laurensvalk
commented
1 year ago Thanks for reminding us about this. We've been focusing on polishing the app, but the website certainly could use more work. We're also moving over the installation pages to a place where they can be edited by contributors (See https://github.com/pybricks/support/issues/780).
To answer your question for now:
Using the official app requires using the official firmware, so you have to restore the firmware every time you want to use the app.
This is technically not an issue or risk, but I can see it being a bit cumbersome. There are perhaps two ways we can improve to make this easier:
- Restore the latest MINDSTORMS firmware right away. This saves you from doing an update with the MINDSTORMS app. The problem is that we need permission to redistribute that firmware file.
- Add a block language to Pybricks, so there's less of a need to switch back :wink:
blais
Question Will the original (Mindstorms) app still work if I install PyBricks?
Context
I discovered the project, and while there's a lot of information, this basic question is not answered and I feel it should be right there at the top of the instructions. Basically, if I install PyBricks, will my kid still be able to use the original Lego-provided app to program the hub?
I suspect the answer is "no", which would leave me having to do a restore to the original firmware + upgrade frequently for him to use the app (he's too young to do Python yet), and I view that as somewhat of a risky proposition.
In any case, that was one of my most important question when I came to the project, and I couldn't find an obvious answer quickly (well I still don't know for sure). It's really a question about the level of commitment if I install this; if the original app still works, I'm a lot more likely to give it a try, because in the worst case we can still use the original app.
I think it would be useful to add this answer in a prominent place early in the docs. Thank you, (feel free to call me RTFM if I missed it)
Screenshots N/A