This release of the eSphere mobile application (v5.29.0) focuses on the redesigned Activity Feed, the ability to resume an interrupted sensor onboarding and a number of interface and pairing fixes. It covers new features and enhancements, resolved issues, known issues and platform characteristics.
Firmware Components
Firmware Components lists the software versions included in this release. The eSphere mobile app requires iOS 15.1 or later, or Android 7.0 or later.
| Component | Version |
|---|---|
| eSphere Mobile App (iOS) | 5.29.0 Build 30 |
| eSphere Mobile App (Android) | 5.29.0 Build 176 |
New Features and Enhancements
New features and enhancements are capabilities added or improved in this release. Fixes to existing behavior are listed under Resolved Issues.
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Activity Feed 2.0 | The Activity Feed has been redesigned to align with the new Nightlight dark interface. Routine events, urgent events, detected insights, and action items now follow a clearer visual hierarchy, and action items such as newly detected devices (not yet assigned to profile) are surfaced more prominently to assign to a profile. The tab bar switches to black while the Activity Feed is open, and the feed’s draggable control has a larger touch area. |
| Sensor Firmware Version in App | The firmware versions for each sensor are now displayed under More > Presence Sensors > More Details > Sensor Details. Accounts with a primary and a secondary sensor display both primary and secondary firmware versions, separated by comma (e.g. 0.36.0,4.0.0). |
| Sensor Onboarding Resume | If the app is closed during initial sensor onboarding, reopening it prompts the user to continue the pending flow. Continuing resumes at the Scan QR screen, skips the sensor quantity step, and pre-fills the sensor name entered previously. Selecting “No, I’ll do this later” exits the flow. This applies to initial onboarding only, not to adding a sensor later. |
| New Resident Notification Routing to Activity Feed | Selecting a New Resident push notification now opens the activity feed, and selecting a New Resident entry in the feed displays a default activity detail view. |
| Home Activity Paused Card | If a sensor loses connection or power, a banner will appear at the top of the Activity page stating that a sensor is disconnected and, therefore, home presence is paused. |
Resolved Issues
Resolved issues are defects reported or identified in a previous release that are fixed in this one. Defects that remain open are listed under Known Issues.
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Bluetooth Pairing Unavailable for Secondary Residents | Resolved an issue on iOS where Bluetooth permissions were not requested when a secondary user assigned a device to an existing profile, leaving the Pair button disabled. In the meantime, a workaround was sent to all testers to pair Bluetooth on the Secondary Resident’s phone/profile. |
| Unrelated Device Displayed When Wi-Fi Is Off | Resolved an issue where turning off Wi-Fi during the profile and device sync flow displayed an unrelated device with an IP address of 0.0.0.0. The app now prompts the user to connect to the same Wi-Fi network as the sensor and returns to the device search once Wi-Fi is enabled. |
| Bluetooth Permission Prompt Dismissed During Secondary User Setup | Resolved an issue where the Bluetooth permission prompt closed on its own for a new secondary user joining by invite code, returning the user to the home screen before pairing was complete. |
| Profile Name Populated from Device Name | Resolved an issue where new profile name fields were populated from the device name. Names now use the suggested contact name when one is available, split into first and last name, and are left blank when none is available. |
| Sign-Out Alert Displayed After Manual Sign-Out | Resolved an issue where signing out from More > Sign Out could display the “You have been signed out” alert intended for forced sign-outs. |
| Devices List Empty Until Manual Refresh | Resolved an issue where the Household > Devices list could remain empty until manually refreshed and automatic device assignment could fail to detect the user’s device. This was most noticeable on networks with many connected devices. |
| Label Overlapping Loading Indicator | Resolved an issue where the status text on the sensor Wi-Fi connection screen overlapped the loading indicator. |
| Excess Whitespace in App Tutorial | Resolved an issue where the app tutorial was scrollable and displayed excess whitespace at standard text sizes even when all content fit on screen. The tutorial remains scrollable at large accessibility text sizes. |
Known Issues
Known issues are identified or reported defects that have not yet been resolved. Behaviors that are expected characteristics of the platform are listed under Platform Characteristics.
