Genie Community Forum

New User, Unable to scan QR to Link Android

User Support
#1

I am running HASS, and connected it just fine to my Almond account, and I can see all of my devices exported to Almond.

Now, I am trying to connect up my mobile phone; I scan the QR code from the website while logged in, and it launched the Almond app - which just sits there and eventually hangs with a blank screen.

I have force closed, cleared data + cache, but the app is still failing to allow me to sign in / etc, or do anything at all, effectively worthless to me in this state.

As a matter of fact, as I sit here and type this, trying to launch Almond just instantly Force Closes on me.

#2

Hi @zenko18, welcome to the community.

I’m sorry to hear that the Almond app for Android is not working for you.

Does it work if you run the app, without linking to your cloud account?
Would you be able to extract the debugging logs (using “logcat” from the Android development tools), so we can investigate further?

Thank you!

#3

It does work without connecting it up; however, without doing so doesn’t really allow me to do much. So I would presume basic functionality; but ultimately I am trying to connect it up to my Home Assistant server so they can communicate directly, while using the Almond app to configure things to do with my mobile.

Unless this isn’t how it works?

#4

I’m not sure exactly how you’d like your setup, but the Android app and the web account are two separate entities.
The Android app is self-contained and will communicate directly with Home Assistant, once configured. Home Assistant must be reachable from the same network the phone is in.
Conversely, if you use the web setup, Home Assistant must be reachable from the public internet (typically, through the NabuCasa cloud).

Cloud sync is probably necessary to configure Home Assistant, because there is no UI at the moment to configure the Home Assistant hostname (this is a long-standing limitation).
If the Android app works on its own, you should try setting up the cloud sync from the Settings page of the app.
Cloud sync only affects the configuration of your Almond skills. It does not affect runtime functionality. So if you get it working once, and you have Home Assistant in your Android version of Almond, you should be good to go.

#5

Hi Giovanni,
I have just responded to your reply to my issue about getting Almond to access my Dropbox.

I’ve encountered exactly what Zenko18 has described above.

Some blunt feedback about your reply above to Zenko18 if I may be so bold…

Not all of us are academics in the IT / AI space, but like the idea of using tools such as Almond.

I’m a long time user of Ben Randall’s Utter! and subsequently Siay. Love the idea of using voice control on my Android phone.

But I’m an end user. Your response to Zenko18 is “in the too hard basket for me”.

So unless you guys look hard at simplifying the relationships between the Android App, the Almond server, etc, keen end users like me are going to simply fade out after a week or so of confusion and frustration.

I’m keen to test and use Almond particularly as an Android App, but it’s looking like something way beyond the patience and enthusiasm of this geek.

Hoping this is constructive feedback because I’m willing to persevere if you guys can look at how your integrations are explained, and at giving clearer instructions to end users.

Thanks!
Gordon.

#6

Hi Gordon,

First of all, allow me to apologize for the frustration you’re likely experiencing at the moment.
As you can imagine, Almond is a pretty large project, with a lot of functionality, and the core team is composed only of a small number of PhD students. We are relying on the open source community as much as we can to build Almond - without you all, it would just not be possible.
When I provide technical feedback in this forum, I am neither asking nor expecting anyone to help. I am just suggesting how the community can help, for those who have the skills and the interest to do so. I understand the software should be better, but I hope you’ll also understand we’re trying our best already.

Specifically on the issue of simplifying the relationship between Android Almond and the other variants of Almond, I am afraid due to lack of resources and lack of community interest the Android app has essentially been discontinued. Building an Android voice assistant is a lot of work, and we decided to focus on a providing a high quality experience on the smart speaker instead.

A similar story is with many skills: we do not have the resources to debug them and keep them up to date, especially as the APIs of various third-parties change, so starting with Almond 1.99 we have radically reduced the number of available skills, in favor of maintaining a high-quality, curated set. You can learn about our plan for the top ten skills in the wiki and in the previous release announcements in this forum. Other skills (including, in fact, Dropbox) will be up to the community. If you are interested in a certain skill, I would encourage you to help us find motivated contributors who can help us.

Hope this will not be too disappointing, and you will still consider using Almond in the future!

#7

Thanks Giovanni, for your detailed reply, I appreciate your effort in responding.

Have you thought of reaching out to the XDA community? I wonder if there are followers of Saiy / Utter! for example who might be keen to take an open source project further for Android?

I can post there if you approve of me doing so, or you can explore here…

My interest is primarily in finding and using a solid voice assistant app (Android).

#8

I don’t have contacts in the XDA community, and to be completely honestly I did not know of Saiy until you mentioned it a couple days ago. So if you can reach out to that community and maybe let them know of Almond, that would be great! But please note the state of project, I don’t want to disappoint anyone…

#9

Thanks Giovanni, I’ve posted into that XDA forum. I note also that another follower has a project underway: