[mythtv-users] Torc for iOS - Application Submitted to the App Store for Review

[Matt Emmott]

On Sat, Apr 14, 2012 at 7:37 PM, Robert McNamara
<robert.mcnamara at gmail.com>wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> I am rejoining the list for the near future to keep you apprised of
> the status of Torc for iOS, a mobile frontend compatible with MythTV
> 0.25 and Torc.  Something I've been keeping under my hat until just
> now is that Torc for iOS will also support iPhone and iPod Touch
> devices.  Please see the following video for a demo of the iPod/iPhone
> experience:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGoU90bdUC8
>
> In other news, I whittled my TODO list for the application down to
> nothing today, so I have submitted it for app store review.  I also
> did fairly extensive testing of the app with a cellular/mobile
> connection over the past few days, and with adequate upstream and
> backend CPU grunt, the experience is absolutely fantastic.  The
> average review time for Apple is currently right around 5-7 business
> days.  I hope that around this time a week from now, I will be able to
> announce that the application is available for purchase.  Because the
> MythTV/Torc streaming implementation has never been tested against the
> app store review process, a lot remains up in the air.  Apple has very
> specific requirements when it comes to streaming behaviors, and
> hopefully I am not too far off the mark.
>
> In the end, I settled on what Apple calls "Tier 4" pricing, which is
> essentially $3.99 USD.  I am a strong believer in open source, but I
> am an equally strong believer in keeping a roof over my head. :)  For
> further details on why I decided to charge a nominal price for the
> app, and to read quite a lot about what you can do to make sure your
> backends and frontends are ready for use with the application, please
> see the following:
>
> http://www.fecitfacta.com/blog1/torc/
>
> Note that this application has no official relationship with the Torc
> open source project, which is continuing quite nicely.  Since this is
> a MythTV list, I won't discuss that here.
>
> I am happy to field any questions, comments, or concerns you might
> have about this application, and I hope that those of you with iOS
> devices of all shapes and sizes will consider trying it out when it
> becomes available.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Robert McNamara
> Developer, Torc
> _______________________________________________
>

First, thanks for this. If it works as well as it seems, especially
remotely, it will replace a lot of the kludgy things I've been doing to get
to my recordings  when not at home. Plus, it will make my iPad refrigerator
mount much more useful!

Second... As somebody who can't read code and hasn't looked to see if there
are release notes, I have some questions about some of the aspects of this
app.

A) Connection - Is the connection made over just http/https or does it use
other ports? Is there some kind of MySQL connection made across the wire,
or is it all "front ended" by the http session like MythWeb? I ask because
my employer blocks several outbound ports to the internet, making
non-standard apps like Plex a challenge.

B) Speaking of connection, MySQL, etc - If this is all presented via a web
front end, it should be relatively trivial for app developers to write
direct hooks for Plex/ XBMC/ Boxee to connect into MythTV, no? This reminds
me of a paradigm shift similar to when Microsoft opened Outlook Web Access
to WebDAV and then Exchange Web Services, although a wee bit more open. :-)

C) Security - If we do set this up so it's accessible over the Internet,
how do we lock it down so that bad people don't log into our home MythTV
systems?

Bonus almost completely off-topic question: I'm about to set up a security
system at my house and have considered MythZoneMinder. How hard would it be
to add the ability to tune into my cameras using this app? I'd pay for a
TorcZoneMinder app. :-)
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