MM-Remote Android App

Klettner

Hello everyone,

I have created an android app to remote controle MagicMirrors.
With the app you can:

reboot/shutdown your mirror
toggle the monitor on/off
change the brightness
change the pages of the MMM-Pages module
play, pause and skip the displayed image of MMM-Background-Slideshow
send alerts to the mirror
you can also add custom commands

As this is the first app I have created I would like to get some feedback.
If you have trouble to set up the app let me know. If you discover bugs or have feature requests, please write an issue on github.

You can find the latest release and a detaild describtion of the MM-Remote app in my github repository.

Cr4z33

@Klettner said in MM-Remote Android App:

toggle the monitor on/off

Did you add CEC compatibility with TVs too? :)

If yes I am gonna give it a try.

Klettner

To be honest, I don’t know what CEC is, but I can explain you how turning the monitor on/off is implemented and how you can test if it will work for you.
If you press a button to send a command to the mirror, the app sends a REST requests to MMM-Remote-Controle, which handles the execution.

I looked up for you how they have implemented tuning the monitor on/off there.
To turn the monitor off they use the shell command:

tvservice -o

To turn on the monitor they use:

tvservice --preferred && sudo chvt 6 && sudo chvt 7

You can test these commands in the terminal of your Raspberry pi. If it works there, this should work with the app as well.
It is also possible to overwrite these shell commands with you own ones, if you are interested in this, have a look at the custom commands section in the MMM-Remote-Control github repository

thgmirror

Hi @Klettner,
I like your App very much!

It also runs if I enter the hostname instead of the IP-address. This helps me a lot because I don’t use a static IP.

Btw. I took the first apk in the list and it works on my Huawei P8Lite (Android 6.0.1).

Thank you for the App

Thomas

Cr4z33

@Klettner I asked because I’ve got a TV and those commands do not apply to turn on and off the screen. 😉

Can you please add also support to package cec-utils (https://packages.debian.org/buster/cec-utils)?

Klettner

@thgmirror thanks for your feedback, I’am pleased to hear that :slightly_smiling_face:

sdetweil

@Klettner you should make the command strings options so people don’t have to edit your code.
set the default as it is now.

my tvs don’t turn off , so I have hide/show for all modules

Klettner

@Cr4z33 I think I found a solution that might work for your.

download the cec-utils package to your raspberry pi (you have probably already done that).
For Ubuntu or Debian use:

sudo apt install cec-utils

scan for available devices to get the device number/address of your TV

echo 'scan' | cec-client -s -d 1

Now you should be able to power on the TV via the Raspi command terminal (replace Device# with the number or address form step 2):

echo 'on Device#' | cec-client -s -d 1

and off

echo 'standby Device#' | cec-client -s -d 1

If these commands work, overwrite the commands of MMM-Remote-Control.
To do this, open you config.js file and add the customCommand section to the module MMM-Remote-Contorl:

I’m wasn’t able to test the commands as my pi is currently not connected to a CEC-device. Let me know if this works for you.

sdetweil

@Klettner never mind, you are using remotecontrol on the pi side…

Cr4z33

@Klettner oh it’s easy then to fix it. :)

Thanks for the solution.

Klettner

@sdetweil yes exactly, all the default commands can be changed in the config.js file. Therefore you need to edit the customCommands section of MMM-Remote-Control. So if your TV does not turn off with the default command and you know one that works for you, you can change it there.

Klettner

New version of the MM-Remote android app is now available (v1.0.3).

New functionalities:

Start/Stop/Pause a timer on the mirror
Start /Stop/Pause a stop-watch on the mirror
Hide and reorder the default commands of the Home-tab
Simplified set-up of the app

A Former User

My alpha user: Yeah good, i can control my MM with my phone !
My developer user : Yes… But well done… Main code of remote control have open the port mirror to everyone ! without user and pass… so every one can see your mirror !
99% of user don’t change port (lazy to read ReadMe) so th default port is 8080 ! yeah
My security point of view…: try to recode MMM-Remote-control with more security…

Sorry, it’s not for blame for program, but it’s the reality ;)

sdetweil

@Bugsounet well you would have to be on their network, so not likely exposure for most users

A Former User

@sdetweil said in MM-Remote Android App:

well you would have to be on their network, so not likely exposure for most users

sam, look any firewall scan by external source hacking … 80 8080 25 etc…

sdetweil

@Bugsounet yeh, most routers come with all ports closed. all mine in the last 10 years.

I only open ports when I need to

A Former User

I agree sam but you know most user (like me) … MM listen 8080 on internet expose …
if ip found … it’s the open for Remote control :)
browser command or androidapp -> no user /pass required

what 's why i warn :)

videogame95

I have not setup your app yet , every time I add the remote file to my config in stop what am I doing wrong

{
module: ‘MMM-Remote-Control’
// uncomment the following line to show the URL of the remote control on the mirror
// , position: ‘bottom_left’
// you can hide this module afterwards from the remote control itself
config: {
customCommand: {}, // Optional, See “Using Custom Commands” below
customMenu: “custom_menu.json”, // Optional, See “Custom Menu Items” below
showModuleApiMenu: true, // Optional, Enable the Module Controls menu
apiKey: “”, // Optional, See API/README.md for details
}
},

I set this up on my old mirror and it worked please change the code so it will work.
or am I just pasting it in wrong?

sdetweil

@videogame95 said in MM-Remote Android App:

module: ‘MMM-Remote-Control’
// uncomment the following line to show the URL of the remote control on the mirror
// , position: ‘bottom_left’
// you can hide this module afterwards from the remote control itself
config: {

rules…

the thing to the left of : does NOT need to be quoted

if the next line starts with a word (config, foo, address), then THIS line needs a trailing , at the end ( comments // on a line mean the , has to be IN FRONT of the //

the thing AFTER the : if a number or true, does NOT need to be quoted
otherwise if it is a word, or contains letters, it MUST be quoted ‘fred’, ‘0912drb’ single or double doesn’t matter as long as they are the same

so, given that, you should be able to fix this module definition…

Klettner

@videogame95 in addition to the explanations of @sdetweil you can also start your MagicMirror in the console to get hints at problems in your config.js.

First to go to the MagicMirror folder type cd ~/MagicMirror in your terminal.
Then npm start to start the mirror.

Now you should see some log messages in the terminal. If there is an error in your config.js there should also be an error message in between the logs. This message will tell you, around which line in the config.js the error occurs.
Something like:

WARNING! Could not validate config file. Starting with default configuration. Please correct syntax errors at or above this line: /home/pi/MagicMirror/config/config.js:361

In the config you posted, you are missing for example a , after ‘MMM-Remote-Control’