Leave a Review RainMachine
Has a demo RainMachine!
I often download the Apps for ‘smart’ devices before I spend a lot of money on the hardware. You would be surprised what you can learn that might keep you from buying the hardware.
How did this one do? First off, no account to create, check! And, I was pleasantly surprised to see that this App looks great on an iPad, check! But best of all, it includes a fully functional ‘Demo RainMachine’, that allows you fully explore the full UI. Wow! I have never seen that before, check!
’Nice job’ developer. I’ll be ordering the RainMachine Pro.Show lessNotGoneFishing
No progress...save your money
I’ve had this app and unit since it came out and the flaws that bothered me then are still present now...years later! To name a few:
1) clicking save then being prompted to save when going ‘back’...it even prompts to save when NOTHING has been changed
2) massive lag
3) start watering then clicking stop does not stop and causes app to crash...always appreciated when you are in the middle of servicing the system 😉
4) I could go on and on but why? The app hasn’t gotten any better and I don’t suspect it will...btw...Costco seems to be selling a more reliable/user-friendly unit, maybe I’ll just take the loss on this one and move onShow lessLulu👀👄
Great product, terrible app
I love the product, I hate the app. I have 4 of these units. And really want to support this product and company but the app is terrible!
Spinning, loading, it takes forever to do anything because all it does is spins. I eventually have to close it to start at the next task I was attempting to do in the app. This is the case with all of mine, even the ones that are wired with Ethernet. The Wi-Fi connection process takes forever retrying over and over (and over) until it finally works. I have an access point that is direct wired and within 10 feet of the unit (mounted outdoors) and it still wants to connect to an access point 400ft away with terrible connection. The Wi-Fi is probably the software on the unit but because you can’t properly configure it with the app I blame it. Once you do finally trick it to connect to the close one by turning off all others the app loads and spins. Clearly I’m not the only one with these problems. Read the other reviews.
They have so many great things in the product but the basics are what’s holding it back.Show lessbrannonv5678
Startup Problems and Annual Problems
I have had the RainMachine controller for 3 years now. The setup instructions are not clear. When you are connecting the controller to WiFi you have switch local discovery in the network settings to “on” and once your done with set up you have to switch to “off” or you won’t be able to control the unit when your off your WiFi, they don’t tell you this in any instructions. I had to call the support line multiple times and they didn’t even understand that was what was needed to be done. After multiple frustrating calls I actually figured it out myself.
Also, every year when I start my system up I have some sort problem. This year, about a week ago everything seemed fine, then today I tried to water an individual zone and I got the “infinite thinking circle” that wouldn’t let me do anything. I tried rebooting, didn’t work, tried turning phone on and off, didn’t work, tried reinstalling app, didn’t work. Finally I reset the controller and went completely through setup and that worked. Clearly they have bugs. The overall ratings for this app is currently 2.7 and it is clear to me why.Show lessebjayhawk
Uses to work better, now connection issues
While the unit has worked well in the past, I’m having issues with connection from the app this season. The basestation appears to be working independently on its own, but iPhone app control is spotty, with constant “bufferering” when attempting to connect to the unit. A need to consistently reboot the home base to fix offline status is now required, with no change of internet/WiFi service or any other connection issues of other devices in the house. Hopefully this is just a glitch with the most recent software update, fixed with the next version.Show lessAppyhack
Reliability
The concept is great regarding the opportunity to remotely control the lawn watering system - but the WiFi built into the unit is not reliable. All other automated WiFi connections within the home are working fine, but the Rainmaker panel can not hold a WiFi signal. I have had the local cable company who services our WiFi come out several times and the unit continues to fail holding a continual WiFi signal. It is worth the effort to research other similar products within the competitive market before purchasing Rainmaker. They have a 2.8 rating out of 5. That should be concerning to you if making a decision to purchase a unit such as this. I bought Rainmaker without doing my homework and troubles me for not following through on other similar products. Especially with the money i spent for the unit and installation. Best of luck to all! Also the amount of watering this year from the unit saturated my yard and now have water in my cellar. The sump pump was dry for years unit I had this unit installed. It’s a false sense of security and I will eventually go back to a manual watering panel. The developers are dedicated to fix all the bugs, and intentions are honorable, but in the mean time with all the bata fixes and more, my unit is not working! I bought it purposely because I travel and wanted to monitor my sprinkler system from remote!Show lessJohn&Sab
IoT in 2018?
Not sure an IoT product in 2018 gets away with only working while you are connected to the same WiFi network the sprinkler system is connected to is a viable product. It works fine while at home, and your phone is connected to the same WiFi as you sprinkler system. But in 2018, why does the app not work from wherever?
Why can I not control my sprinkler system from anywhere in the world? I can change my thermostat from anywhere. I can look in on my security system from anywhere. I can open my garage door from wherever. I can even turn my oven on from wherever. But I can’t operate my Rain Machine system from wherever??Show lessBaxter311
Love it!
I have pretty much automated everything in my home and this has to be my favorite and most used. The device is easy to install and the app is very easy even for my kids to understand and use. No more spending a half an hour in the basement trying to change my schedule because it’s getting hotter and no more stupid wireless rain sensor messing up my watering schedule. I connected zone to my garden drip system this year and my garden has never looked better. It’s really cool that I can stand in my garden and if it needs more water I can just press a button on my phone. Just yesterday my landscapers wanted to put fertilizer on the lawn but needed me to water it first and I was able to do that from work. The best part is being able to stop watering when I want to take a shower and the water pressure is low because the sprinklers are on. The only problem is that the snooze button does not work for programs that are actively on....if they add that function I would give it 5 stars and paid more money!
So pause button and skip zone button need to be in your next update...ThanksShow lesscharliethumbs
Was working great, something I couldn’t live without, but now (edit-is now fixed)
The app was working just fine, with just the occasional hiccup. Now when I enter the app, all my zones are gone, all my programs are gone, and when I try to do anything on the app it simply crashes. I tried deleting and reinstalling, rebooting my device, all with no luck.
When it was working it was a very useful and slick method of determine which zone goes to which part of the yard. It gives
You the ability to quickly and easily change what zones you want watered, when and for how long. I would never go without something like this again. Now that it is not working, I am quite anxious that I will have to go without... ( Which goes to show to great it was having this ). Here’s to hoping it gets fixed.
6/25-this is now fixed, loving it again!Show lessRaterion
Works well
This app runs the rainmachine controller well. The on/off capabilities of the mobil apps are useful for working on the system and also provide a lot of information. However, the apps do not provide the actual water used when you have the flow rates programmed in. The only place that is available is in the web interface. The apps only provide a relative “Water saved” calculation based on a percentage of time the system is run (less than 100%). The actual water used should be, I feel, an easy to see and predominant point in every interface.Show lessInk...Slinger
