Unofficial Android app "ANOVA Remote" is available on Google Play Store!

Here is the description:

This is quick and dirty version of a Bluetooth remote app to control Anova Precision Cooker.

It is NOT an official app from Anova!

It controls temperatures and timers, starts and stops the cooker, sets multi-step program and even changes color of the wheel. It also provides “hacker interface” to send any command to the device and read the response.

It doesn’t calculate correct times and temperatures for different foods. It doesn’t allow to control the device from the Web. It doesn’t have beautiful design. All of these will be in another app we are actively working on.

This app would be completely unnecessary, if Anova had their official app ready. You can wait for the official app, or for comprehensive Sous Vide app we are working on. Or you can start playing with this one. Your choice!

Some code is derived from software licensed under Apache 2.0 and MIT licenses.

If you are interested, go to https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.palagraph.anovaremote to pick it up.

Works great so far! I had no idea the LED in the color wheel could be changed. Thanks!

Bought :slight_smile: Will be testing it later

Would be interesting to use the LED to indicate such things as: temp reached, heating, turned off, etc…

@tjal I guess Anova had such things in mind when offered the LED interface. I am planning to use it in my eventual comprehensive Sous Vide app.

I posted in the other “Android app” thread before seeing this one, I’ll quote my posts from there:

The app looks awesome! Is there a specific list of features that you plan on building into your future "comprehensive Sous Vide app" that is absent from this one? Also, do you know the target price of this next app, and how long we might have to wait before it's able to be purchased? I'm really considering purchasing the current "Anova Remote" app for the ability to set multi-step programs, but would wait for the next one if it were coming out reasonably soon for a good price, and had features beyond this current app that appealed to me.

I’d also like to suggest a feature that could possibly be built into this app and future ones. As the scroll wheel can change colors (I never new! AWESOME) it would be interesting to tie this ability to “report” other functions, like fading from blue to red to reflect the changing water temperature as it approaches the target temp, or cycling through multiple colors to signify how far along the programmed cycle has progressed.

In any case, thanks for your efforts into coding for the Precision Cooker, I’m excited to use your apps.

@vtemkin I just visited the Google Play store page for your app on my phone, running Android ver. 4.1.1, and noticed the two aren't compatible. Do you plan on supporting a wider range of devices?

@dtelf:

  1. Anova uses Bluetooth Low Energy in their device. The minimal Android version to support it natively is Android 4.3. If your phone runs 4.1.1 most likely it does’t even have necessary hardware. You can check an official list of supported HW.

So if your device is not listed at Play Store as compatible for my App - the chances are it won’t be compatible for any controlling app ever.

  1. The feature list of my upcoming app depends on many factors among which the top are: what would Anova and other developers have and the rate of acceptance of my current app. As I believe that market of just Anova users is narrow enough (and or they might not even have a phone to control it, like in your case) it would be either:

a. expensive enough and have extensive features specific to controlling the device - like being able to leave the tablet in the kitchen and control the Anova from the Web;

b: open for any Sous Vide cooking appliance and thus be oriented to time calculations for different conditions - for example, I do have Java solution for Baldwin’s one dimensional heat equation and I have look-up tables from multiple Sous Vide cook books;

or c: all of the above and more.

Of course, I would most likely incrementally add some of the features to this Anova Remote app (and, possibly, increase the price - so you can consider the current price to be the introductory one). You can participate in the survey I posted on KickStarter long before I had the Anova developer’s unit in my hands to check what is possible and influence my development. (I haven’t updated the survey - so the list of possible features there is not exactly the same as in my design and code drafts right now.)

I wouldn’t commit to any specific dates though :wink:

@vtemkin

Thank you for your reply. My phone is an HTC EVO 4G LTE, and on both the product’s page and it’s wikipedia page it states that the phone supports Bluetooth 4.0, which includes the Low Energy function, correct? Also, on the official list of supported hardware you linked to above, it lists the HTC One range of phones as compatible, which mine is a variant of. Here are the links for reference:

http://www.htc.com/us/smartphones/htc-evo-4g-lte/

Also, what are your thoughts about programming the LED scroll wheel color to give feedback about the various things that could be happening with the Precision Cooker? Thanks again for your reply and consideration to ideas. If my phone just won’t hack it, I hay have to see about “borrowing” my daughters tablet and installing the app on it, as I know it’s compatible hehe.

