Company dead
I used this app for a couple years, but as of last Oct., it no longer works. You can't connect to their server, and without a connection, it's useless. THIS APP SHOULD BE REMOVED from the App Store.
I received an email some time ago from a supposed member of the company who tried to sell an "update". A day later I received another email from the actual company stating that the other email was fraudulent, and that the man who sent it was no longer associated with the company. They also said they were out of capital and could no longer make or sell the wristbands. I figured the company was headed to a sure death; but I didn't expect it to just cease to function without any warning.
I received an email some time ago from a supposed member of the company who tried to sell an "update". A day later I received another email from the actual company stating that the other email was fraudulent, and that the man who sent it was no longer associated with the company. They also said they were out of capital and could no longer make or sell the wristbands. I figured the company was headed to a sure death; but I didn't expect it to just cease to function without any warning.
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Company dead?
Borrowed a friends wristband to give it a try. Pretty sure this company is dead. Their SSL certificate expired in Oct 2012 so the app won't connect to their server. You'll also get the error when registering on their site and the app won't be able to connect to the server. App crashes quite a bit. Tried it last night not knowing it wouldn't be able to upload data and the alarm didn't go off until I switched to the app in the morning. Could be I didn't understand how that worked. Also not sure if this app can work without uploading to the server. There's an offline mode that I though I'd be able to track my sleep wo needing to upload but the next day I couldn't figure out how to get the data to view. Could be because the app keeps crashing or you just need to upload. So if the company goes under, the wristband and app might be useless.
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Unreliable
It often takes a lot of fiddling to get the wristband recognized by the software.
If I am awake and open another program on the iPad the software goes back to asking me what time I want to wake up even though it has already been setup and is supposed to be tracking my sleep.
It can be hours before I fall asleep but the wristband will report I have fallen asleep in minutes because the are with the wristband hasn't moved much.
I can get up and go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and the wristband will miss it.
If I am sleeping soundly and sleep through the alarm it doesn't appear to give me any extra credit for the time I sleep past my wakeup time.
I will not rely on this device to wake me up if I have to be up by a specific time.
The wristband communicates with the software to get things set up by Bluetooth. Then it disconnects from the Bluetooth. When I wake up it invariably does not have a Bluetooth connection and it tells me to power it off and back on to reestablish the connection so it can download the sleep data. So how is it going to tell the software I should be woken up if it can't communicate with the iPad. When the alarm goes off it is always 20 minutes before the time I set the alarm for.
You can delete tags from the list but the next time you sync them it puts all the tags you have previously deleted back onto the list. And there is no way to tag after the fact if you forget something or things change after you have told it you are going to sleep. Or go in at the end of the day and tag it for how well you performed that day or if you needed a nap to get through the day.
UPDATE 28June2012
As many have suspected, Wakemate sent out an email yesterday saying they had gone belly up. And last night when I tried to use the wristband the software told me the server's certificate had been revoked and would not let me connect. I will give it another try tonight but as of right now I have an expensive wristband that does nothing.
If I am awake and open another program on the iPad the software goes back to asking me what time I want to wake up even though it has already been setup and is supposed to be tracking my sleep.
It can be hours before I fall asleep but the wristband will report I have fallen asleep in minutes because the are with the wristband hasn't moved much.
I can get up and go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and the wristband will miss it.
If I am sleeping soundly and sleep through the alarm it doesn't appear to give me any extra credit for the time I sleep past my wakeup time.
I will not rely on this device to wake me up if I have to be up by a specific time.
The wristband communicates with the software to get things set up by Bluetooth. Then it disconnects from the Bluetooth. When I wake up it invariably does not have a Bluetooth connection and it tells me to power it off and back on to reestablish the connection so it can download the sleep data. So how is it going to tell the software I should be woken up if it can't communicate with the iPad. When the alarm goes off it is always 20 minutes before the time I set the alarm for.
You can delete tags from the list but the next time you sync them it puts all the tags you have previously deleted back onto the list. And there is no way to tag after the fact if you forget something or things change after you have told it you are going to sleep. Or go in at the end of the day and tag it for how well you performed that day or if you needed a nap to get through the day.
UPDATE 28June2012
As many have suspected, Wakemate sent out an email yesterday saying they had gone belly up. And last night when I tried to use the wristband the software told me the server's certificate had been revoked and would not let me connect. I will give it another try tonight but as of right now I have an expensive wristband that does nothing.
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Nice when it works
I've had the Wakemate for about a year and learned a lot about my sleep patterns. I had to send the wrist unit back once for a Bluetooth issue. Lately though, I've been getting the notorious "not enough data" error that others have reported. Tried to contact the Developers but have gotten no response, so I'd have to say customer support is a useless. If you don't mind possibly wasting 60 bucks, then give it a shot.
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Good when it works, but some bugs and no customer support
The company had promise: they were late getting the initial product out, but communicated reasonably well at the time.
Then came the power block recall. Customers were promised a replacement. This has never come. When emailed 6 months ago, support said a solution was on the way. However, with subsequent emails, there has been no answer. The blog on their website hasn't been updated in more than 6 months, so I suspect that they are defunct at this point, though still selling product (similar to Ovolab Phlink, for those of you who know them).
As for functionality: there has been a persistent bug between the iPhone passcode and the alarm. Basically, the alarm has prevented me from entering my passcode (since I use a number that overlies the alarm) to get into the phone and turn the alarm off. Support is aware of this. Their solution (this was a year ago) - don't use a passcode on your phone.
It seems that many recent reviews also report poor customer service. I would concur, as none of my emails have been answered, and a lone recent tweet that their back has not had any follow-up. For some pretty smart guys who wanted to start a company, this is a sad statement.
In short, then, I would avoid purchasing this product. For those of us who have it, it does have some functionality, and when it works, it works well. But it is unreliable with poor customer support to back it up.
Then came the power block recall. Customers were promised a replacement. This has never come. When emailed 6 months ago, support said a solution was on the way. However, with subsequent emails, there has been no answer. The blog on their website hasn't been updated in more than 6 months, so I suspect that they are defunct at this point, though still selling product (similar to Ovolab Phlink, for those of you who know them).
As for functionality: there has been a persistent bug between the iPhone passcode and the alarm. Basically, the alarm has prevented me from entering my passcode (since I use a number that overlies the alarm) to get into the phone and turn the alarm off. Support is aware of this. Their solution (this was a year ago) - don't use a passcode on your phone.
It seems that many recent reviews also report poor customer service. I would concur, as none of my emails have been answered, and a lone recent tweet that their back has not had any follow-up. For some pretty smart guys who wanted to start a company, this is a sad statement.
In short, then, I would avoid purchasing this product. For those of us who have it, it does have some functionality, and when it works, it works well. But it is unreliable with poor customer support to back it up.
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