For anyone reading the last couple of posts and wondering what is going on, the mobile app project is taking some turns. I am focusing on making native apps for mobile devices (iOS, Android and Windows Phone 8) and also making a UI for the SD card of the OpenSprinkler. This allows a much more seamless integration between the two due to a direct communication (versus a proxy server to communicate).
Of course the PHP project has a few distinct advantages however those will slowly fade over time as the native mobile apps continue to gain feature support. Currently, the main advantage is logging. The native apps have no way to poll the OpenSprinkler 24/7 and generate log reports however this feature will soon be baked into the OS firmware allowing the OS to log to a file on the SD card. This file will eventually be used to bring graphical logs without the PHP application. Second, the PHP app offers SSL encryption and stronger user/pass authentication. This is being considered for the native mobile apps and hopefully will be incorporated in some extent. Of course, SSL cannot be offered on an underpowered Arduino however other methods to enhance security are available.
With all of those things said, once the native apps gain the features only found in the PHP code I will begin to convert the PHP app into more of a wrapper/proxy to convert 1.8.3-2.0.3 firmwares into newer 2.0.4+ replies. This allows the PHP users to benefit from the much improved UI of the native apps. Of course, when this is complete, upgrading the firmware would remove the need completely for the PHP app making it a tool for people who cannot upgrade. This is being done to move the code into one codebase. Right now the native apps and the PHP app are different enough that moving changes between the two is rather cumbersome.
Also, up until today the native apps only supported the Arduino version of the OpenSprinkler using firmware 2.0.4+ however Dan and Jonathan have worked very hard to revamp the plugin system on the OSPi python interval program and incorporated a mobile_api plugin allowing my native apps to work 100% with the OSPi. This plugin is complete however pending some further testing before being merged into the master branch. I have already submitted updated applications to the Google Play store (already live) and the Apple App store (pending review).
If I have created any confusion please feel free to ask. I will update this thread when OSPi interval program is updated with the new plugins and also when Apple App Store has accepted the new update. I have a lot of plans for these native apps that cannot be done from the webapp but the bulk of my efforts have gone into making the app experience as smooth as possible and I will build after the foundation is stable.
Thanks!
More information about the native apps: http://albahra.com/sprinklers
Update 1: Apple just approved the update and it should be reflected in the App Store within 24 hours.
Update 2: OSPi just got updated and includes the mobile_app.py plugin already. Please update to use with the native apps.