I am confused about the IOT plans....... Is the free plan ...Free... or does it time out if not being used to make changes to programming or activity..??
eg. to get started if I get one device working to try it and leave it running...say monitoring if the dog is barking when I am not there...... will it keep working say for several weeks or months without intervention.
OR.... will I have to login or do something to keep the cloud bit active...??
also all the paid plans are in US dollars....... How much do they cost in UK.. pounds sterling...?
also do I only need a paid plan when I am actually programming or do I need it all time if the IOT thing is working..?
Hi @Hardada.
Yes.
Per section 8.3 of the website's terms and conditions:
8.3 Should the User be inactive for 24 months, Arduino shall be entitled to close the Account.
So you must make sure to log into your account at least once every 24 months. I don't think that requirement is too onerous.
You can use the currency converter here to determine this:
https://www.google.com/search?q=United+States+Dollar+to+Pound+sterling
You need the paid plan for any usage of Arduino Cloud that requires the features that are exclusive to the paid plan.
For example, if we compare the Arduino Cloud plans, we see that the "Free" plan gives you a maximum of two Arduino Cloud IoT Things, while the "Entry" plan gives you a maximum of ten Things. So if you have three Things, then you must continue to pay for the "Entry" plan as long as you want to continue to use the third Thing. If you stop paying for the "Entry" plan then that third Thing will stop working completely and only the first two Things that are allowed under the "Free" plan will be functional.
Thanks for the detailed reply. my problem was really does the "Free" plan timeout.
as in some other software eg trial for 30 days etc. download, setup and before you get to try it it timesout..
I can accept the limited functionality of the free plan, at least lets me set it up and try it out.
So is it simply logging in to Arduino account that keeps the free cloud active. I imagine I would be logging in regularly, to make changes etc to sketch coding and how it links to cloud. ......... but if I just login and use the IDE and the forum and don't use the cloud for 24 mths will it timeout..?
It does not time out. You can use the "Free" plan forever.
The logging in isn't necessary to keep the Arduino Cloud plan active. The logging in is required to keep your arduino.cc account active. If your account becomes inactive then it is subject to deletion. If your account is deleted, your Arduino Cloud projects will also be deleted, which will cause your IoT Things to stop working.
No. You only need to log into your arduino.cc account in order to maintain the account's active status. No additional action is needed beyond simply logging in. You could immediately log back out after that if you wanted.
Thanks for reply, all explained now. The main useful thing missing from the free plan is probably the cloud trigger. ...and have to go to maker plan to get it and 100 triggers per day. If I was using a Thing for monitoring a door opening, that would be alot of triggers..??
For small projects monitoring alarms etc it would be helpful if even a few triggers say 10 or 20 were allowed just to see that they work mainly with the phone app....
currently the phone app needs to be opened to see the action or state of the alarm etc.
With the trigger a notification alert would be sent......maybe there is other ways to program in alerts to happen...??
I was reading for IFTTT, but it uses webhooks, and this part need to be payed now. Are there alternatives for android notifications from arduino proyects?
I have been trying sending email alert to android phone..... but can send the email from esp32 OK but cannot get sound or popup alerts to work on the phone even with ordinary emails sent from my desktop..??.... I was googling a bit....apparantly may be a gmail problem since last upgrade..??. The other thing is I keep sync Off so maybe that causes a problem..? The other way would be to get an app that responds with alerts when changes are made to the variables or widgets displayed in the app ??