Update Electron before deploying to my users?

@loopj I like your idea!

I have yet to receive my Electron but I have a question that maybe you could answer in conjunction with your Particle CLI Boilerplate methods while I anxiously await its arrival this week hopefully.

Since the best way to flash the Particle Electron is using USB to conserve bandwidth does the SIM have to be initially activated before flashing code or just logged in to the Particle Cloud?

Nope, you can USB flash new firmware directly out the box (without SIM or cloud)

@ScruffR Since you can “USB flash new firmware directly out the box (without SIM or cloud)” would the following scenario work:

  1. Let say I have 5+ Electrons that I flashed my same program to.
  2. I then pass the 5+ Electrons out to 5+ different people who each use their own credentials to login into the Particle Cloud and each activates their own Sim account.

After the 5+ Electrons are active in the Particle Cloud is my original program that I flashed running independently on each Electron?

Basically I would like to put a program on Electrons that I would distribute but would like the enduser to have their own Particle account and pay for their own SIM account.

Yup, that’s possible.

Just for clarification, you then won’t have access to the devices anymore for reflashing or maintenance yourself.
If you still want to be able to do so, you might want to consider keeping the device access token in your own hands but let the users activate the SIM on their account - or if you want to have a business product consider the Particle Dashboard.

@ScruffR How can I keep the device access tokens in my own hands and allow the user to activate the SIM with their own account?
In the same vane I do not understand how the Particle Dashboard would work with the Electron. The way the Particle Dashboard works with the Photon you can do updates and maintain control of your code but with the Electron how can you have Particle Dashboard control but at the same time have the end user maintain and pay their SIM account and view their data usage? Can the two be mutually exclusive?

I’ve just split your questions out of the other thread as it would mean hijacking that thread for something completely off-topic.
We can still alter the title I’ve chosen for this if you want.

The access token for the device is only tied to the device ID and not to the used SIM (this also allows to use third party SIMs).
So you could use any SIM to claim the device to your account and later on just substitute the SIM (the same the user can use multiple SIMs without impacting the validity of access tokens).
Or you can reclaim the device to your account after it was activated by someone else as long you know its device ID.

It’s pretty much the same as if a user took a Photon from one WiFi network to another.

Particle Dashboard for Products is a special beast :wink: It gives the product creator (you) and your customer/user shared access.
So the user can have an access token to talk to the device but you can still do fleet management like OTA firmware updates.

@ScruffR Thanks for your clarification and insight.
Yes, it make sense to have moved the conversation to a new thread. The title is fine.