It looks like there is already a custom Lollipop (Android 5.0) ROM for your phone (just Google it) - and there is a possibility that there might be an official upgrade eventually. In that case your phone might become compatible. (Google does pretty good work matching devices to app requirements.)

Of course, I will play with wheel colors in my app ,at least because it’s pretty, and there is nothing else on device UI that can be controlled from the program: I can’t change the message (firmware does have some messages) and can’t control sounds (we did request the last one, but it doesn’t seem to be implemented - though we don’t know for sure: Anova didn’t publish SDK or official protocols yet).

@vtemkin‌ looking forward to your full fledge app! Happy to pay for it as I haven’t heard of any development from Anova for an their Android version.

@vtemkin‌ Looks pretty sweet. I’m hoping to get a chance to try the app later this week.

I created a G+ community for users (or future users). The Beta versions (if any) will be available for members (this is a standard Google way).

If you purchase this beta app for $1.99, will the full featured app require an additional purchase, or will it be a free upgrade?

Google doesn’t allow charge for an upgrade to an existing app. If/when the full featured app will split off the current one I will do my best to appreciate my beta users.

It sounds like this bare-bones app won’t be turning into the full feature one in the future, but you’ll be releasing a separate app. I guess if I really needed to calibrate, I’d buy your app now, but it seems like more good will could be made by releasing this bare-bones one for free, and then charging a premium for the full featured app.

This “bare-bones” app wouldn’t be released at all if Anova had their app ready. If Anova provided SDK to developers as promised - by this time I would have comprehensive app. As it is now - you have choice to get this one, wait for Anova’s free one, or wait for other apps from me and/or other developers.

I understand your reasoning for releasing a bare bones app now. I even understand charging for it… it just seems to me like releasing it for free (maybe to help people calibrate their cookers?) would generate some good will toward your app, and then when you release your final app, more people would be interested. I for one am not interested in paying $1.99 for your bare-bones app, and then paying AGAIN for a final app from you. By then, I’m sure there will be other free apps, as well as the official one.

Don’t get me wrong, you have the right to release it as a paid app, and I’m sure people will buy it, but… it seems like you could help the community with a free app, and then have a huge install base to deliver a message about your full-featured paid app. But, that’s just my opinion I guess. :slight_smile: App looks good BTW. Luckily my cooker is reporting a correct temp, or else I’m sure I’d be reluctantly dropping the $1.99 on it.

@plarpco this guy does not work for Anova. He made the app himself to help those that want an app and cant get one from anova yet.

@plarpco this guy does not work for Anova. He made the app himself to help those that want an app and cant get one from anova yet.

Yeah, I know that. I figured that my understanding of who he is was clear in my post when I mentioned that in the future an “official one” will be released.

@plarpco, @mbaileybend‌ I am not sure that’s appropriate to explain my business decisions here, but I don’t mind. “Huge install base” for a free app you are talking about is at best case ~1000 installs, isn’t it? (I’d say 10% of all the devices ordered, when there is an official app from manufacturer with the same functions, would be pretty optimistic estimate.)

If you believe that’s software development is cheap - you are wrong. I had to buy a Mac just to be able to work with iOS demo app which Anova provided in lieu of promised SDK. I spend days coding (thanks to @npankey, I didn’t have to do most of the reverse engineering, though I did contribute a small bit to his excellent work). Yet you believe that it’s too much to pay two dollars for an app, when you already spent ~$150 for device, and are planning to spend $50 every time you cook a couple of nice steaks.

I respect this, I am not hyping up my simple app, it’s right there in the description. No need to buy it.

I greatly appreciate the effort of people who filled my survey. I don’t remember asking for business advice in this forum, but thanks anyway. I hear you.