I'm curious about what professional home installers are doing these days for nice home theater installations. I've been married to my Marantz RC9500 for a long time because I can do so much with graphics but I would like to use iPads and iPhones instead for the better touch control and higher resolutions.

I've tried the apps out there, like Roomie, but my experience has been that using an iPad or iPhone is cumbersome, what with the swipe to unlock it, then run the app, cumbersome enough that I've stuck with my old Marantz's.

I wonder if there's a method for iPads/iPhones that pro's use that make them more like a remote (no swipe or opening apps). I've seen similar products in RV's too, where they use an iPad that seems to be 100% dedicated to the task of automating the RV and no longer really acts as an iPad in the traditional sense.

Any feedback is appreciated!

Disable swipe to unlock? Dont exit control app and you wont have to select it everytime you want to use it.

I use CommandFusion and Android. Have disabled locking on the screen and use another app called Gravity Unlock where by simply moving the tablet will turn the screen on ready to use. Similar to most AMX, Crestron touchpanels etc. Uses a bit more battery but also have a dock that it sits on every night.

Wireless remotes/touchpanels from most manufacturers are a dying breed. Full touch(only) panels do take some getting used to though. I was reluctant to give up my old TSU9600 for a while but would never go back to be honest.

Yea, disabling swipe to unlock on iPad doesn't exist, even the jailbroken apps don't work anymore on it. I've thought of using an android because they are cheap and prolific and quite hackable :).

I wonder why remote/touchpanels are a dying breed, the need still exists out there, it seems that the world has gone back to the old universal button remotes and abandoned touchscreens. The alternative is harmony, which I hate, so cumbersome to use.

The touch screens offered by the remote manufacturers originated in a forgotten era and cost the consumer at least double what a pad costs. The consumer balks at spending so much money for a very limited and dated user interface. In the consumer's mind the pad is "free". And, the remote manufacturers' pad offering is mostly a "wand" type of mentality trapped on a touch screen. I think that the consumer's reasoning is: "Why not go back to the wand and have a user interface that matches the hardware in hand?"

It's a different interface. Pads should allow scrolling, dragging, pinch, and swipe.

The obvious shortcoming of a pad is lack of hard buttons, but I'm not seeing consumers grasp this as a shortcoming. They are seeing "free" and "only one remote".

Another disadvantage of pad is that it does not allow heads up operation.

What do you mean "heads up operation"? So, if using a tablet (or phone, etc), are you using androids so you can make it more "remote like" in that you pick it up, it just comes on and is ready for button presses or something else?

I used to have all hard button remotes, then hybrid touch screen / hard buttons. Today, the only controllers in our house are phones / tablets, namely iPad Minis, iPhones, and iPod Touches.

The control system I use has no license fees per device, so loading the UI on all our mobile devices was a no brainer. It doesn't take long getting used to all touch screen controls. You just have to think it through. Use channel presets / macros as opposed to the 0-9 keypad etc.

This being said.... expensive proprietary touch panels such as AMX, Crestron etc... are on the way out. A lot of people stick with hybrid touch screen / hard buttons for single room systems, but they are still more expensive than an iPod Touch or iPad Mini im most cases.

Today, the only controllers in our house are phones / tablets, namely iPad Minis, iPhones, and iPod Touches.

So does the system you have eliminate the slide to unlock? That was kind of my original question, I'm in favor of doing that and want to but don't want to have to slide to unlock every time I want to turn the volume up or something?

By "heads up" I mean being able to operate the remote without needing to look directly at the remote.

Easiest way would be android. Ipad is probably more popular as its a bit better supported by some developers/manufacturers. But you are stuck with apples way or no way. (thats a whole other argument thats been had many times!)

I used iPad with Crestron app and Crestron control gear. Then iPad with Commandfusion and Crestron control gear. Now using Android (samsung tab pro) with Commandfusion and Crestron gear and its actually much better than the ipad!

CF on the ipad had connection issues with my crestron processor and since going android, its never missed a beat.

You could even start off with a 7" or 8" tab as a remote. Might make the transition from a pronto to tablet a little nicer. 10" tablet is quite large as a remote. But be warned.. If you enjoy doing graphics, designing your own gui can be quite addictive. Im on about revision 278773 of my homes gui. lol

You can enable "Guided Access" on the iPad. This will eliminate the need to swipe to unlock, but you still need to push the home button to wake it up. Also, you will be locked into the control app (or whatever app. is enabled for Guided Access), and won't be able to access other apps on the iPad without first disabling the GA mode.

[Link: support.apple.com]

Dino

Hard Buttons are a thing of the past as well.

We are not far removed from buttons popping up out of touchpad screens wherever and in whatever shape you want them.

I was just getting ready to type out "you still have to slide to unlock if the panel turns off" but i tested first and found that you are correct. When did this change? It used to be that you could set the iPad to dim after 1 minute (shortest possible time you can set) but it would stay dimly lit for 10 minutes before turning completely off which would then require a press of the home button and a slide to unlock.

Now the panel dims briefly then turns off after 1 minute (what i have it set to). Pressing home wakes it right up.

This is freaking awesome! Finally!

dinom answered your question below...yes you can eliminate the slide to unlock. This is news (good news) to me too.

My response is about how the slide to unlock isn't as annoying as you think it would be. Initially this was a huge concern for me but after installing 100+ iPads in the last few years as dedicated touchpanels i can tell you that home button+slide to unlock is hard wired into everyone who carries a smart phone now and no one even notices that its an extra step. It becomes a subconscious background task that not one single customer has noticed/mentioned. If our particular/picky clients are okay with it i cant imagine anyone else would be annoyed by it.

So last night after reading this thread i updated my iPad and enabled guided access to test what i read. Thats when i found out that you no longer need slide to unlock.

I had the Crestron App (purple icon not white) running in guided access mode with a remote system file loaded (a client in NY). iPad is unplugged. iPad has been "off" (screen dark, requires a press of the home button to wake it up).

I am sitting here working at my desk and the iPad lights up on its own. After a minute it dims then shuts back off.

Did a ghost press the home button for me? What gives?

No, but was the system programmed with multiple iPad interfaces? If not, then when you login to the processor you are downloading the same config as the clients iPad, and it will follow what is happening on that one (page flips, wakeup...).