Domoticz Community Update October 2019

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Features Image Domoticz Community Update

The latest time we focused ourselves on lots of gadgets. But in the background the Domoticz developers, and also the community still are continuously working hard on the development of the Domoticz platform. In this article we highlight some interesting projects and developments from the Domoticz community. We discuss the internal development, the Android App, developments in themes, give a quick peak on the new beta version of Dashticz. Next, we also talk about using Tuya with Domoticz and what can Docker can offer to your Domoticz setup.

Contents

Android App

A while ago, we wrote about the Domoticz app, which still remains best app for Domoticz! Currently the app is still under active development, which means that updates are released occasionally. This is very positive, because this means the developers keep the app up to date and safe, and even add some new nifty features now and then. Below the latest changes for the Android version:

  • Changed the buttons for all types of Blinds
  • Fixed auto refresh function for plans
  • Added temperature widget
  • Reworked the widget config screens
  • Added temperature widget
  • Reworked the widget config screens
  • Fixed issue with Cameras
  • Fixed Security widget
  • Added the option to specify a different auto refresh timer value

There are two different versions of the Android App: the Lite Version and the Premium version. Both versions work well, but the Premium version offer some extra features like geo-fencing and Android wear support.

Domoticz Lite (free)
Domoticz Premium

Are you a IOS user? There is also an iOS version of the app, and there is an special thread for this app as well.

App widget on the Domoticz Community Update

Themes

We have to be honest: the interface of Domoticz is a bit outdated. On slack, there is a active Domoticz user and developer that is very active to update Domoticz to a newer version of the Angular framework. He told us that he expects (and also hopes) to have the new version ready around Christmas.
So for now we are depending on themes to give your Domoticz a fresh appearance. We wrote earlier about the advanced theme Machinon (still my favorite). But user DewGew took the design of Thinkpad and improved it, and the results made us smile. His work can be found on his github and the info thread is still the original one.

Theme on Domoticz Community Update

Dashticz v3.1.0 beta

If you want more flexibility on the user interface than a standard Domoticz installation can offer and have nice theme as well, you should have a look at Dashticz. You can create a dashboard and extend Domoticz screens with third party applets like: Weather, TV, Traffic Info and many more. We talked earlier with the creator of Dashticz, but at the time of the interview it was just version 1.0. Currently version 3.1 is live. Have a look at our our interview for all the backgrounds. The code can be found on Github and documentation can be found here.

Dashticz on the Domoticz Community Update

Tuya in Domoticz

Tuya is HOT! Devices that support Tuya are sold in a Dutch Retail stores like Action, but you can also find them on Aliexpress. Tuya devices are sold under hundreds other brand names. Also the bigger ones like Blitzwolf or alfawise vacuum uses tuya. The main reason is that it’s very affordable. But also the usability: you can use it with the default Tuya apps, that are mostly integradable, but the products can also be firmware flashed (with projects as tuya-convert) and programmed with software like tasmota. So there are plenty of options to use them in Domoticz. A discussion thread with some tips can be found here.

Domoticz Core Functionality

Besides all the third party developments described above, development on Domoticz in the Domoticz community is still very active. You can check the commits on Github. Latest commits are: stability and security improvements, OZW (Open Z-wave) and translations.

Dockers

Ever heard of dockers? I hope so! Dockers are very popular because of the flexibility, scalability and the ability to work cross platform. If you like to run Domoticz on a virtual system (a docker) you can check Linuxserver.io, they have several Dockers of popular open source projects. https://hub.docker.com/r/linuxserver/domoticz . Very useful to test it out, develop or learn.