I conducted a survey at the beginning of the year, but since then, a lot of things have changed.
In order to gauge the current sentiment and understand why some of you use or do not use Gladys 4 (that’s what’s really interesting), I created a quick survey to fill out
Be as honest as possible, the goal is really to understand what we can improve on the website/the product/the documentation/the YouTube videos.
The survey is available here
Thanks to everyone who takes the time to respond
As usual, I will publish the responses anonymously if you’re interested
All sensors are in 433, so in this management, it’s difficult to switch. Am I the only one? For the rest, I think I can switch everything.
Have you seen my latest YouTube tutorial on using Node-RED integrations with Gladys? You should be able to use your 433MHz without any problems:
I have a Tplink camera managed by a tapo app, is this possible as an integration?
Does this camera expose an RTSP (or HTTP) stream? I think so, so it should already be managed by Gladys 4 We can look at it together if you want, I advise you to read this tutorial to integrate your camera:
Will SSL encryption no longer be necessary by going through Gladys Plus?
Are you talking about locally? Indeed, locally, there’s no need to configure SSL since it’s on your local network.
The remote access part via Gladys Plus is end-to-end encrypted as well as in transit (double security)
You can see what remote access looks like on Gladys 4 in my latest YouTube live:
@dumoulin.jb I’m responding to you here following your survey response
There is a lack of a simple way to install Gladys on Windows to test (without Docker)
Gladys Assistant uses a set of integrations/libraries (Z-Wave, Zigbee, etc.) that are difficult (or even impossible) to set up on Windows without Docker, especially if you are a beginner. I don’t think we will offer a version of Gladys without Docker.
After all, why would you want to run Gladys on Windows? If you just want to test the Gladys interface, we have an online demo version (demo.gladysassistant.com), and if you are convinced and want to embark on the adventure, you can equip yourself with a Raspberry Pi and then install Gladys with our ready-made image
(For those who read this message, be careful I am talking about using Gladys, not development, it is quite possible to set up a Gladys development environment on Windows, this is not the subject here)
@Pasdesushi I’m responding to you here following your survey response:
Sonos integration
For the Sonos integration, have you tested the Node-RED Sonos integration? This could be a good solution while waiting for someone to develop a service!
possibility of using the weather module in scenarios (unless I missed something?)
What would you like to do?
In the meantime, you can also (small hack) use the « HTTP Request » action to make a request to the OpenWeather API (I know that @lmilcent does this), and then use the retrieved data in the « Continue only if » action, which would meet your needs in the meantime?
zigbee2mqtt: problems with some devices that return text (e.g., Philips & Ikea buttons)
Gladys does not allow testing these values in scenarios (I saw that there was a topic on the forum)
Currently, I am forced to go through node red to create a device that returns a number following the text
Is this something that is under active development? Have you talked about your problems on these topics?
I am not the developer of the Zigbee2mqtt integration, so I cannot help you with that. Do not hesitate to restart the topics in question if nothing has moved for a while
a storage method for scenarios
What do you mean?
creation of virtual devices
Wouldn’t the MQTT integration be sufficient for this? That’s what everyone is doing right now.
After that, it’s true that a real « Virtual Device » integration could be clearer for everyone, but if the MQTT integration does it, it might be a good solution while waiting for someone to work on a virtual device integration.
another problem but related to scenes
Improve the condition system (with an else for example)
Because my number of scenarios is increasing very quickly otherwise
There is a feature request that goes in this direction, you can vote here:
@spenceur I forgot to answer your other question about Gladys Plus:
I’ve only been using it since the Google sync and only for that, actually
The price isn’t unreasonable given the developments made.
I was wondering if the price might evolve as the developments progress?
Is it possible to have a custom Gladys Plus, for example?
For now, having a single price greatly simplifies management and compatibility.
In the long term (years from now), when Gladys Plus is more established, why not have different plans based on needs, for example, a different offer for professionals with more features for their specific needs, but that’s really not a priority right now
What a quick response! Thanks for your reply @pierre-gilles.
I had started the Node-RED tutorial but couldn’t find the physical link to emit 433 at my place.
I understood that this platform was like a translator between languages.
I will try to understand how it works and find my 433.
For the camera, I had already integrated an old one via HTTPS that burned out. I will try to find another one.
Thanks for your feedback.
I have already tried the demo on the website, and it makes me want to go further and test the solution with my own devices.
