Announcing Indigo 7.1 October 24, 2017

Indigo 7.1 is the first “feature release” since we announced Indigo 7 and Indigo Up-to-Date (UTD) Subscriptions. As we communicated in the UTD blog post, one of the primary benefits is that we could release new features more quickly because we no longer needed to wait for major monolithic updates which typically only happened every two or three years. In fact, this release took a bit longer than we’d hoped because of the amount of change required to support UTD Subscriptions. Still, less than a year from the release of 7.0 and we’ve delivered a bunch of new functionality and the fundamental underpinnings are in place to support UTD subscriptions. We've also had several smaller Indigo updates and released a much needed refresh for our iOS app, Indigo Touch.

The changes in 7.1 can be grouped into 4 categories: new device support, general improvements and bug fixes, developer changes, and a new licensing model.

In this release we’ve added support for several dozen new Z-Wave devices from major manufacturers including Aeotec, Duwi, Everspring, Fibaro, FortrezZ, Heiman, Horstman, and Yale. We’ve also added support for devices from smaller and newer companies in the Z-Wave industry such as Black Cat and Shenzhen Neo. The full list of new device support can be found in the Indigo 7.1 Release Notes.

Also new to 7.1 are several general features such as: a new public folder in the Indigo Web Server for unprotected content, UI improvements like expanded search terms in the device list, performance and caching improvements, and of course a few squashed bugs. This release also saw a couple of minor developer API improvements including new device properties to control white temperature UI for color LED bulbs.

One of the things that took a bit longer than we’d anticipated was the change in how the Indigo Server gets its registration information. In previous releases, users would receive a Registration Code which they would have to manually enter into Indigo whenever there was a major (Indigo 5, 6, 7, etc) release. With Indigo 7.1, users are simply prompted to log in to their Indigo Account from Indigo and that activates the license on your Indigo Server.

We made this change for a number of reasons and we’d like to take this opportunity to address some of them:

  • This new registration process streamlines the license distribution since we no longer have to generate and track registration codes. The advantage to customers is that once they’ve purchased Indigo, they will never have to manage multiple registration codes for each new feature release (see the next bullet point) - just install the new version and it will automatically be validated via your Indigo Account.

  • Given the new upgrade policy and Indigo Up-to-Date Subscriptions, a change in how Indigo is registered was required because we’ll be shipping new feature releases (7.1, 7.2, 8.0, etc.) much more frequently. If your subscription is up-to-date, then you’ll automatically have access to it. This new activation process makes the Up-to-Date Subscription work seamlessly.

  • We are investigating auto-updates for future releases which requires an automated registration process.

  • You will only have to log in to your Indigo Account once to activate Indigo. Once activated, the Indigo Server will continue to run without the need for an internet connection.

  • If you need to move your license to a different Mac, you will need to deactivate it on your old Mac first (select the Indigo 7->License Details… menu item to see licensing information and buttons to manage your subscription and activation). If that’s not possible (machine failure for instance) you can just contact us explaining the situation and we’ll take care of it for you.

  • This process will help clarify how Indigo has always been licensed: per server instance. There has been some confusion over the licensing terms in the past and this will now make it more clear during registration.

  • If you are a plugin developer, contact us about obtaining a development license.

This change will streamline server registration while allowing seamless Indigo Up-to-Date subscription management and integration. Additionally, it will be an important stepping stone towards future functionality.

Indigo 7.1 is the next step towards delivering new functionality faster. It's a great start and we are excited to have it completed. Note: all Indigo 7 licensees have access to Indigo 7.1 since we released it before any UTD subscriptions started expiring. If your subscription is about to expire you should already have received at least one expiration notification email. However, you can always check your Indigo Account to see when your subscription expires and click the link to purchase the recurring subscription.

To see what was in the previous release, visit the Indigo 7.0 Release Announcement.

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