This afternoon I just became aware of the new Astrolux MF07 after @freeme posted some information in his topic.
I already found it remarkable that Banggood lists the Astrolux MF07 as having a ‘Constant Current Buck Driver’; let’s hope that indeed it has one!
I totally missed the fact thatthe MF07 also has bluetooth/an Android app! I just discovered this when I found a FB post about the MF07, where it is clearly mentioned: Astrolux Flashlight
When checking the BG listing again, I noticed that it is mentioned somewhere down in the discription, but it isn’t clearly marked as a new (innovative) feature!
Really curious though what this bluetooth/app functionality will be able to control. It would be really interesting to have an app which will enable us to control (and possible customize?!?) our flashlights settings/UI.
If that’s the case it’s indeed not very useful. A use case what I can think of, since this light has a 1/4" thread, is when you would use it as a work light of some sort, on a 2m/6ft high stand when it’s (just) out of reach, then it could be usefull to change brightness and/or check battery status with an app.
But as long as no manufacturers start implementing this technology, it also will not involve. Maybe as one starts to use it, more will follow and that in turn will also hopefully start the evolvement/development of this technology and it’s usefulness.
In the end: it has to start somewhere, so, good to see someone is giving it a go!
This is what I dream of too!
The advantage of Anduril is that it’s being used by several manufacturers. It would be so cool if there would be 1 general Anduril app that could control all the Anduril lights that support bluetooth. Making adjustments in settings through the app (setting different (ceiling) levels, enabling/disabling certain functions, etc.), instead of doing that all through clicks on a single button. Maybe even at one point enabling to update your Anduril firmware version through bluetooth, instead of having to flash it.
I know I’m over simplifying it way too much now, it’s way more complicated then it sounds now, but sometimes it’s nice to fantasize a bit!
Imagine something like a Sofirn IF23/IF24, but you have an app in which you can program the light, or a group of lights, to do a specific routine, like turning on and off, switching channels (front light, side light, RGB), ramping up and down brightness, RGB values, side light CCT, following a graphic or an instruction set. It would be very useful for light painting photography.
Outside of remote control, easier access to configuration would be a plus for me - the sort of thing that’s annoying AF with a single-button, one-pixel UI.
It does not seem to have Andruil but if it did, setting the 1000 Andruil parameters from an Android app on your phone would make Bluetooth an invaluable feature.
For this someone has to maintain an open source project like Anduril and make clear and strict (!) guidelines on how to implement and use the bluetooth connection in the light and firmware.
I think this is almost impossible since this already a problem with using of Anduril alone. In the end some Chinese manufacturer would use some older versions and/or making some changes to it which cause incompabilities to the other versions/programmers/apps and so on.
While bluetooth is a bit of a reach, physical connection through usb could work. You could still plug a light into your phone with a c to c cable(instead if connecting with bluetooth) and configure everything on a much more comfortable ui. Of course both have ups and downs. The bluetooth requires much more on the coding and pcb side while a usb c port is another thing to waterproof. A light that im designing(very very early stage) will have an mcu both in the tailcap and head which will enable it to have an optional tail switch and an optional charging port on the tailcap. I havent gotten to the exact solution yet, as i have to balance making the least modifications to anduril, having a standard solution(so it could work with other flashlights in the future) and it being simple so it can fit in the least space and cost the least money. But what im getting at with this monolouge is that you could also use this usb connection in the tailcap for this or even make another optional tailcap with the bluetooth functionality, offloading it from anduril to another piece of software that runs on the tailcap chip.
Thanks! Back to the bluetooth…forget it. I had to bypass (even on my old phone i don’t use anymore) all the security features for unverified apps, and even then it’s not guaranteed to work. Some of the app is in Chinese (had to google translate it) too. It works though and wilould be useful if you remotely mounted it and wanted to control it.
