Universal Thermo Watch 2.0 - control your Nest Thermostat, now with NC Widget

[Marconelly]

Thermo Watch - App Store Link

Those of you who frequent the Apple Watch apps forum here are probably aware of my app. It has, up to this point, been a Watch-only app that lets you control all the facets of your Nest thermostat, filling the gap that Nest, until recently, left by not having their own watch app, but also a gap in quality that I feel is lacking in other Nest watch apps. If you've not seen it, but are interested to know more about the watch portion of the app, you can see about it here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/thermo-watch-control-your-nest-thermostat.1962276/

I'm starting this thread however, to announce the availability of the 2.0 update, which can now be used on any iOS device, using the Notification Center Widget to control the Nest thermostat:

As you can see, all the available thermostats are accessible right off the bat, and the temperature can be adjusted on all of them, as soon as they appear, before any initial sync has completed. You will receive an audible and tactile feedback when your request has been applied. You can also tap on the thermostat in Away mode, to be offered a confirmation to end Away.

Here's a brief overview of what this app offers over the official Nest one:
• NC Widget
• Quickest adjustment possible - you don't have to wait for an initial sync to complete before you can start adjusting the temperature.
• Complications and the Glance on the Watch app. Complications show the set temperature, ambient temperature, humidity, HVAC mode and status.
• Audible and tactile feedback (on both the watch app and the widget) to confirm that the change you made has actually been applied on your thermostat.
• Faster Watch app - both in terms of of how quickly the thermostat can be adjusted, and how responsive the app is.
• Voice control through the watch app. The app can be set to require just one tap on the complication to launch into the voice input mode, making it very close to native Siri control experience.
• Settings that, for example, make the digital crown sensitivity, tactile feedback on crown spinning, and a few other things adjustable.

While the watch app can change the HVAC system mode of operation (heat/cool), right now the widget cannot - but I may add that in a future update. I think a rarely performed multi-step operation, that also needs a dedicated button, goes a bit against the spirit of simplicity of the widgets, but I'm still considering it.

Starting today, and for the next week at least, the app will also be on sale, and cost just $1. I think this makes it the cheapest Nest app that offers both the Widget and the Watch app. As always, I'll keep updating it with anything useful I can think of, and I'll be listening to any feedback, so tell me what you think about the widget, on your device of choice.


To celebrate the 2.0 release, I've posted 10 promo codes in the Code Sharing thread:

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...h-watch-and-nc-widget-10-promo-codes.1989949/

 

[Marconelly]

I've just released 2.1 version. The main improvement is the addition of a button dedicated to Away state toggle:

Other than that, I fixed a bug where the widget, upon opening, would sometimes be blank for a second or two, and then appear. So now it's possible to start adjusting right as the notification center opens, under all circumstances, as advertised.
Another bug was that the setting for the small modular complication display type would be ignored, and it would reset back to showing the target temperature. While this is now fixed, you may need to go to watch / app settings, unselect the wanted option, and then re-select it, after installing this update, so that the setting would stick. Sorry about this!
Lastly, I've ironed out a few UI rendering quirks where, for example, the line separators wouldn't fade out correctly when the alert pane would open.

For the next release, my plan is to add the HVAC mode selection to the widget, but I'm listening to any ideas, as usual.

 

[RobbieTT]

Just purchased the iOS app to go with my new Nest. My first comment is that all the intro screens presume you have a watch rather than the option of iOS only.

 

[Marconelly]

Yes, I'm planning to finally add a widget screenshot to the app intro screens, but I figured what people will see first is the app store page, where the widget screenshot is prominently featured. You're right though, I should probably explain this better, as well as put more focus on the widget itself, as that's precisely the thing Nest doesn't offer right now in their own app.

 

[RobbieTT]

It's all up and running and the widget is simplicity itself. Perfect.

 

[Marconelly]

It's been a while since I've posted any updates here, but I think I finally have an update worth writing about, with a Beta version for anyone willing to try it out

I've added the Siri Voice Shortcuts into the app now, which can be used on the phone / ipad, or completely independently on the watch, even when the watch is on its own on LTE. Here's what the UI for this looks like right now:

For each of the thermostats you own, you can now tap on the small Siri icon on the left, and the panel will open that offers you the available shortcuts. Right now, the actions are limited to temperature increase and decrease. You can increase by the set number of degrees +-1F and +-2F (or +-0.5C and +-1C), but you can also issue a command Start/Stop Cooling/Heating that will first read the current ambient temperature and then increase or decrease the target temperature to whatever it needs to be so the system starts cooling or heating.

If you have any ideas what shortcuts could be useful, please post ideas here. I'm planning on adding the Set Home/Away shortcuts also, as well as shortcuts that will allow setting a few favorite temperatures, as defined by user.

Another nice new thing added is the ability to manually re-arrange the order of thermostats. This order will then be updated in the iOS app, iOS widget, and the Watch app. On top of that, you can now tap on the right side text in the iOS widget, that will scroll through the available thermostats in the compact widget view.

If you have iOS12 beta and/or watchOS5 beta installed, and are willing to try these new features out - just let me know!

 

[RobbieTT]

Thanks for the update.