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Demopad for Ipad & Iphone

post #1 of 463
10/8/11 at 8:49am
Thread Starter 
Hi all,

I would like to introduce Demopad to you people. I am not the developer but just a happy costumer, who wants to share his enthusiasm for this software.

Demopad gives you the full control of your equipment by using an Ipad or an Iphone. Devices are controlled by using Gobalche's Itach's or GC100-6(8, 12). Of course your IP controllable devices can also be adressed. The DemoDesign PC Software can be downloaded on their website, www.demopad.com, which is needed to create your user interface.

If you are familiar with Pronto Edit software by Philips, you will get along very fast. Devices like Lutron, Crestron, and Rako are already inclueded and give you 2 way feddback.

What I really like about the software:

- When you launch the Demopad app you are directly connected, no "connecting to gateway", message, no lag at all.

- The software is downloaded to your Pc, and does not live in the cloud. Designing your UI on the Pc is faster and safer.

- Flag system, which can be uesed to create complex actions, or to simulate 2 way feedback.

- A grid system which is very easy to use. You just drag your button or pic where you want it to be. An align system is integrated to move and align multiple objects.

- The support brought by the developer, Andy, is just great. He helped me out every time i needed his help.

I used iruleathome until now, and I have to say that I am more pleased by Demopad. At the moment Demopad is not as far developped as Commandfusion, but is moch more user-friendly, which is why I never seriously considered to use Commandfusion.

The developer of Demopad, Andy, with whom I'm in regulary contact, told me that features like 2 way feedback (for ip devies like av-receivers), will be added in the near future.

In conclusion I would like to say: Please try this great software. You can download the Demopad software for free, and even try the app for free, which is called DemopadLite. Concerning pricing I can only tell you that it is very competitive. I hope that you will like this Remote App as much as I do.

I would propose to use this thread, in order to reply to upcoming questions. Consequently we can share our experiences and propose new ides to the developer. Enjoy!
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post #2 of 463
10/8/11 at 9:37am
Glad to see someone start a thread for this great program. I have not yet bought the full app but have been using the GUI designer and Demopadlite to test GUI's on the iPad. All i can say is WOW! i absolutle love it.

You can have images toggle ie. a power button can toggle from green to red when a devive is turned off and this happens with out having to change to a new page like in iRule.

Another feature that is nice is that you can move images around in the GUI with the arrow keys on the keyboard (one pixel at a time) this allows for precise placement of buttons and images.

The flags are great to and allow for some very neat animations, for example you can have menus pop-up on the screen when a button is pressed.

I have been building a GUI to justify to my wife that it will be so much better then what we have now.

It is definitely worth a look. If anyone tries it and has a question on how to do something i will try to help out as much as i can, but i still don't know alot about it.
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post #3 of 463
10/8/11 at 12:03pm
Looks good. I see they have an owner's manual which I read. Going to have to try it out. Like that you can label buttons and place items exactly where you want them.
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post #4 of 463
10/8/11 at 5:02pm
Thread Starter 
Exactly, Bulldogger that's what convinced me. In my opinion, labelling a button and placing those where you want is something that you would take for granted, but is not most of the time. However Demopad has got those features built in, which is remarkable!
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post #5 of 463
10/9/11 at 3:23am
Thread Starter 
Here two screenshots of my User Interface on my Ipad, one used to control my Rako Lights, the another one to control my TV.
LL
LL
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post #6 of 463
10/9/11 at 6:40am
After seeing your post in the iRule thread I checked out DemoPad.
Bought it Thursday and already have a fully functional iTouch remote programmed for the Family Room.
My wife loves it and that is saying something, as she still doesn't know which light switch is for the kitchen
and we have lived in our house for 20 years..
Love the ability to have sub screens appear on conditional actions, it makes the iTouch a perfect remote.
I may still program one for my iPad, but at this point the iTouch is so good I don't have to..
It blows the socks of iRule, both in programabilty and functionality.

Will post some pics soon
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post #7 of 463
10/9/11 at 7:13am
The demo-video shows a lot of 'movement', as in, a dynamic interface with moving objects. Is this an actual representation of how it works? I always disliked to static look of iRule. I think it is very important for a remote on the iPad to feel 'fun', but (almost) no developers seem to do anything to make it that way.
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post #8 of 463
10/9/11 at 8:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nosoforos View Post

The demo-video shows a lot of 'movement', as in, a dynamic interface with moving objects. Is this an actual representation of how it works? I always disliked to static look of iRule. I think it is very important for a remote on the iPad to feel 'fun', but (almost) no developers seem to do anything to make it that way.

Yes you can have Almost any object animated based on conditions ie. When button pressed sub-panel x will slide on screen from the bottom.

