Author Topic: WeatherLink Live Android app update parameters are now ALL totally LIVE! (Read 2181 times)

TraderGary · « **on:** January 19, 2021, 03:43:32 PM »

Here's my review in the Google Play Store...

Version 2.1.100 - Wind, Rain, Temperature, Humidity, Pressure, Solar and UV updates are ALL totally LIVE with this update and no longer require constantly reloading the app to see changes. Thus I now award 5 stars. I'm using this latest Android app to get mobile reports from my Davis 6163 Vantage Pro2 Plus and Davis WeatherLink Live 6100. If you're using this app, you can see my data at Station Name "Lake Carlton". I'm near Loganville, Georgia, USA.

Previously the only parameters that worked LIVE were Wind and Rain. With the Jan 4 update, ALL parameters are updating LIVE just the way they should. I can put my Pixel 3XL on the Pixel Stand beside my PC with the Android WeatherLink app running while I'm working on PC things and weather updates occur automatically in real-time! I can set my Microsoft Edge browser tabs on my PC to "Meteobridge Pro Live Data", "Davis Bulletin", and "Weather Underground", switch between them, and everything is all now updating in lock-step. The Davis software boys finally got it right!

darmbrust · « **Reply #1 on:** January 20, 2021, 07:06:21 PM »

Are you sure that Temp, Humidity and Solar are now "Live" - aka, updating every 2.5 seconds? Or are they updating at some longer interval?

Unless they have started doing something other than using data from the UDP API, you would not get temp, for example, every 2.5 seconds.

If they are polling the WLL they could get more, but their docs recommend doing that at most, once every 10 seconds.

Just wondering if Davis is doing something new, that they haven't documented... or if they are just claiming "Live" in the app for things that aren't really coming every 2.5 seconds...

CW2274 · « **Reply #2 on:** January 20, 2021, 07:54:29 PM »

No matter how fast you "see" your data, it will never be any more revealing than what the ISS sends.

Update Interval by Sensor:

Barometric Pressure 1 min.

Outside Temperature 10 sec.

Dew Point 10 sec.

Outside Humidity 50 sec.

Heat Index 10 sec.

Wind Chill 10 sec.

Rainfall Amount 20 sec.

Rain Storm Amount 20 sec.

Rain Rate 20 sec.

Wind Speed 2.5 sec.

Wind Direction 2.5 sec.

Direction of High Speed 2.5 sec

TraderGary · « **Reply #3 on:** January 20, 2021, 08:35:52 PM »

Bingo!
And exactly!

The problem with the Android WeatherLink app has been that the ONLY two parameters that were updating were Wind and Rain. None of the other parameters were EVER being updated unless you actually reloaded the app!

Now all the other parameters are being updated, and of course they are being updated only within the timeframes that CS2274 has listed as they are delivered by the ISS.

Now I can open the Android app on my phone while it is sitting on my Pixel charging stand and it acts like the VP2 Console does. It updates like it should!

That's what I meant by LIVE.

darmbrust · « **Reply #4 on:** January 20, 2021, 09:09:27 PM »

Thats odd, I've never seen the bug you are describing on mine. But I know the latest version of the app they pushed out has crappier performance on my phone... laggy, slow to scroll. Probably because of the extra gui stuff they are doing with the graphs now.

But unless Davis has added something that they haven't documented for us, the app had 3 options for getting data.

1) From the Davis Cloud
2) From the WLL via a GET request using TCP.
3) From the WLL via the UDP 2.5 second broadcasts.

2 and 3 only would work on your local network - and 3 is problematic with some router / wifi configurations. I don't know if Davis ever does 2.
Previously, it would only display 'LIVE' on the screen, if it was receiving 3. But that is only a subset of sensors.

I suspect they usually just do 1 and 3. The lag / interval would be the combination of how quickly each sensor is broadcast to the WLL, how often the WLL uploads to the davis cloud, and whether or not the cloud has any lag in processing / caching when the data comes back out. I guess I'd need to watch a temp update across my various methods to see it, to try to figure out if they were doing 2 to fetch data when its available, or if they always just do 1.

