Meet Blynk - an easier way to connect your Arduino and smartphone and make a user interface for your project

Any security in design?

Hi Clem,

That's a good question, thanks!

Currently we see no need in extra security layer. But we plan to have it as an additional widget. Also, we see that adding security affects performance a lot.

Secondly, you can run server on your side, which means you control everything.

Hi,

You do mention in your kickstarter:

It handles all the authentication and communication

What do you mean with authentication if it doesn't support security?

Yes Jan, authentication is used to define which client (Arduino) is talking to which app.

How it works:

Arduino uses unique authentication token to connect to server

Smartphone app uses same token to connect to server

Server authenticates both devices and puts them into one "chat room" where they talk to each other.

By adding security - I mean encrypting messages between app and Arduino.

Hope it answers your question.

Regarding latency, to be honest, we are surprised on how well Blynk currently performs. I can notice almost no lag in response, especially when running server locally. But even with the remote server it works well.

Of course some packets are lost from time to time, but we are working on enhancing our library.

Thank you for your response on the security.

For the latency I have a follow up question: for drones I'd expect a guaranteed turnaround time. There's the risk that the device will be out of reach after a fairly short time.

I'd like to know the typical and maximum lag.

Regards, Jan

Jan,

First of all, I would not consider wifi being the best solution for drones. It may work for playing with it at home, but fore more serious project I would go for radio, of course. 

However, I'm also impressed with this video, which shows us pretty good distance with esp8266 wifi module. But it needs thorough testing, definitely

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BYdZ_24yg0

Right now I can't provide you with the exact numbers, let me come back later to you with it. It's miliseconds currently.

Hi Pavel,

Lack of security is a huge concern. Too many projects out there rely on a simple identifier string in plain text across the Internet. Isn't it time we moved on from this?

Secondly, I was wondering, what parts of this project will be closed source, and what parts will be open source?

I'm struggling to see how an app and widgets for performing basic I/O should cost $40 for example. Given that the most advanced widgets, such as the SDcard one, probably relies on existing open source libraries at the Arduino end..

Hi shabaz,

Good points, let's look at them.

Security is optional, and you can see it in my post above.  Some people care, others don't - we give options for everyone.

It's a pity that you spend very little time on the our Kickstarter page. Because information there is a bit different from what you posted: 

a. $40 - is a price for 2 apps (iOs $20 and Android $20) - we get requests from people wanting app for both platforms, that's why we added this pledge (recently)

b. SD card widget is present in the Basic version of Blynk, which is only $5   

Regarding your question: Blynk server and hardware libraries will be open-source. Unless some specific hardware manufacturers would like to keep their code closed.

Hi Pavel,

Thanks for the information.

Good luck with your kickstarter.

Personally I feel for the limited functionality there is, one may just create an app that runs in a browser (and dispense with the need for Android and IoS apps which appear to be closed source since you didn't specifically refer to them in your answer) -

and be free to run from any device, and save $40. There are plenty of examples of this for free on the Internet, using AJAX or similar methods for communication between the page in the browser and the server running on the Arduino Yun such as this example.

I appreciate you're offering a free cloud server for those that want access over the Internet, but since it is currently unsecured, I can't see how this looks after the interests of users of the service.

Hi Pavel,

Thanks for the information.

Good luck with your kickstarter.

Personally I feel for the limited functionality there is, one may just create an app that runs in a browser (and dispense with the need for Android and IoS apps which appear to be closed source since you didn't specifically refer to them in your answer) -

and be free to run from any device, and save $40. There are plenty of examples of this for free on the Internet, using AJAX or similar methods for communication between the page in the browser and the server running on the Arduino Yun such as this example.

I appreciate you're offering a free cloud server for those that want access over the Internet, but since it is currently unsecured, I can't see how this looks after the interests of users of the service.

I would not be so critical with this project

There are several application fields, and probably there is a niche also for this technology

I tend to agree with shabaz on this one, it does seem a tad expensive for what your getting, for instance I have used NetIO for several applications in the past http://netio.davideickhoff.de/en/ and at 10$ is has a ton of features and will talk to your devices without an intermediate server . It does add value by providing an on-line design tool for the UI and is very good. NetIO seems to do everything this can and I believe can handle security mechanisms too if needed