Joke company and terrible support
This app was great many years back but recently this has changed and this company has turned into complete joke. Strongly NOT recommend to use this app. My example I had everything lovely setup and working all great instead use the manufacturer app as I could consolidate all companies into one app. Now after recent update all plugs stoped responding from manufacturer TCP and this company is not willing to fix what they have caused. Now the update has disabled all plugs to control them via voice Alexa and they not responding at all. Now the company response after they have screwed all things over they told me to factory reset all plugs and do everything again. ARE YOU JOKING!!! My whole house is controlled via your app and you have completely screwed me over and who knows how many times you will do this again. People strongly suggest you to stay with manufacturer app as this is very unlikely happen with them this app is NOT worth the hassle and there is 0 support as they have NO interest at all to fix it. Joke company with joke customer service. STAY AWAY!
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Profoundly stupid upgrade
Total stupid design. Now all my devices are messed up because only first few characters are shown in an icon. I have more than 50 smart bulbs such as bedroom 1-1, bedroom 1-2. How can I find out one of them if what I can see is “Bedroom…”? The designer should look into the length of device name before proceeding to such stupid outlook. It must have never been well tested. I can imagine the idiot programmers only name devices as A, B, C, D etc when they tested and never thought of real life scenarios.
It is an arrogant design that assume permission on privacy must be given. Whenever I select something asking to get permission, it will be stuck and must ‘continue’. Fortunately I am using iPhone and ‘don’t allow’ them in Apple’s setup.
It also collect excessive information. It is not necessary to get location for weather. Weather Office is based on name of place only. Many features turn up not used because it asks for personal data unnecessarily.
It is an arrogant design that assume permission on privacy must be given. Whenever I select something asking to get permission, it will be stuck and must ‘continue’. Fortunately I am using iPhone and ‘don’t allow’ them in Apple’s setup.
It also collect excessive information. It is not necessary to get location for weather. Weather Office is based on name of place only. Many features turn up not used because it asks for personal data unnecessarily.
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Tap-to-run via Siri doesn’t work on iOS 18
The app itself works well and the latest update makes it even more useful. However, the integration with Siri doesn’t work anymore since updating to iOS18 and the task fails to run. I’m not able robuste Siri anymore to close my garage door for example and hope it gets fixed soon.
NO PORTRAIT MODE FOR IPADS!!!
this is a great and convenient app alternative to grid connect. would’ve given it a full 5 star rating, but i’d have to knock off that last star for the reasons below. one problem i’m having is the lack of portrait display orientation which i need as my ipad mini is mounted in a portrait recessed mount serving as the hud for all my smart devices. please add this feature as an option as i’m not the only one in this situation.
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The app works well however some features are broken.
I don’t have a problem with most of the functionality of the app however it seems the quite hidden “music mode” completely doesn’t work. I have tried going into setting and changing the app permissions so that it has mic access for the music mode however it doesn’t even have an option for mic access. Please fix/remove this broken feature. Also for people who are confused on where this so-called “music mode” is there is an option the the automation tab where you can make an automation to turn on music mode.
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App works good
There even is an App called ‘Smart Home’ to schedule, manage or control them wirelessly. After reading the developer’s privacy policy—I strongly recommend reading prior to using any App—and finding that the company itself is China owed; for my own personal security reasons, I elected not to allow the App access to my location or other areas of my WiFi or WiFi Devices once I completed setup. I use the plugs for a display cabinet and lamps. I particularly like a feature of the App that you can setup some or all of them in groups and schedule them to turn on and/or off on specific days together. I only gave 4 stars because I have a problem with giving China access to my personal information/network knowing it will be shared with whom ever they choose as they see fit through the App. If provided, the app has the capability of accessing and managing your home IP address, Mac Address, you email address, your mailing address, etc.. The App has many other features which allows you to connect security cameras, your public electrical utility account for calculating the devices consumption, as well as link other devices such as Google, Alexa, and Samsung SmartThings, etc. It works great with it’s products, it’s incompatible with most other smart or WiFi plugs.
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Not without its problems
I have started putting IR heaters into my home, all with WiFi connectivity, in an effort to reduce costs (I live in an area off the gas grid).
The first heaters were installed a couple years ago and connected no problem and work well via the app. The newer panel heaters were added recently and the app did so automatically. But with them I have problems that the heaters sometimes disconnect from the app. Of course it could also be the heaters.
My main issue with the app is the UI. When operating in dark mode some “back arrows” can hardly be seen. And the “+” and “-“ buttons to increase or decrease the temperature are nearly invisible for the newer panel heaters. The older bar heaters have a different layout in the app and are fine. Don’t the developers never check their work?
The first heaters were installed a couple years ago and connected no problem and work well via the app. The newer panel heaters were added recently and the app did so automatically. But with them I have problems that the heaters sometimes disconnect from the app. Of course it could also be the heaters.
My main issue with the app is the UI. When operating in dark mode some “back arrows” can hardly be seen. And the “+” and “-“ buttons to increase or decrease the temperature are nearly invisible for the newer panel heaters. The older bar heaters have a different layout in the app and are fine. Don’t the developers never check their work?
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Works Flawlessly… for me
I’ve read the recent reviews and I’m puzzled at all of the low review ratings. My home has ethernet connections at the corner rooms of the house. This allowed me to connect a wifi mesh system and allows me to control so many devices around the house for exterior and interior lights, garage, sprinkler system and all of the pool equipment. It’s all automated with rules around weather and time scheduled. I will admit, the only way I’ve been able to work around the Tap To Run in the Apple Watch app, is to set add those to the Siri Short cuts. If my phone is too far for the Smart Home app, I just use “Hey Siri” and run that shortcut.
I did try to install the same devices at a friend’s home but we quickly realized that his wifi signal was not steady where the devices were located. This caused a lot of the issues I see in the reviews about connectivity. I would recommend that you first set up ethernet cabling at the edges of your home, buy a mesh wifi system and cross your fingers and give it another shot.
In short I’m very happy and so is the rest of the family.
I did try to install the same devices at a friend’s home but we quickly realized that his wifi signal was not steady where the devices were located. This caused a lot of the issues I see in the reviews about connectivity. I would recommend that you first set up ethernet cabling at the edges of your home, buy a mesh wifi system and cross your fingers and give it another shot.
In short I’m very happy and so is the rest of the family.
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Not a Smart Life with this app any more
Revised review on October 31, 2023
Volcano Technology Limited responded to my complaint and explained why the app is not working on my Apple Watch after a certain period of time.
The explanation was
“ For security reasons, the App will expire after 45 days of login.”
I was not aware of this “ feature”, now knowing it I can log out then back in the app and problem solved.
Otherwise the app works well for me controlling lights automatically, with custom programs or with Siri.
I revised my rating, and based on my experience I do recommend the smart Smart Life app.
Old review
Lately this app is not working on my watch. It constantly wants me to log in to the app on the phone. But to do this, I have to delete the app from the phone, reinstall and log in. Please fix, it’s getting very annoying. Thanks. It’s been several months that I wrote the above review hoping that the app developers would check the problem out but nothing. I get on my watch every time “Add a device in your I phone Smart life app” and “Add a Tap-to -Run scene in your iPhone Smart Life app”. Not sure why this can not be fixed, worked fine before for years. Either an Apple update or a Smart Life update nixed it. Tired of logging out and then logging back in to have the app work for a few days.
Volcano Technology Limited responded to my complaint and explained why the app is not working on my Apple Watch after a certain period of time.
The explanation was
“ For security reasons, the App will expire after 45 days of login.”
I was not aware of this “ feature”, now knowing it I can log out then back in the app and problem solved.
Otherwise the app works well for me controlling lights automatically, with custom programs or with Siri.
I revised my rating, and based on my experience I do recommend the smart Smart Life app.
Old review
Lately this app is not working on my watch. It constantly wants me to log in to the app on the phone. But to do this, I have to delete the app from the phone, reinstall and log in. Please fix, it’s getting very annoying. Thanks. It’s been several months that I wrote the above review hoping that the app developers would check the problem out but nothing. I get on my watch every time “Add a device in your I phone Smart life app” and “Add a Tap-to -Run scene in your iPhone Smart Life app”. Not sure why this can not be fixed, worked fine before for years. Either an Apple update or a Smart Life update nixed it. Tired of logging out and then logging back in to have the app work for a few days.
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Response from developer
Dear, I'm very sorry for any inconvenience caused. For security reasons, the App will expire after 45 days of login. Do you frequently open the App? If the frequency is low, the watch may be logged out and you will need to log in again through the App. If you still have questions, you can send your App account and related videos to the email: volcano@volcano-smart.com.We will restore you as soon as possible.
Small glitch (or unannounced feature?) in Schedule
I’m using the to control a Durablow micro-voltage fireplace thermostat. Works very well for manual control. Also has a day-by-day/hour-by-hour schedule for a week. Problem is, if the device is following the schedule and you enter a manual temp change, the manually set temp, or any manual change you make to it then becomes a “Hold Temp” that overrides the schedule from then on. The only way I can find to get the device to resume the preset schedule is to go into the schedule, select the then current hour, delete that hour’s setting and reset the desired schedule temp. The is no “End Hold” function that I can find. Not even resetting manually to the schedule temp of the current hour will put the device back in the schedule. You must delete and reset the current hour’s temp to get the device on schedule. And if you then manually set a temp, it becomes a new “Hold Temp”. There are good and bad points to this, but nowhere do I find it explained in the instructions.
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