ReTerminal Designer: Usage Q&A - Battery & Sensors

Hello everyone! I'm excited about the integration offered by ReTerminal Designer, but I'm still navigating some of its features and have a couple of questions regarding its usage. I'm hoping this discussion can clarify these points for myself and others who might be facing similar issues.

1. Battery Icon Text Size Adjustment

My primary question revolves around the battery icon and its accompanying text. I've successfully managed to display the battery percentage beneath the icon, thanks to the solution found here. However, after increasing the size of the battery icon itself, I've noticed that the percentage text remains the same small size. This creates a visual imbalance, and I'm keen to find a way to adjust the text size to match the larger icon. Is there a setting or method within ReTerminal Designer to control the size of the battery percentage text? I've thoroughly explored the available options, but I haven't been able to locate a specific setting for this. It would be incredibly helpful to have this customization option for improved readability and aesthetics.

To elaborate further, the current small text size makes it difficult to quickly glance at the battery level, especially from a distance. A larger, more prominent text display would significantly enhance the user experience. I believe this is a crucial aspect of user interface design, ensuring that essential information is easily accessible. I'm open to any suggestions or workarounds that the community might have discovered. Perhaps there's a configuration file that can be manually edited, or a specific property that I've overlooked. Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

Furthermore, I'm interested in understanding the limitations of the current text size implementation. Is this a technical constraint, or is it a feature that might be considered for future updates? Knowing the rationale behind the current design would help me better understand the challenges involved and potentially contribute to suggesting solutions. The ability to customize the text size would undoubtedly make the ReTerminal Designer even more versatile and user-friendly. This feature would allow users to tailor the display to their specific needs and preferences, creating a more personalized and informative interface.

In addition to the text size, I'm also curious about the possibility of customizing the font style and color of the battery percentage. These enhancements would further improve the visual clarity and allow for better integration with different themes and layouts. The ReTerminal Designer offers a wide range of customization options for other elements, and extending these options to the battery icon text would be a valuable addition. Ultimately, my goal is to create a visually appealing and informative display that seamlessly integrates with the overall design of my ReTerminal project. I'm confident that with the help of the community and the developers, we can find a solution to this issue and further enhance the capabilities of the ReTerminal Designer.

2. Understanding Local vs. On-Device Sensor Selection

My second question pertains to the widget properties and the checkbox for choosing between "local" and "on-device" sensors. I'm a bit unclear on how this selection mechanism functions. The widget properties include a tick box, offering a choice between "local" and "on-device" sensors, as illustrated in the image below:

Whether I check the box or not, I can still select an entity from the entity picker. This leads me to believe that the checkbox might not be functioning as I expect. Could someone provide a detailed explanation of how this local vs. on-device sensor selection works?

Specifically, I'm trying to integrate my Home Assistant sensors, particularly my home battery sensor, into the ReTerminal Designer interface. I've noticed that regardless of whether I tick or untick the box, the highlighted code snippet underneath the entity picker doesn't seem to reflect any changes. This further fuels my confusion about the purpose and functionality of this checkbox. I'm wondering if there's a specific configuration or setup process that I'm missing.

To further illustrate my issue, let's consider a scenario where I want to display the current battery level of my home battery system on the ReTerminal display. I would assume that selecting the "on-device" option would allow me to directly access the sensor data from the ReTerminal hardware itself, while selecting "local" would enable me to connect to external sensors, such as those integrated with Home Assistant. However, the behavior I'm observing doesn't seem to align with this expectation. I'm eager to understand the underlying mechanism and how to correctly configure the sensor selection for my specific use case.

I've also explored the documentation and online resources, but I haven't found a comprehensive explanation of this feature. A clear and concise explanation, along with practical examples, would be incredibly beneficial. Understanding the distinction between local and on-device sensors is crucial for effectively utilizing the ReTerminal Designer and integrating various data sources into my projects. I'm confident that clarifying this aspect will empower me to build more sophisticated and informative interfaces.

In addition to the functional aspect, I'm also interested in the technical implementation behind this feature. How does the ReTerminal Designer differentiate between local and on-device sensors? What protocols or APIs are used to access the sensor data? Understanding these technical details would provide a deeper understanding of the system and potentially enable me to troubleshoot any issues that might arise. I'm open to any insights or resources that can shed light on this topic.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I'm seeking clarification on two key aspects of ReTerminal Designer: adjusting the battery icon text size and understanding the local vs. on-device sensor selection. I believe that addressing these questions will significantly enhance my understanding and usage of the platform. I'm grateful for any assistance and insights the community can provide. Thank you for your time and consideration!

For more information about ReTerminal and its capabilities, you can visit the official Seeed Studio website.