TraderGary · « **Reply #5 on:** January 20, 2021, 10:37:47 PM »

Yes, I'm sure you are right. I've loaded and run your program. Yes, yours is flat fast! However is it not true that yours will only run locally. Davis had to write an Android app that would be able to run the fast 2.5 second wind and 10 second rain data from local input as well as slower cloud input if run when away from home. On my Pixel 3XL the Davis app doesn't feel sluggish but it also isn't video game fast either when scrolling. I never scroll the app but use the 3-dot menu and tap the icon where I want to go. I really do like how the Davis app is running on my Android Pixel 3XL and I'm quite happy with it.

darmbrust · « **Reply #6 on:** January 21, 2021, 12:00:59 AM »

I was just wondering out loud if Davis had introduced something other than the UDP 2.5 second data message to work around the reliability problems they had with the app.

johnd · « **Reply #7 on:** January 21, 2021, 03:45:53 AM »

Quote from: darmbrust on January 21, 2021, 12:00:59 AM

I was just wondering out loud if Davis had introduced something other than the UDP 2.5 second data message to work around the reliability problems they had with the app.

Very doubtful I would have thought - the existing UDP protocol seems to have worked pretty well for the iOS and various third party apps - it's just the Android app that has previously been problematic for some users. And if there was any new API announcement then it should make its way on to the relevant github page.

mcrossley · « **Reply #8 on:** January 21, 2021, 04:43:23 AM »

And my Android app still doesn't update wind data "live".

Note for John: The 1 minute updates from wl.com which had also stopped working in app, have now started again since I deleted that Airlink and recreated it. Very odd things happening.

TraderGary · « **Reply #9 on:** January 21, 2021, 06:05:42 AM »

Quote from: mcrossley on January 21, 2021, 04:43:23 AM

And my Android app still doesn't update wind data "live".

Note for John: The 1 minute updates from wl.com which had also stopped working in app, have now started again since I deleted that Airlink and recreated it. Very odd things happening.

The update Version 2.1.100, issued on Jan 4, 2021, was the first version that has worked reliably for me here in the USA. Can there be a different version for the UK? What version are you using? I didn't make this post until I was totally satisfied that the new Jan 4 version was verifiably working consistently without failure.

ConligWX · « **Reply #10 on:** January 21, 2021, 06:16:44 AM »

Quote from: mcrossley on January 21, 2021, 04:43:23 AM

And my Android app still doesn't update wind data "live".

Note for John: The 1 minute updates from wl.com which had also stopped working in app, have now started again since I deleted that Airlink and recreated it. Very odd things happening.

I noticed my iPhone is a minute behind realtime in updating. still working with 1 minute updates however.

mcrossley · « **Reply #11 on:** January 21, 2021, 07:12:36 AM »

Quote from: TraderGary on January 21, 2021, 06:05:42 AM

The update Version 2.1.100, issued on Jan 4, 2021, was the first version that has worked reliably for me here in the USA. Can there be a different version for the UK?

Same version.

TraderGary · « **Reply #12 on:** January 21, 2021, 08:03:57 AM »

Quote from: mcrossley on January 21, 2021, 07:12:36 AM

Quote from: TraderGary on January 21, 2021, 06:05:42 AM
The update Version 2.1.100, issued on Jan 4, 2021, was the first version that has worked reliably for me here in the USA. Can there be a different version for the UK?

Same version.

I looked at your weather page. You're using a WeatherLink Live 6100 with version 7/30/2020 just as I am. All I can think of that might be different is Android hardware and Android OS version.

I'm using a Google Pixel 3XL phone running Android Version 11 with Android Security Update - January 5, 2021.

mcrossley · « **Reply #13 on:** January 21, 2021, 08:33:22 AM »

Pixel 2 XL, Android 11, Dec update - the last one for the Pixel 2

It has worked off and on, but not for about 6 months or more

TraderGary · « **Reply #14 on:** January 21, 2021, 01:24:57 PM »

When I got the Jan 4 Android update I did do this on my Pixel phone before updating...

