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CEDIA 2020


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Very interesting to note that the changes in the iOS app have disappeared and now almost everything works as normal.  This is without an app update and without any OS update.  I can only assume that there is a software switch in the background... Quite cool but I wonder when this feature will be released!  Sadly while the switch back (however it was accomplished) has fixed the Extras (Comfort) history page and the Locks and Sensors history page, it has not fixed the alarm system history page (which is back but blank on my system.

The “History” tab is back and the new clock like icon on the top right which takes one to a new screen that has a date picker (posted earlier in this thread) and looks like it should allow other filters, has gone!

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4 minutes ago, South Africa C4 user said:

Very interesting to note that the changes in the iOS app have disappeared and now almost everything works as normal.  This is without an app update and without any OS update.

Congratulations, you've discovered Feature Flags...

:)

Feature flags are a mechanism that allows Control4 to release new features that *should* only appear for users in particular categories (development / beta / production), and *should* not be enabled unless they're specifically enabled for that release category.

On the Neeo remote, for example, we use feature flags during a feature development, and then 'turn it on' once it's passed all tests, etc.  Eventually, we update the code to remove the requirement for the feature flag.

Feature flags have a *lot* of advantages, in terms of being able to make last-minute decisions as to whether to include or not include a feature, because the feature is in the build much sooner than it is released.  If we find last-minute issues with a feature, we don't have to make a new build to 'not release' that feature.

Feature Flags are integral to Control4's updated release cadence.  For example, the Neeo remote does a release nearly every 2 weeks.  If every feature had to be inserted / removed from the build any time it's status changed, we couldn't do that.

Unfortunately, you have discovered the downside... If someone fumbles the feature flag, users in production may see the feature / part of the feature, and it may or may not work...  It looks like someone made a mistake and likely had a feature flag turned on for production that should not have been, and the feature didn't work due to reliance on an update elsewhere.

RyanE

 

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14 minutes ago, RyanE said:

Congratulations, you've discovered Feature Flags...

:)

Feature flags are a mechanism that allows Control4 to release new features that *should* only appear for users in particular categories (development / beta / production), and *should* not be enabled unless they're specifically enabled for that release category.

On the Neeo remote, for example, we use feature flags during a feature development, and then 'turn it on' once it's passed all tests, etc.  Eventually, we update the code to remove the requirement for the feature flag.

Feature flags have a *lot* of advantages, in terms of being able to make last-minute decisions as to whether to include or not include a feature, because the feature is in the build much sooner than it is released.  If we find last-minute issues with a feature, we don't have to make a new build to 'not release' that feature.

Feature Flags are integral to Control4's updated release cadence.  For example, the Neeo remote does a release nearly every 2 weeks.  If every feature had to be inserted / removed from the build any time it's status changed, we couldn't do that.

Unfortunately, you have discovered the downside... If someone fumbles the feature flag, users in production may see the feature / part of the feature, and it may or may not work...  It looks like someone made a mistake and likely had a feature flag turned on for production that should not have been, and the feature didn't work due to reliance on an update elsewhere.

RyanE

 

Maybe it was a deliberate fumble just to whet our appetite for what is to come 😳

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