Fed up with Handy's reliance on external servers... Is Keon any better?

Can’t use my Handy tonight because of some issue with HandyFeeling’s API 2.0 service…

I know it’s been asked before, but is there ANY way to connect to the Handy without relying on these services? I thought awhile back someone said it was possible using a locally hosted server with Handy Control but I can’t seem to find where I read that again.

I have a Kiiroo Onyx+ and it’s SO much nicer just having it be able to connect directly to my PC with bluetooth, then intiface desktop and ScriptPlayer handle the rest. If I bought a Keon would I be able to connect it in the same way?

Any and all input is appreciated. Thanks!

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Could it be this thread?

There is also some discussions on a related topic here:

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AHHH! Thank you so much!! I actually wasn’t aware of the first thread you linked to and following it led me to get the Handy working exactly how I hoped it would when I first bought it, all bluetooth, no HandyFeeling required!

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Yes, I’ve been using bluetooth almost exclusively for several months and it’s definitely the way to go. Hopefully Heresphere will be able to add native Quest 2 support for buttplug.io. Having a bluetooth connection directly to the Quest without needing a PC would be so awesome.

ScriptPlayer works well, but some videos don’t play well or at all(webm or 4k comes to mind). Luckily, you can use VLC (when configured) to play videos. I have noticed that synchronization needs to be adjusted sometimes when using VLC, especially with action based scripts.

Well I’ve been doing some comparing now that all of Handy’s services are back online, and while connecting via intiface and bluetooth is a great option to have as it doesn’t require internet, it doesn’t seem to be able to play the really fast complex parts of scripts as well as WiFi, which makes no sense to me but it’s what my testing has confirmed.

I’m unsure how scripts are handled when using a bluetooth connection to TheHandy, but to speculate a bit…

The entire script is downloaded to TheHandy when using WiFi and the only data that is sent/reveived during play is time markers at regular intervals to ensure that the script is in sync. In the Bluetooth case I assume that commands are continuously sent to TheHandy (that’s how it has been working for other devices). Sending individual commands via bluetooth is affected by limitations in bluetooth and command processing in TheHandy. If the script exceed maximum number of instructions per second, or minimum time between instructions, then Bluetooth won’t work as good as Wifi where the entire script into downloaded to TheHandy.

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Okay that makes a lot of sense actually. Thanks for the explanation.

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Now if only the Handy could fully download the script via bluetooth…

Now if only the Handy could fully download the script via bluetooth…

Why? Using WiFi to connect locally doesn’t rely on external servers, either.

That’s what I thought at first too but apparently Handy’s external API server is still required even if you choose to host the server locally. I’ve been discussing with some other people in this thread: Script-Player Handy Over Bluetooth Firmware 3. Much better expirience - #65 by TheBassist

and

If they’re wrong and you can confirm that the Handy works with a WiFi connection and no actual internet I would love to hear more about it. It would solve all my problems lol.

Well, that IS possible. Just hold the connect button until it lights up blue… then connect Intiface as usually.

Also already possible. Just tested it 2 days ago with the demo version of Heresphere for the Quest 2. Very easily uploaded in less a minute with Sidequest. It works extremely well, no PC required. If you omit the fact, that I were trying to use the wifi connection, because it was asking for the key, while it actually needs that you connect it through bluetooth with Heresphere. That actually is gonna be my favourite way to use it from now on.

Heresphere has so much more than many other players, like creating playlists and finally a simple “loop video” function. Especially now that the functionality was intentionally broken in some other untrusty player with a customer-disrespecting developer (looking at you Deo).

Also script upload is a lot faster and won’t periodically fail on long scripts as previously experienced with Deo. No disconnects either so far. A lot more stable and reliable!

What, what? That’s so awesome! I’ve been wanting direct bluetooth connection forever. Thanks for sharing this fantastic news.

So Heresphere is automatically connecting with bluetooth simply by entering the connection key? Or it connects without the key? (Just by long pressing the bottom key on the Handy to enter bluetooth mode—blue LED.)

Scriptplayer and Intiface on PC never required connection key because it just scanned for the Handy bluetooth signal. I had no idea that the connection key would even work in bluetooth mode.

Yeah I don’t know the internals, but that’s how it worked for me. And as you said, so far the connection key wasn’t needed for bluetooth. So, at first, it would keep saying invalid key for me several times trying to connect with short key press (pink led). Until I figured out, when entering the key, it seems to be essential to press ENTER and not just close the keyboard dropdown to take it AND when I pressed it long (blue led) it finally worked.

Maybe I’m wrong? I don’t know… but I think I did it twice like this and it seemed to be the case. Well, you can try the demo apk version (get it on itch) and test it yourself before spending any money.

Like I said, I don’t know the internals and why and how… so I may be somewhere mistaken. If anyone knows better, please correct me. I believe intiface uses what’s called BLE protocol and I suppose Heresphere may be using something else which requires the key, usable too over bluetooth?! :man_shrugging: Well, that’s where my knowledge ends about these things.

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