Navigator

Browsers and especially Chromium based ones offers a lot of information about the device it's running on in various APIs. They are great if you want to tailor the experience for your users.

Some of such APIs are in Navigator interface, accessible as read-only object from window.navigator property.

navigator.connection: .effectiveType (how fast), .saveData (data saver preference)

navigator.deviceMemory: reducing memory consumption

navigator.hardwareConcurrency: limit CPU intensive logic and effects

Those APIs also could be abused. There's a rumor one Booking site used now deprecated Battery Status API to crank up prices when your Android phone was running low on juice and therefore you probably didn't have much time to think and compare.

Tecomat Foxtrot

I'm planing a smart home and in Czechia we are quite spoiled for choice: Control4, Domotron, Fibaro, Haidy, iNELS, Jablotron, Loxone and more, but I like Tecomat Foxtrot 2 from Czech company Teco the most and I'm not alone – some of those companies I mentioned use Foxtrots as well.

The central module is basically an industrial PLC, that Teco has been manufacturing for almost three decades. It uses TCL2 and CIB bus lines to connect up to 32 modules per controller. It also supports other protocols, like Modbus, TCP/IP, UPD/IP or BACnet. Teco claims Foxtrot aims to be as compatible as possible, which is exactly the approach I was looking for.

The central module in its second generation is equipped with two RJ45 for two independent networks, USB host and USB client ports, SD card slot (when the internal memory is not enough), and a slot for 4G/LTE modem.

For programming the PLC there is “Mosaic” IDE, which supports different programming styles, like graphical “CFC” (interconnected blocks) or Pascal-like “ST”. Mosaic contains a lot of additional features, like designer for GUIs (which run on embedded web server) for your control panels and browsers.

Tecomat Foxtrot CP-2000 – central module for (not only) smart homes

Of course, all of this come at a price... of price :-) I consider the central module itself quite reasonably priced for about €600/$700, but afterwards every stupid CIB input device (= mostly buttons and sensors) is around €70/$80 per piece.

Another problem is I want to be able to adjust the program, so adding a new device

Anyway, it should be no problem to integrate it with Qik and even add some program support for Foxtrot into it.