You can have objects just appear of come in from the left,right, bottom or top. The user manual is quite good to get you started.
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post #9 of 463
10/9/11 at 8:34am
That's very nice. Actually I just quit using iRule and sold my iTach. I don't think I'm going down that route again, but this software makes me regret it wasn't available a year ago... I just found out about it yesterday. Only drawback (major drawback for me actually) is that the interface builder is Windows-based (and it could use some work on the interface). It is better to have a desktop-app, though, instead of a cloud-based builder (which I never thought was a good idea).
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post #10 of 463
10/9/11 at 11:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nosoforos View Post

That's very nice. Actually I just quit using iRule and sold my iTach. I don't think I'm going down that route again, but this software makes me regret it wasn't available a year ago... I just found out about it yesterday. Only drawback (major drawback for me actually) is that the interface builder is Windows-based (and it could use some work on the interface). It is better to have a desktop-app, though, instead of a cloud-based builder (which I never thought was a good idea).

I agree the PC Interface could use a little work, but after just a couple of days I have become very fast and building screens.
It takes working with it to see what it is really capable of.

The attached photos show my basic DirecTV control that controls all the basic functions.
First photo shows the main DTV screen when you press Guide, List or the receiver icon sub pages appear from either top or bottom.
Second photo shows the top and bottom sub pages to control the DVR functions when the List button is pressed, they dissapear when Exit is pressed.
Third photo shows the Guide Sub page that appears from the bottom when the Guide button is pressed, dissapears on either select or exit.
LL
LL
LL
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post #11 of 463
10/9/11 at 3:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nosoforos View Post

That's very nice. Actually I just quit using iRule and sold my iTach. I don't think I'm going down that route again,

This works with the Itach so why the sale? The 2 way feedback is " weak" at this point. No support for Retina right now. I like it though. Support says they are working on both. Feedback and panel sharing is nice in Irule as well. If I could only combine both!
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post #12 of 463
10/9/11 at 4:00pm
Thread Starter 
I will ask Andy, the developper of Demopad, if he is willing to post about a future release date. Also he could give us information about the features we could expect. I will forward the link of the thread.
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post #13 of 463
10/10/11 at 12:20pm
Hi - I'm Andy, the lead developer of the DemoPad iPhone / iPad Universal Remote solution - it's nice to hear so many complimentary comments.

Retina support, more advanced 2-way feedback, and various 2-way manufacturer specific integration modules (in addition to the Crestron, Lutron & Rako 2-way modules currently available) are all due in the next release of the app, hopefully in the next month or so. We are also working on some more impressive features which I cannot go into here until we publicly release them, but rest assured we will continue with product development, as we have over the last 12 months following the launch of the solution.

Any requests for additional functionality, or any problems should be directed to our support email (contact details on our website) - anyone who has taken advantage of our free email support will know how quickly we respond.

I wish everyone all the best with their projects & look forward to seeing more screenshots of your designs!
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post #14 of 463
10/10/11 at 1:17pm
I don't want to start a flaming or anything but the benefit for me of the Irule setup in the cloud is that I use about 3 different laptops at any given time setting up my remotes and all of them are macs running OSX. Otherwise I would consider this product. I really hate the trouble I have to go to getting things to move and line up the way I want them to with iRule. It is very very limiting.
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post #15 of 463
10/10/11 at 2:49pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by heffneil View Post

I don't want to start a flaming or anything but the benefit for me of the Irule setup in the cloud is that I use about 3 different laptops at any given time setting up my remotes and all of them are macs running OSX. Otherwise I would consider this product. I really hate the trouble I have to go to getting things to move and line up the way I want them to with iRule. It is very very limiting.

Welcome heffneil,

Well yes I get your point, but the benefit of the cloud is diminished by usability. A browser can never get you the usablility of a software. When irule become a little more complex it will be a pain to work with. Just try Demopad, and you will see what I mean. For example, only by moving an object with your keyboard cursor gives you a huge advantage.
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post #16 of 463
10/10/11 at 2:51pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by DemoPad View Post

Hi - I'm Andy, the lead developer of the DemoPad iPhone / iPad Universal Remote solution - it's nice to hear so many complimentary comments.

Retina support, more advanced 2-way feedback, and various 2-way manufacturer specific integration modules (in addition to the Crestron, Lutron & Rako 2-way modules currently available) are all due in the next release of the app, hopefully in the next month or so. We are also working on some more impressive features which I cannot go into here until we publicly release them, but rest assured we will continue with product development, as we have over the last 12 months following the launch of the solution.

Any requests for additional functionality, or any problems should be directed to our support email (contact details on our website) - anyone who has taken advantage of our free email support will know how quickly we respond.

