Mobile iOS - Internet Disconnect Modal UX

[jimbones]

Hey C4 mobile devs, I wanted to point out a UX pain point that I come across quite frequently.

Device and App Details:

Device: iPad Mini 5th Gen
iOS: iOS 15.5
C4 iOS: 322.19.0
C4 Director: 3.2.4.615802

Issue Description:

When our iPads loose their internet connection (often due to network changes, etc.) the C4 app displays a disconnect modal that tells the user that there is no data connection. When the iPad regains its internet connection the user has to dismiss the modal. Then the app auto-navigates away from the room it was on to the settings screen. The user has to tap the home, then the connect button, then tap the home button to return back to the room they were in. All in that’s 4 taps to reconnect to the controller after the internet is restored. We have 5 iPads mounted on the walls in our home, and this has to be repeated on every iPad.

This is also a real pain point at our vacation home as we can’t reconnect the iPads since we’re not there physically. Whenever we have guests, contractors, housekeepers, or anyone else in the house they are unable to use the iPads as they require someone to manually reconnect them. We often have to walk them through it via video chat before they can use them.

Ideal Experience:

When the iPad looses their connection display a dismissible toast message (instead of a modal) grey out the interface so the interface works to navigate around, but you can’t action on any buttons, favourites, etc (actions are inactive). When the iPad reconnects, then auto-reconnect to the controller and display a dismissible toast message, and make the actions active again.

Additional Notes:

This would be a really smooth experience and would prevent me from constantly having to walk around my house, drive to our vacation home, or have awkward video chats whenever we do firmware upgrades, change settings, or we loose power, or anything like that.

Also, IMO the toast messages would be a preferred UX for a lot of the connection and sync modals that are currently used. Combine that with the use of device/interface/action states (instead of not showing a home’s UI at all) and you could really improve the “perceived” speed of the app, actions, and connections.

[msgreenf]

@Darin, C4 PM UI