Getting to know AlertMe for iPhone

Earlier this week we launched AlertMe for iPhone,
incorporating home monitoring and energy monitoring services. This blog post is
a quick introduction to the app.

The app can be downloaded through iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/alertme/id378481750

Having downloaded the app, first you need to log in, using
your usual AlertMe credentials:

The app, like the web user interface, is based on a set of
widgets. The widgets you see will depend on which AlertMe kit and devices you
have. Everyone can see Temperature and System and AlertMe Energy subscribers
will also see:

• Power Now

• Swingometer
• Cost Prediction

and AlertMe Security customer will also find:

• Alarm

• Presence

Plus if you have any AlertMe SmartPlugs in your home you’ll
also see an Appliances widget to allow you to manage and monitor these
appliances remotely.

You can change which widgets are shown in the main menu bar
by clicking on “More” and then selecting the “Edit” button. This allows you to
drag widgets onto the menu bar, and to move them around within the bar. For
example, this would let you choose to have the Intruder Alarm as the main
widget.

The Power Now widget shows how much power your home is
consuming now, and how much energy it has consumed so far today. This makes it
easier than ever to turn things on and off and see what impact they have on
your home’s energy consumption. If you prefer, you can choose to view the
energy consumptio n in terms of cost. To do that, come out of the app and go to
the AlertMe section in the main Settings of your iPhone.

Within that, you can turn on Cost Mode, which will mean that
energy will be shown in terms of cost instead of in kWh.

The appliances widget shows how much energy your SmartPlugs
have been measuring and therefore how much each appliance is costing you to run.

It also shows whether each SmartPlug is on or off, and lets
you turn things on and off remotely.

One nice feature of this widget is that you can select an
icon to show for each SmartPlug by clicking on the SmartPlug icon. This brings
up a standard iPhone selector with a number of built-in icons to choose from:

The temperature widget speaks for itself, showing the
temperature inside your home as well as the temperature and weather now in your
area (based on your postcode).

Cost Prediction shows the cost you’ve incurred so far on
energy as well as an estimate of the amount you’re likely to spend on energy in
the current month and day. This helps you keep track of your spend on
electricity and see whether you’re spending more or less than you expect.

 The alarm and
presence widgets allow you to see who is at home and what state your Intruder
Alarm is in. The alarm widget also lets you set the state of the alarm, and
reset it when it’s gone off.

Finally, the system widget gives you a quick view of the
health of your system, alerting you to any devices whose batteries need to be
changed or which have lost contact with the hub.

Our aim is to make energy data as visible as possible, and
to provide our customers as many ways as we can to access the system. The
iPhone is a great platform to start with. We’ll be very interested to hear what
uses you’ve found for the iPhone app, and any thoughts you have on what other
features it should have, and what other platforms we should be considering for
future apps.