Add screensaver

[LordBoos]

HACC should support a screensaver to prevent screen burn-in on always on tablets.

Screensaver should be something like Android screensaver - black screen with time and date appearing at random screen locations every few minutes.
Screensaver should appear after configurable amount of time with some default (5-10 minutes?).
Screensaver should instantly disappear once a screen touch is detected.

[qJake]

This is a good suggestion and something I could fairly easily include, however I have a question: Shouldn't the kiosk software you're using to display the site handle this?

For example, I run Fully which has support for automatically shutting off the screen, and re-enabling it if camera motion is detected or if you tap the screen or press the power button - perfect for a wall-mounted tablet.

Is this something we should still support or should we leave it entirely up to the kiosk software? After all, a blank screen or an image being displayed is still leaving the screen/backlight on which is still causing some level of wear and tear on the device regardless (maybe not screen burn-in though).

[LordBoos]

Screen burn-in only affects OLED displays and such displays doesn't have any backlight (pixels themselves produce the light). Pixels displaying black color are completely turned off, so there is no wear.
Android has a screensaver like this, but problem is that it hibernates background processes completely and it causes disconnections (connections time out when the applications is hibernated) and other connection problems with other dashboards I've tried (TileBoard and Home Panel). So after waking the device up it takes a while to update all the entity states and I want to use the terminal right away and not wait a few seconds for complete update.

TBH I never even thought about using some kind of kiosk browser and I'm just using Chrome in fullscreen immersive mode. I'll look into Fully but I still think that the screensaver would be a good addition and having it right in the HACC with possibility to turn it on or off doesn't have any negatives (I think).

[apop880]

As someone who currently uses TileBoard but is watching this project with interest, I like a HACC provided screensaver he cause of the possibility of customization. For example, my TileBoard screensaver has the weather, clock, commute information at certain times of the day, and a customized set of randomized family photos to cycle through. My wife was particularly a fan of this, as 95% of the usage ends up being as the de-facto photo frame, and only a small portion is actually using the interface to control the home.

[qJake]

Well I was just going to start with a black screen to start, but @apop880 you make a good point, that would be a nice feature to have. I'm wondering what the best and/or easiest way to do that would be - maybe just enter a list of URLs (photo URLs) of images into a text area you want to cycle through?

[apop880]

@qJake I think that makes perfect sense as a starting point. And maybe make the photos cycle as the screen background and allow for informational tiles to be placed in the foreground.

[azz24]

I'm using an iPad and as far as I can find the Kiosk software available doesn't include a screensaver. For me it would be a great addition.