Arduino Continues Its IoT Cloud Overhaul with a New Mobile App — Supporting Push Notifications
Revamped Arduino IoT Cloud Remote app, for Apple's iOS and Google's Android, adds a dark mode theme and improved UI, too.
The Arduino team has announced the latest feature of its Arduino Cloud overhaul, launching a new Arduino IoT Cloud Remote app for smartphones and tablets — offering the ability to receive custom push notifications for users on the paid Maker plan or above.
Arduino announced a major refresh for the Arduino Cloud in mid-November, launching a new user interface and revamped sketchbook — and said at the time that it was "just the beginning," with more news to follow. That news is now here, in the form of an equivalent revamp for the smartphone side of the platform: the Arduino IoT Cloud Remote app.
"These new features are all about making your time with your IoT projects smoother, more fun, and right at your fingertips," the Arduino team says of the new version of its smartphone software, which includes a dark theme for the first time, an easier to access navigation bar across the bottom of the screen, clearer dashboard widgets, and a clear devices list with status reports for each linked microcontroller.
The biggest new feature, though, is support for custom push notifications — allowing Arduino Cloud-connected devices and services to send real-time alerts to smartphones, even when the app isn't open and without reliance on a third-party service. "A few months ago, we introduced Triggers and Notifications, a feature that allows you to configure conditions in the Arduino Cloud that trigger email notifications," the Arduino team explains.
"Now, with the new IoT Remote app version, you can customize and receive alerts directly on your mobile device. Because we know how life can sometimes get crazy and convenient it is to get notified directly on your phone."
Available only to paying subscribers on the Maker plan, priced at $5.99 monthly, or above, the feature allows triggers to fire off a smartphone notification either in place of or as well as an email alert. Said triggers can be fired based on changes in boolean or string data types — sending when a boolean is "true" or when a string match is found. Historical push notifications are made available in a new "activity monitor" tab, the Arduino team has confirmed.
More information on the app's new functionality is available on the Arduino documentation site; the new Arduino IoT Cloud Remote app is now available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.