I wish everyone all the best with their projects & look forward to seeing more screenshots of your designs!

Thanks Andy for your introduction. I wonder what those features will look aloke. Sounds promising .
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post #17 of 463
10/11/11 at 3:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cheezit73 View Post

If I try to use most of my button images that I am using in Irule they look fine in Demopad if I am just using a solid Background color.. However if I add a background image and then place those same buttons over it the parts of the button that would normally be clear are now the solid color of the background eg.. A circular button would now have a black square around it.

Any thoughts on this?

Can you post an example? When you say "solid background color" are you referring to black, the same color as the square around your button? Would the square still appear around your button if you placed it over a solid pink background? I'm trying to determine if your buttons are .png files.
.png images support transparency. Basically, it allows you to remove the background from your button image leaving the button on it's own transparent background. If you're using the default iRule buttons, they are already in .png format. If you've created your own buttons and you haven't removed the background and saved as .png, you will see the black square around it on a non black background.

On another note, this Demopad is looking very, very, interesting. I may have to try it out. They seem to have gotten further in one year than iRule has in three. I can't imagine what Demopad's future looks like.
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post #18 of 463
10/11/11 at 4:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mborner View Post

Can you post an example? When you say "solid background color" are you referring to black, the same color as the square around your button? Would the square still appear around your button if you placed it over a solid pink background? I'm trying to determine if your buttons are .png files.
.png images support transparency. Basically, it allows you to remove the background from your button image leaving the button on it's own transparent background. If you're using the default iRule buttons, they are already in .png format. If you've created your own buttons and you haven't removed the background and saved as .png, you will see the black square around it on a non black background.

On another note, this Demopad is looking very, very, interesting. I may have to try it out. They seem to have gotten further in one year than iRule has in three. I can't imagine what Demopad's future looks like.

You beat me to it on the transparency problem mborner. Good to see you are looking at Demopad, you were an active contributer in the iRule thread.
I have done more with Demopad in 1 week than I did with iRule in over a year, have finally retired my Logitech as my wife loves the new Demopad remote.
On the OP's comment that Demopad does not have feedback, it does..... It just does not have a generic way of dealing with things like light and volume levels or unknown responses. I have my Onkyo receiver providing feedback just fine and combining that with flags works great for conditional actions.
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post #19 of 463
10/11/11 at 6:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trevorsplace View Post

You beat me to it on the transparency problem mborner. Good to see you are looking at Demopad, you were an active contributer in the iRule thread.
I have done more with Demopad in 1 week than I did with iRule in over a year, have finally retired my Logitech as my wife loves the new Demopad remote.
On the OP's comment that Demopad does not have feedback, it does..... It just does not have a generic way of dealing with things like light and volume levels or unknown responses. I have my Onkyo receiver providing feedback just fine and combining that with flags works great for conditional actions.

Man, I'm starting to drool just a little bit more. Thanks for the input.
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post #20 of 463
10/11/11 at 6:38am
quick one on the transparency issue - in the designer, when you use a background image, you can see the outline 'pressable' area of the button, and when you have rounded corner's etc, it doesn't look very nice.

This is ONLY in the PC designer (and it is useful so you can tell where the pressable area of a button is), as soon as you upload the project to the iPad / iPhone, the border cannot be seen - the app supports transparency just fine.

Another note on 2-way feedback, it is there, it is just limited to fixed known responses. I've known some installers who have gone to the trouble of entering all possible values for lighting level, or volume, to get full feedback (depending on the response of the device, you can enter things like VOL=2 for 20-29%, VOL=3 for 30-39%) - but I realise this approach is not ideal, and it would never work for things like track selection. We are working on this.....
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post #21 of 463
10/11/11 at 7:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DemoPad View Post

quick one on the transparency issue - in the designer, when you use a background image, you can see the outline 'pressable' area of the button, and when you have rounded corner's etc, it doesn't look very nice.

This is ONLY in the PC designer (and it is useful so you can tell where the pressable area of a button is), as soon as you upload the project to the iPad / iPhone, the border cannot be seen - the app supports transparency just fine.

Good info on the designer, thanks.
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post #22 of 463
10/11/11 at 8:34am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by cheezit73 View Post

Wow this is great that's answers my questions about the images, thanks to everybody for there input!

The fact that feedback is already there is great news...most of my feedback needs are fixed responses such as volume..

I have a feeling I will be leaving irule for this very soon.. I have owned irule for over a year but had been waiting for the two way before starting on my panels and I have invested minimal time in that so I am looking forward to seeing what demo pad is bringing in the next month or so..

Ps just last night I realized I had to look at the searching for gateways message on irule way to many times while trying to watch tv every time I had to wake up the iPad to fast forward!