However, in this test phase, I would like to stay on my PC before switching to ‹ production › on a Raspberry. And unfortunately, both of my attempts (last week and several months ago) ended in failure. Maybe not using Docker isn’t the solution, but I wouldn’t say no to an improvement in the documentation, with a section dedicated to Windows installation. (I haven’t yet taken the time to ask for help on this forum).
In any case, I am delighted that a French home automation solution exists and that it listens to its community! Well done to you, and to all the contributors
To have write access, the link on the site is read-only (it’s normal, the site doesn’t want just anyone to make a mess, the forum is already more for experts ) Let me know if you still don’t have access after this.
Should we create a topic on the forum to specifically discuss this issue? You need to use a « serial » flow in Node-RED to send values to the serial port, I imagine you are using USB with your Arduino? You create a topic and tag me, we’ll look at it together?
It depends on what you are trying to test on Windows, do you just want to test the interface or do you also want to test integrations?
If it’s just to test the Gladys interface, then yes you can run Gladys on Windows (I didn’t say it was easy, if you are a beginner it can be complicated)
On the other hand, if you want to test the integrations, it will be very complicated or even impossible on Windows, I explain:
Docker does not run on Windows by nature, because Docker is a Linux container system. To run Docker on Windows, Docker launches a Linux VM, and runs Docker in the VM, it’s a bit of a hack. So already to make Docker work on Windows, you need a PC that supports virtualization.
As Docker runs in a VM, everything that is network scanning, etc. will not work on Windows, because the VM’s network is not the same as your machine’s network, and Gladys will not find any devices.
In addition to this, the Linux VM does not have access to USB ports by default (this can be changed, but if you are a beginner you are embarking on a world of pain and complexity: D)
For all the points mentioned above, we will not write this documentation because it will imply that Gladys is fully compatible with Windows (which is not the case), and it will encourage people to install Gladys on Windows, which we don’t want because it’s not made for that.
So, tell me what you want to test, there may be other alternatives, for example, it is possible to install Gladys on a small online Linux VPS, if you want to test Gladys for 1 hour for example, it will cost you barely 1 cent at DigitalOcean, and in 2 commands you will have Gladys installed
Otherwise, a Raspberry Pi is 40€, I would clearly advise you to take the plunge, you will have the complete experience and a Raspberry Pi is never lost!
@ceist I’m responding to your comment about the survey here:
It’s still missing a graph integration, it’s really useful for tracking the data returned by the sensors. A highchart integration would be really great (simple, beautiful and effective). For MQTT, the device names could be simpler and an automatic return of the detected devices (jeedom) would greatly simplify the use.
As soon as everything I coded myself in Python and PHP is covered by Gladys, I switch to the project. I’m at several attempts but it’s still less easy to use for the moment.
Absolutely agreed! I’ve been working on this feature for almost 3 months (I’m part-time on Gladys so it’s not 3 months where I work full-time on it :p)
You can follow the development here:
We are in the testing phase with real users. A lot of feedback that I am currently correcting. It should arrive quite soon I hope, as soon as the feature is stable with enough users it will be released, probably before the end of the year I hope
Thanks for the response indeed, I had to test Zigbee…
On the other hand, for RFlink, it’s RFXCOM my technology exactly, on some home automation they are put together but at my place it doesn’t work as is.
I’m following the subject
@Aldo I’m responding to you here following your reply to the survey:
Z-Wave isn’t « pushed » enough for my use. I’m currently looking at Node-Red but I also don’t see how to do what I need in Gladys. I can send 5 commands to my « radiator drivers », and apart from making 5 « on/off switches » I don’t see how to do it, it would be preferable to be able to choose from a list of actions/commands and a « send » button to trigger.
For Z-Wave, unfortunately I’ve been struggling for months to find someone to take over the integration, and so far I haven’t found anyone
But good news, for a few weeks now we have @Romuald_Pochet who has started working on ZWaveJS in Gladys!
For Node-RED, what are you trying to do exactly? You might be able to create a specific topic on the forum and we can look at it together? I’m sure it’s possible!
I also wanted to do 433 but I can’t even do what I want with my Arduino so for now it’s not a problem
Same, you can create a specific topic and we can look at it together?
I see the interest of Gladys Plus and in normal use, this price seems justified to me. For now, I do it more to support the project than out of need
Thanks again for your long-term support via Gladys Plus, it really makes a difference
so for now it’s not a problem