Best charging ever
Awesome product
Limited Usefulness
Rechargeable lithium batteries are increasingly ubiquitous (computers, flashlights, mowers, bicycles and cars), but most of us still have a lot to learn about charging them in ways that maintain their health and useful lifespan. In short, over time, lithium batteries eventually lose their capacity to hold a charge. To slow down that degradation, it’s best to avoid fully charging them to 100% or discharging them to 0%. In fact, Arroe and other sources (Tesla, e.g.) advise maintaining a lithium battery’s charge level between 20% and 80%. Obviously, that isn’t easy to achieve with phones, tablets, and laptops, which is why I was so excited about Arroe software.
I loaded Arroe v. 3.02 on my iPhone, iPad, and my MacBook Pro. As mentioned, I tend to use each device for at least part of every day. On each device, this app CAN simultaneously indicate the current level of charge on all three devices. And it CAN provide notifications one one device that it’s time to charge OR stop charging another device. That could potentially save one from babysitting devices to unplug them once they hit 80%, and plug them in when they fall below 20%.
However, for background battery DISCHARGE LEVEL MONITORING, Arroe generally creates more work than it eliminates. In my experience, each device must be “on” (lid open, screen lit up), and the Arroe app open to receive notifications. And for iPhone and iPad, one must first “Pull down [on the screen] to refresh devices” to obtain an accurate reading. Those requirements defeat the whole purpose. You might as well skip Arroe altogether and simply glance at the battery level while you’re lighting up the device screen. In short, Arroe will NOT push a notification on one device to tell me that the charge on another device has fallen below 20% — unless that device is on and its screen is lit up. Sleep mode makes this impractical, not to mention that lit screens use a lot of power and require more frequent charging. Unless I’m misunderstanding how to use this app, these are counterproductive requirements for effective DISCHARGE notifications.
On the other hand, for battery CHARGE LEVEL MONITORING, Arroe’s notifications to stop charging one device while working on another are excellent. For example, while working on my MacBook, Arroe will push a notification to my screen indicating that my iPhone has charged to 80% and prompt me to unplug it. And vice versa. Nice!
Overall, in my experience, Arroe’s effectiveness seems limited to charge level monitoring. Until it can push notifications that a device needs charging — without being open, on, and screen lit — it’s usefulness seems limited to “charge now” prompts.
Ok but an ongoing problem
Where has this been all my life!
Convenient & Awesome
Great tool for battery management
Very useful app
Monitor your batteries
Busy mom. Need all help I can get
Never forget to charge again
I can’t wait to see what updates will be available in the next release.
Disappointing
Response from developer
Version 1.0 of the ARROE app that you reviewed could only be used with an ARROE portable battery and charging hub as noted in the app description. We look forward to releasing future versions which will have battery management features you can use with our without our charging solutions. We would appreciate it if you would remove this review considering the above information. Please do reach out to us with any questions.
