Sensor data download tool retirement, options

Hello,

I’ve relied heavily on the Sensor Data Download Tool, for quick and repeated update checks of my latest meter channels readings:

Sensor data download tool | PurpleAir

which is unfortunately now retired. The two suggested options indicated on the retirement page are not ideal in my opinion:

  1. downloading the data (and then displaying, etc) is not an option for a quick page refresh to get the latest sensor numbers.

  2. using the API - I assume this requires first understanding the API, then producing bolt-up code - once again, far removed from the easy of a page refresh on a browser.

Please tell me I don’t have this right, and there is a more direct way to get the data simply via browser page refresh, without any post-processing required.

Regards,
Robert

P.S. The values at the map of purpleair.com require an additional selection of the sensor (after finding it ), to get the data, plus are more averaged then the sensor data download tool. And trying to read the last values on the graph produced when clicking on the sensor is hard generally, but more so when checking readings on a smartphone.

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Robert
I 100% agree with you that the current restrictions and difficulty in downloading OUR data is not acceptable.
The basic premise of purple was freely available to the community historical sensor data.
The current steep learning curve of the API, required software program creation and restriction in data access to OUR OWN historical data is not appropriate for a open data philosophy.
Purple air seems to have lost their way.
Bob J…

Hello Robert,

We understand and agree that access to the data should be easy and user-friendly. We are working on a new tool that will make data more easily accessible.

We appreciate your patience in the meantime.

Yesterday we released a temporary download tool you can use to download PurpleAir data. We have an article about it here: PurpleAir Data Download Tool.

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Great. But that appears to be just for downloading data, without an API for visualizing current readings, like the previous Sensor data download too.

Robert

This is something we are working on for future tools.

We appreciate your feedback.