We’re proud to announce a major update to the Particle App for iOS! In v2.0 of the Particle App, we’ve introduced Device Inspector, a new view for the Particle iOS app which lets you visualize key device information at a glance, call and read custom functions and variables remotely, and view/sort events published from your device. We’ve also overhauled the look and feel of the Particle App, squashed a bunch of nasty bugs, and improved setup reliability, making v2.0 the most useful and beautiful release of the Particle App yet.
Device Inspector
Device Inspector adds a whole new set of functionality to the Particle App and works with all Particle devices. Best of all, it works with devices running custom firmware applications, which means you can make use of the Particle App as a prototyping tool for more advanced projects even after you’ve progressed beyond the stock “Tinker” firmware.
Device Inspector has three primary visual panes: Info, Data, and Events. Each of these three views provide you with different information about the status of your Photon or Electron.
Info View
The Info view provides you with all the information you need about your Particle devices:
- Device ID. Your device ID is the unique hardware identifier for your Particle device. The new Particle App makes it easy to find and copy your device’s ID to your phone’s clipboard in case you need to send or paste it somewhere else.
- Last Heard The last time we’ve seen your device connected to the Particle Cloud.
- IP Address Your device’s IP address. Useful for identification on a crowded Wi-Fi network.
- ICCID (Electron only) The unique identifier for your Particle SIM Card.
- IMEI (Electron only) The IMEI for your Electron’s GSM radio.
- Data Usage (Electron only) We’ve put your Electron’s data consumption right in the mobile app to make it easier to keep an eye on.
Data View
The Data view provides you with a list of the exposed Particle.function’s and Particle.variable’s on your device. By clicking on the dropdown arrow next to each Particle.function, you’re presented with an text box to send function arguments to your Photon or Electron. Clicking on each Particle.variable reads and updates the value of the corresponding function on your device and displays it in real time in the application.
The Data view provides a beautiful and easy-to-use interface for interacting and controlling your Photons and Electrons without needing to build an entire web or mobile interface from scratch. It’s also great for remote debugging and diagnostics to ensure that your Particle projects and products are working as expected.
This was one of our most highly requested mobile features, and we’re really happy to bring it to the Particle App in v2.0.
Events View
The Events view displays the list of Particle.publish events from all the devices registered to your Particle account. Each event includes the name of the device it was published from, the value of the data that was published, and a timestamp of the event.
You can filter the event stream by any of the data fields (device name, data type, or timestamp), and can pause or clear the event stream at any time to take a closer look at a particular event. Like the Info view, we’ve also made it easy to copy event data to your clipboard so it can be shared or copied to another application or interface.
The Events view makes it easy to administer and monitor an entire fleet of connected sensors or actuators in real time. Want to check in on the ambient temperature in each of the 6 rooms of your home from work? The Events view is the place to be.
Other Features and Improvements
We’ve made a bunch of other improvements in v2.0 of the Particle App which aren’t mentioned in this post, but are listed below (because they’re awesome!):
- Overhauled UI. The entire user interface has been updated with a clean UI and color palette that emphasizes ease of use.
- Auto-updating device lists. Your Particle device lists now automatically update if you claim or remove a Particle device from your account.
- Signal a device. You can “signal” a device from any view in the Device Inspector to make it’s LED shout rainbows for 10 seconds. This feature is great for identifying a particular device among a larger group of Photons and Electrons.
- Improved reliability. We’ve squashed a lot of annoying bugs that interrupted and complicated device setup. The setup experience is now smoother and easier than ever before.
The Particle App v2.0 is a free update for all iOS devices, and is available now in the App Store. Particle App v2.0 will be coming to Android and Windows shortly–stay tuned!
