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I wrote a story recently about Apple, the iPad, iOS 4.1 and home automation.
In it, I chronicled one developer and his frustrating iOS experiences, and another developer who cautioned custom electronics pros to tell customers not to upgrade to 4.1 until its home automation app was fully vetted.
Once the comments started flooding in, it was clear my message was completely lost.
So let’s try again, with a little less subtlety:
1. Custom electronics pros and their customers don’t rush out to upgrade to the latest Microsoft OS until they know the developers’ key apps will work properly.
2. Yet a CE pro or installer must be the first one on the block to upgrade to Apple’s newest operating system?
3. Why would they do that?
CE pros and consumers are rushing to replace dedicated home controllers with multipurpose iPods, iPhones and iPads. The new i-platforms and related i-hardware probably saved a lot of CE Pro businesses this year.
But no one is looking out for iOS-based automation like CE pros and their vendors are.
So pros have to be the one that polices every app they ever download onto any iOS device for their clients.
To our precautionary CE pro readers, vet these apps before you “bless” any iOS upgrade. Communicate with your homeowner clients about the latest moves by Apple ... or Microsoft ... or Google ... or any other OS developer over which you have no control.
So far, I have not heard any reports of consumers having issues with a home control app after a 4.1 upgrade.
But even though Apple is awesomely awesome—it truly is—we should still be as vigilant as we would be with any OS.
That’s what I meant to say.
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Thanks for the clarification Julie.
I think there’s something that must be pointed out here: in the past, the installer was primarily responsible for upgrades to systems they install. They had the luxury of time on their side to test, work with the developer if there were issues, etc., before they allowed upgrades. This is no longer possible with iOS devices - heck, the appeal to consumers is that they have a less expensive device that does other things besides run their HA.
So, this means a change in responsibility and timing when it comes to OS upgrades. Customers are never going to wait for their installer to “bless” an upgrade, so the responsibility for primary “testing” has shifted somewhat - the developers behind these iOS apps have the primary responsibility to test their apps and make any necessary changes WELL BEFORE the update is available to customers. Waiting for GA before worrying about testing simply won’t work. The good news is that Apple always gives advanced notice to all releases that modify API functionality in any way.
If the installers want to be part of the solution, they can join the Apple developer program to get access to early releases that they can install and test the apps on. That would be a good thing and would help the developers.
But, make no mistake, we all have to adjust to this new reality: customers are going to upgrade and it’s our responsibility to make sure our apps work correctly before those upgrades are available to customers. It’s definitely change in the way some in our industry may have been used to working and we should recognize that.