get a virtual controller for your thermostat, garage doors/gates, INSTEON-enabled home (no limits; one EZ-VRC instance covers the entire home – every light, outlet and dimmer), and a multi-purpose (2-relay/2-input) solution. You get one solution that can handle multiple instances of the same device type, e.g., multiple caddies (versus a separate app or separate website per caddie). You get real-time alerts and upgrades are inclusive. In fact, in the next couple of months, we will be introducing access to Webcams and the feature will come at no additional cost to full subscribers. When you consider the savings all these solutions offer, the pay-back is quick (same season) and the cost of ownership is small. We may be the only game in town right now but we don’t lean on that — our only goal is to provide choices and value and we have thus far been able to grow this business on just that - value. We allow customers to trial our application for extended periods of time and we have a no-contracts policy. We are continuing to evolve the product and, thanks to customer feedback, EZ-VRC has gotten better with each deployment. Once again, I want to thank the folks at Irrigation Caddy for creating such a special device and, as a special to all loyal Caddy users that only want to use EZ-VRC to control a single Irrigation Caddy, you may use the VRC2011IC promo code for a $9.99/year (customer-renewable) subscription. Just our way of saying thanks to the entire Irrigation Caddy family.
Feature Request!
US Weather Service data that some “Smart” irrigation controllers receive. I’m sure this could come over the web to the device somehow.
I second the request of an iPad/iPhone App - however, what would probably be smarter is coding the webpage for html5. HTML5 will allow for an iPhone/ iPad app interface, without having to hire an app creator. Plus, I’m pretty sure HTML5 works with other smart phones too!
Regardless of approach (local or hosted), HTML5 makes forward looking sense. I think the real issue is that we will never get from a single memory/CPU-limited device-resident webserver what we can get from the cloud. The cloud will always out-power, out-perform, and out-deliver what can be embodied on a single device. Architecturally, it would make more sense to simplify the device over time and push more to shared iron. I think Virtual Remote Controls is on to something and the fact that they are looking across caddies and beyond irrigation makes total sense. I suppose it comes down to willingness to pay and an assumption that KGControls will continue to grow software capabilities as part of an all inclusive $149 solution. It is pretty easy to predict that competition coupled with the growing virtualization of services will continue to challenge that assumption.