Settings > Apps & notifications > WeatherLink > Storage & cache > Clear storage > Clear cache

I cleared storage and cache just in case there was something that might carry over and mess up the new update.

I then deleted and reinstalled the WeatherLink app.

You might give that a try.

I can't think of anything else.

Liamdog4 · « **Reply #15 on:** January 21, 2021, 11:29:58 PM »

Pixel 4XL still not showing "live" at all. Tried everything. Android 11 with all updates. The "Last Updated" time does change every minute or so though. The Live Wind data is what I wish would work all the time instead of having to find my Console to see wind speeds.

I do like the new version of Weatherlink app though. Looks a lot more updated and shows more details with hourly overlays with hi/lows...

They fixed the "Hi/Lo & Totals" on for my Leaf/soil station for Temp 1 finally.... Told techs a year and half ago... and that wasn't only on my pixel.

TraderGary · « **Reply #16 on:** January 22, 2021, 01:35:59 AM »

Did you try clearing Storage and Cache as I described above?
I can't be sure that's what worked for my Pixel 3XL, but my Android app has now worked flawlessly since the Jan 4 update.

mcrossley · « **Reply #17 on:** January 22, 2021, 04:09:00 PM »

With no changes to anything, no reboot of phone, router, WLL it suddenly started giving live updates again this evening for the first time in months!

TraderGary · « **Reply #18 on:** January 22, 2021, 04:11:39 PM »

Quote from: mcrossley on January 22, 2021, 04:09:00 PM

With no changes to anything, no reboot of phone, router, WLL it suddenly started giving live updates again this evening for the first time in months!

Did you clear Storage and Cache on your phone?

mcrossley · « **Reply #19 on:** January 22, 2021, 04:22:17 PM »

Nope. I've been through that rigmarole a couple of times in the past, plus uninstalling/installing again.

TraderGary · « **Reply #20 on:** January 22, 2021, 04:30:45 PM »

I have no idea what's going on. I can only vouch for the fact that my Pixel 3XL Android WeatherLink App updated on Jan 4 to Version 2.1.100 has been rock solid since the update. I can bring up the app at any time and it just flat works the way it should! I waited for more than two weeks before making this post just to be sure it was working reliably.

galfert · « **Reply #21 on:** January 22, 2021, 05:10:06 PM »

Maybe a slow rollout? This happens often with new apps, despite shown version number. Feature control from the server end.

TraderGary · « **Reply #22 on:** January 22, 2021, 07:13:36 PM »

Quote from: galfert on January 22, 2021, 05:10:06 PM

Maybe a slow rollout? This happens often with new apps, despite shown version number. Feature control from the server end.

Thanks George, that could very well explain it. Both Microsoft and Google do updates in planned waves so that if there is any kind of problem it would be contained to a manageable segment of the population.

mcrossley · « **Reply #23 on:** January 24, 2021, 04:50:50 AM »

So, after a couple of days of working live every time I launched it. It has stopped working again.

Which made me think, what did I do on my phone just before it started working last time?

One thing was I launched the Synology "DS Audio" app which streams audio from my NAS server. I hardly ever use that app, and indeed it didn't work as it had the old IP address configured from my previous router.

So I tried that again, last night. Launched DS Audio, closed it, then launched the WeatherLink app. Whoa! It works live!

This morning no live updates again. Same again, launch DS Audio app, close it, start WL app, live updates working again.

I have no explanation as to what is happening, or why. But that sequence seems to work every time.

ocala · « **Reply #24 on:** January 24, 2021, 05:46:38 AM »

^^^^^^^^^^^
An Android developers nightmare.

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Author Topic: WeatherLink Live Android app update parameters are now ALL totally LIVE! (Read 2181 times)