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Alert Feedback Not Shown After Selection | After selecting thumbs-up or thumbs-down on the “Was this correct?” alert feedback prompt, the confirmation message does not display, and the prompt does not reappear if the alert is reopened. |
| Formatting Issues at Large Text Scaling | Formatting issues occur outside the onboarding flow when the mobile device text size is dynamically scaled to Large. |
| Notifications Stopped Displaying | Push notifications have been reported as not received even when notifications are set to active. |
| Inaccurate Alert Notifications | On occasion, location status reported in notifications (for example, left home / arrived home) has been reported as inaccurate. |
| Activity “Red Dot” | A “red dot” will appear next to the Activity icon regardless of read/unread notifications. |
| Updated Activity Feed UI | Activity Feed 2.0 introduces eSphere’s new dark UI. Other areas of the app will transition to the updated experience over time as part of ongoing 2.0 redesign efforts. |
Platform Characteristics
Below are characteristics of eSphere as currently designed. They are not defects and are not scheduled for correction. Defects awaiting a fix are listed under Known Issues.
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| eSphere Presence Sensor Requires 2.4 GHz | Similar to many IoT products, the eSphere presence sensor works only on a 2.4 GHz network. Nearly all homes have a 2.4 GHz band, but it is required. |
| Single-SSID Network Design | eSphere presence sensors are designed for single-SSID networks. Split 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz SSIDs typically work correctly, though additional network setup customizations such as network-isolation features (guest networks, VLANs, client isolation, or separate subnets) may reduce accuracy or prevent presence detection. |
| MAC Address Rotation | MAC address rotation can cause presence inaccuracies for Wi-Fi-only visitor profiles on devices that do not have a fixed MAC address on the home network. This is an industry-standard limitation. The eSphere team is evaluating patented technologies on our roadmap to improve detection of these devices. |
| App Closure Affects Presence | If a user force-quits the eSphere mobile app, or if the operating system or an app update forces it to close, the user may experience eSphere presence reliability issues for that device. |
| Disabled Radios Cause False Exits | If a user disables Wi-Fi or Bluetooth on their mobile device or turns the device off, or if the device runs out of battery, this can cause a “false exit” that makes it appear their profile has left the home. |
| Declined App Permissions | If a user declines any of the prompted mobile app permissions, this may impact presence detection accuracy. |
| Building Materials Reduce RF Range | Dwellings built with materials such as metal, thick concrete, or brick will likely reduce the RF range used by the eSphere presence sensor. Large objects placed in front of eSphere presence sensors will also reduce performance. Please see our deployment guide at support.esphere.io for sensor placement and quantity recommendations. |
| Four-Sensor Limit per Account | A single account is currently limited to four eSphere presence sensors. |
| Resident Accounts Must Be Deleted First | A primary user cannot delete the account on their own. Each resident must first delete their own account; only then can the primary user delete the account. |
| Samsung Extreme Battery Saver | Samsung users who enable extreme battery-saver mode may experience unreliable presence unless the app is allowed to run in the background. |
| Sensors Reported Offline During Brief Cloud Timeouts | A sensor may report as offline if its connection to the cloud briefly times out under degraded network conditions, even though the sensor remains connected to the home network. The notification clears once the sensor reconnects. |
| Sensor Offline — One Push Notification Today (Roadmap to Repeat Alerts) | Any sensor that goes offline pushes one notification to the Resident alerting them that the sensor is offline and, therefore, presence is paused. The Product Team has requested that, because this alert has been missed previously, the system send multiple push notifications if the sensor continues to be offline, to serve as reminders for the user that 1) their presence is paused and 2) they need to resolve getting the sensor back online in order to re-activate presence awareness. |