encourage discussions!
I feel (and many other seems to as well) think it is convenient to hit the “like” instead of actually expressing something (that could lead to a discussion). Maybe only me, but I think this forum is great and all, but a bit too quiet…
All in all I start to wonder if I have bought a device that actually is someones “hobby project”. Support won’t answer, functionality is very limited, no indication of future releases etc. Is there even a plan? Beginning to feel this is a waste of time. Right or wrong or in between?
pressing like, and slowly backning away
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Hard to resist, agreed… 
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I belive a little it has to do with what you expect from the device. I don’t think the users should think of the 
as an competer to for example home assistant. My cents is on that the company animus wishes to be a consumer product and not a “nerd”/developer device. Which could be little of a problem since the market for smart home appliances still is in early progress and the main users is “guys with a hard-on for technical things” (read multisensors with 10 sensors and automations to set the coffeemaker to do a espresso when the suns hit zenit but only when it’s the year of the 
in china.)
I know I over exaggerating a little but it’s a fact that many of us refers in complains to that “the wife” is unhappy with something. BUT this doesn’t mean that we should just settle with a controller that doesn’t work as supposed. I belive that the nearest future in development is dedicated to get the device stable and removing bugs.
Agree in some of your thoughts about the support and think it actually has to do with resources. The company is quite small, but i do think that they maybe at least for a while should assign a technician just to work with support and not development. But it’s a thin line. If you buy this kind of device. For how long should you get free technical support? One year, two or how long? This is an interesting discussion. And what is “technical support” and not just support in basic knowledge for example how to create a automation?
But as i said, i think that they have work to do to improve the routines for support-tickets. A user should not feel that they get “ignored”. Maybe create a bigger knowledge-base with FAQ and so on.
You may well be correct in your assumptions, since the strategy is not known. The fact it was kind of pricey, and is at times being compared with for example Homey (which is a bit further from a consumer product than the heart), makes room for a bit of disappointment when despite all these problems, no strategy going forward has been publicly presented. 1699 for something less useful than something free is bad math. But I agree, the potential is there, question is when it becomes available to use… A well, I may have seen something in the Heart that simply is not there, or will be. Anyhow, have a great Christmas and all that comes with it! 
As a real response; I would like a roadmap and more transparency, as I’m an open source kind of person at heart. However we have to respect them choosing not to share as they might have investors and people with opinions. I don’t know, I’m not very business 
The whole world seems to be very focused on short timespans and economical values.
Not being transparent can lead to speculation, which is what I’m about to do 
I’m thinking their only revenue stream is selling hardware. If the money from the initial Kickstarter and money from venture capitalists is running low, development would probably progress slower too I’m thinking. Kind of a moment 22, slow development and dissattisfied users. Communication and transparency could help if this was the case. We as customers need to know what to expect, otherwise our complaining might be the thing to keep them from being able to keep developing.
Just a thought!
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@anon94114147 I am not associated with the company animus so i don’t have deeper knowledge of strategy in the company than you, it’s just my own thoughts. But i agree with you. It’s a lot of money if you compare it to home assistant running hardware that you already own.
I think that we all can agree that the not is without faults as of this time and i wonder if it’s ever going to be, every update will cure some bugs but create some new ones when developing new functions. As i understood things when i talked to vato and vigge in real the testing for new functions is tested quite hard for several months in their “lab” before released. But even with that testing quite “interesting things” appear when going out to real users. It could maybe have to do with how they think a function or flow should be processed in a certain way and some of the real users do in another way. Nothing wrong with that but the system must be able to accept all of them. I’m not developer so i don’t have knowledge but i guessing that this is quite a struggle when working with a complex system such as a home controller. Hey, it’s a long time to Christmas. I hope you don’t go anywhere. I think you really are a asset to the forum with intellectual discussions 
@Gordon Yes, agree with you on the transparency but as you say. To my understanding they have investors and a roadmap. I kind of understand why they don’t keep it “open”. First of this isn’t a open source project that they do on their spare time. Of course their here to make some 
. Even despite that they really live their dream with development, longer than suitable working hours and to work with a device they have made possible by themselves. It’s not a charity project. Of course they need to keep numbers green and i guess it’s a fine balance in development hours and economy.
Secondly it’s my belief they don’t want a hard pressure to deliver on time. But it surely also has to do with if users feel their ideas doesn’t get implented just yet (we are all ourselves nearest and my idea is the most important one) and therefore don’t stay on the ship so they loose customers. Of course they want to sell hardware and i guess that is a clue to why the support seems to lack just now. They probably don’t have resources to do both. I do think that the device will get more stable and support better. As i wrote further up, the support thing is a tough nut to crack since it depends on what we categorize as “support” 
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As a previous software tester I tend to be somewhat picky. I (as stated before) have all respect for this being a young project and in active development. I do however feel the testing part could be better. One of the most basic faults of a tester, is to strictly follow a test specification and/or automate the testing. The latter is superb for regression testing if you run down the CI line of development. I think a necessity to find the “ugly” bugs is to systematically test all that is possible, as well as what should not be possible and document all of it. That way you are much more likely to finding unforeseen ways of using the device. Extensive, active testing can not possibly have been done prior ACRE release. It took me almost 20 seconds to find the first faults. I can only imagine the anxiety and eagerness devs/owners/stakeholders must feel to release new stuff, to have the heart grow as they have planned. But I would much prefer a slower, more controlled tempo if this is what somewhat stressed resources produce. And no, I am not going anywhere, just need to refuel for another duel with the heart…
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