Remote for Bye Bye Standby® FAQs

If you've bought "Remote for Bye Bye Standby®" and need support, then please see the frequently asked questions below before contacting us. To read more about this application, visit the product information page.

General

  1. How do I add devices?
  2. How do I turn devices on and off?
  3. How do I move/delete/edit buttons?
  4. How do I change the button icons?
  5. How do I add/edit/delete groups?
  6. How do I move a button to another group?
  7. Is it possible to copy all my buttons to another iOS device?

Bye Bye Standby® Online Controllers

  1. What should I enter in the "Local address" field?
  2. How do I turn devices on and off when away from home?
  3. I've upgraded from version 1; where has the "home"/"away" button gone?
  4. Do I need to subscribe to the Bye Bye Standby® premium service to use the iPhone app?
  5. Can I control a lamp dimmer socket using the app?

1. How do I add devices?

Devices are controlled by adding buttons to groups. On iPhone/iPod touch, groups are accessed by touching the caption at the bottom of the screen. To add a new group, touch the "+" icon in the groups section, enter a description and tap "Save". On iPad, tap a group from the list to select it. For iPhone swipe the main screen left and right to change groups. Once you have selected a group, touch the "Add a new button" icon and complete the fields. Once the button has been added, touch it to control the device(s).

2. How do I turn devices on and off?

Follow the instructions above to create a button, then to control a device, touch the button.

3. How do I move/delete/edit buttons?

After creating a button, to put it in to edit mode touch and hold the icon. After a couple of seconds, this will allow you to drag the icon to another position; the icon will become slightly bigger to indicate that it can be dragged. To delete a button, when in edit mode, touch the cross in the top left of the icon. To change the button configuration, when in edit mode, touch the icon again. To leave edit mode, touch the background area surrounding the buttons.

4. How do I change the button icons?

Button icons can be picked from your photo library or by using the camera if supported by your device. Touch and hold a button icon to enter edit mode. Tap the icon again to show the button configuration, then tap the icon to the left of the description text field.

5. How do I add/edit/delete groups?

On iPhone/iPod touch, groups are accessed by touching the caption at the bottom of the screen. When a group is deleted, all buttons within the group are also deleted.

6. How do I move a button to another group?

Touch and hold a button until it allows you to move it. On iPhone, drag the icon to the edge of the screen until you can see the required group, then release the icon at the position you would like it to be. On iPad, drag the icon to the group list and let go of it when it's over the group you wish to move it to.

7. Is it possible to copy all my buttons to another iOS device?

Since version 2 of the app, it is now possible to copy button configurations and button icons to other iOS devices. Connect your iOS device to your computer and launch iTunes. From the "Apps" section, after clicking on the name of your device, scroll down to "File Sharing" and click on "Remote". Select AppSettings.plist and all the icons (if you've created custom icons) and drag these to your computer. You can then connect another iOS device to iTunes which already has version 2.0+ of the app installed, navigate to the "File Sharing" area, select "Remote" and drag all the files you previously copied to your computer in to its documents folder. Please note that if you overwrite or delete AppSettings.plist then you will lose the configuration already on that device. You will also notice that each button icon has two versions; one is for standard displays (57 x 57 pixels) and the @2x version (114 x 114 pixels) is for Retina displays. If you add custom icons via iTunes, please ensure that they are in PNG format and the filename starts with "icon".

Bye Bye Standby® Online Controllers

8. What should I enter in the "Local address" field?

Usually, this field should be left blank as the app automatically knows how to connect to your Online Controller. However, if for some reason the app won't send commands then it's possible that your router is blocking them. In this instance, you should either configure your Online Controller to have a static IP address on your network (see the Bye Bye Standby forum for more information) or you should configure your router to always assign the same IP address to it. Once you know the IP address of your Online Controller then enter this in to the "Local address" field.

9. How do I turn devices on and off when away from home?

If you wish to control your devices when away from home, then this is possible if the Bye Bye Standby® Online Controller is connected to the Internet and your broadband connection has a static I.P. address. Simply enter your static I.P. address in to the remote address textbox for the Bye Bye Standby® Online Controller on the "Settings" screen and configure your broadband router to forward port 53008 to your Online Controller. Most home broadband connections however have dynamic I.P. addresses, which means that using the application when away from home is more complicated to set up and is less reliable. To set this up, you will need to create an account with a third party service such as DynDNS Free which will require installing an application on your home computer, or configuring your broadband router if it has a DynDNS facility. You can then enter your DynDNS hostname in the remote address textbox for your Online Controller on the settings screen. You will now need to configure your broadband router so that it forwards port 53008 to your Online Controller. The app should now be able to control your devices when you're away from home.

10. I've upgraded from version 1; where has the "home"/"away" button gone?

Version 2 of the app is a complete rewrite, and support has been added to automatically detect when you're on the same network as your Bye Bye Standby® Online Controller(s), so it is no longer necessary for you to choose manually. If you would rather not use the automatic mode, touch the settings icon and you have the option to select "local" or "remote" for each of your controllers.

11. Do I need to subscribe to the Bye Bye Standby® premium service to use the iPhone app?

The Bye Bye Standby® premium service allows you to create scheduled events which will automatically turn your devices on and off at set times. The Remote for Bye Bye Standby® iPhone app is completely standalone third party product and does not require the premium service to send commands to your Online Controller.

12. Can I control a lamp dimmer socket using the app?

The Bye Bye Standby® lamp dimmer socket allows a lamp to be controlled and to set its brightness. Although dimming is not directly supported by the app, dimmer sockets can be controlled to set the required brightness. When the socket is turned on, turn the device on again to start cycling through the brightness levels. To set the required brightness turn the socket on once again.