Looking forward to others experiences!


You are experiencing the same as I did. I replaced iruleathome with Demopad, and I don't miss the "searching for gateways" message at all . Very interesting what you can achieve with the flags. I integrated them now, in order to get status on my devices, really lovely!
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post #23 of 463
10/11/11 at 9:09am
It's very nice to see some fresh blood in this area (after the dominance of iRule on this forum, I mean).
What interests me a lot is whether this app will have better ways to control iTunes and things like Plex (and Boxee and XBMC, but for me: Plex). These two applications are the most important ones to me in regard to media playback. There are lots of good apps that control Plex, and there is the excellent remote from Apple of course. However, it would be beneficial if this could all be done (well) within one app. It makes no sense to have a remote app, if I still have to switch to Rowmote to control Plex, for example. Other things are features like 'pause on call' that Hipporemote offers, which makes a lot of sense for a remote app on the iPhone.
Lastly, I'm curious about plans to support lighting controls (x-10, insteon, z-wave). To me, this is vital, since pressing 'play' in a remote app should automatically trigger the lights to dim to the right level (this can currently be done with SQremote).
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post #24 of 463
10/11/11 at 9:39am
I have a question for those that have started using Demopad in their setups. How does it work for volume control, i have played around with the GUI builder but i cant see how you would have the volume continue to increase as you held the volume up button. iRule does this with the repeat option is there some thing like this in Demopad, a way to repeat a command while the button is pressed?

I am really liking Demopad so far, will most like purcuse it fairly soon just for the simple fact of having pop-up sub-menus, not to mention everything else it can do.
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post #25 of 463
10/11/11 at 10:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cheezit73 View Post


Ps just last night I realized I had to look at the searching for gateways message on irule way to many times while trying to watch tv every time I had to wake up the iPad to fast forward!

Looking forward to others experiences!

Me too! Never thought too much about it, but yea, it is getting tiresome. Now that there are other options...........................
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post #26 of 463
10/11/11 at 10:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DemoPad View Post

Hi - I'm Andy, the lead developer of the DemoPad iPhone / iPad Universal Remote solution - it's nice to hear so many complimentary comments.

Retina support, more advanced 2-way feedback, and various 2-way manufacturer specific integration modules (in addition to the Crestron, Lutron & Rako 2-way modules currently available) are all due in the next release of the app, hopefully in the next month or so. We are also working on some more impressive features which I cannot go into here until we publicly release them, but rest assured we will continue with product development, as we have over the last 12 months following the launch of the solution.

Any requests for additional functionality, or any problems should be directed to our support email (contact details on our website) - anyone who has taken advantage of our free email support will know how quickly we respond.

I wish everyone all the best with their projects & look forward to seeing more screenshots of your designs!

Andy, It's a pleasure to have you on this forum. I think I speak for everyone here when I say, it's reassuring to know that the lead developer on this project is speaking out and taking input on a public forum. Please, hang out a while and be here for your potential clients questions. This has the potential to become an epic thread if you stay involved.
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post #27 of 463
10/11/11 at 11:37am
Here is question I have, while some may have wondered, it may be a giant white elephant in the corner. I haven't had time to look at the website or tutorials yet but it sounds like Demopad can launch other apps. Can it launch the Sonos app? Better yet, can it integrate with UPnP devices like Sonos?

EK
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post #28 of 463
10/11/11 at 11:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ekkoville View Post

Here is question I have, while some may have wondered, it may be a giant white elephant in the corner. I haven't had time to look at the website or tutorials yet but it sounds like Demopad can launch other apps. Can it launch the Sonos app? Better yet, can it integrate with UPnP devices like Sonos?

EK

Looking through their web site it appears that it's capable of launching certain IOS apps like Safari and Remote. Sonos is a no-go.
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post #29 of 463
10/11/11 at 11:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by linsmith View Post

I have a question for those that have started using Demopad in their setups. How does it work for volume control, i have played around with the GUI builder but i cant see how you would have the volume continue to increase as you held the volume up button. iRule does this with the repeat option is there some thing like this in Demopad, a way to repeat a command while the button is pressed?

I am really liking Demopad so far, will most like purcuse it fairly soon just for the simple fact of having pop-up sub-menus, not to mention everything else it can do.

It does not have a repeat command as such but Vol repeat is done by setting a repeating action with a short repeat time when entering a page. The action is contolled by a flag.
When you press the vol control you set the flag on, when you release you set the lag off. Works great....
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post #30 of 463
10/11/11 at 1:31pm
Thread Starter 
If you need good examples, to improve your user interface, go check this link : http://www.demopad.com/resources.html . You will find good examples of how to use flags, how to create a toggle button, etc.
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