Electric Imp has updated its mobile app, hard on the heels of the public beta roll-out of impOS™ 34 and the release of the imp005 module — both of which the new app version supports.
The new release — version 4.4.0 — is now available to download free of charge from the iTunes App Store and Google Play.
The update primarily adds support for imp005-based devices, specifically the ability to perform an Ethernet-only BlinkUp™ so that units which aren’t expected to connect wirelessly don’t need to be passed WiFi network credentials. This makes for a quicker set-up process.
The imp005 is the first impModule™ that supports wired connectivity, which is a key requirement for many of Electric Imp’s Industrial Internet of Things customers, who need robust connectivity at sites that may not be suitable for wireless networking.
In addition, impOS 34 allows devices to connect to the Internet through HTTP Connect proxies. It also adds support for static network configurations. Both of these options can be applied using the new Electric Imp app, which presents them as optional ‘Advanced’ settings, reflecting the enterprise-level nature of these configuration features.
A new ‘Setup’ screen allows you to select your device’s primary connection mode — wireless or wired — and you can instruct the app to present the advanced settings here too. Flip the ‘Use Advanced Settings’ switch, and the app will gather all the necessary set-up information from you as you follow either the wireless or Ethernet paths.
You can enter static configuration details, proxy settings or both, and the app will retain your most recent settings to speed the configuration of multiple devices — though they will only be included if you subsequently re-select ‘Use Advanced Settings’.
Oh, and we took the opportunity to spruce up the graphics too.
Both the Android and iOS versions of Electric Imp mobile app make use of Electric Imp’s native BlinkUp SDKs, which allow our customers to provide their own end-users with this patented device configuration technology. New versions of the SDKs are now in the hands of our customers, who are building powerful yet user-friendly mobile apps to manage users’ Internet of Things devices.
Tony Smith
BlinkUp Product Manager