Smart Shades vs MySmartBlinds
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Smart Shades
Transform your existing window shades into smart devices with this solar-powered, wireless gadget. Control your blinds remotely via a smartphone app, setting custom schedules and automated movements for enhanced convenience.
- Turns regular shades into smart shades
- Solar-powered operation
- Wireless and easy installation
- Smartphone app control
- Automated patterns and schedules
- Bluetooth Low Energy communication
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SOMA Smart Shades is an easy to install, solar-powered device that turns your regular window shades into smart shades. It is extremely simple to operate via your smartphone. It is also easy to install since it is wireless. All the movements of SOMA Smart Shades are controlled by the application which communicates with SOMA Smart Shades via Bluetooth Low Energy. You can move blinds in your rooms up and down whenever you like or create automated patterns and schedules for different rooms to make your life even more convenient.
MySmartBlinds
Automate your home's horizontal blinds with this app. Set custom schedules for blinds to open, close, or adjust, and control them remotely. Features include sun tracking and energy-saving modes.
- Automate blind opening and closing
- Set weekly schedules per room
- Sun tracking for seasonal adjustments
- Energy saving mode
- Remote control via app
- Gradual tilt option
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MySmartBlinds turns any home into a smart home by automating horizontal 2-inch blinds. Your blinds will automatically open, close and adjust at schedules you set. Also automate your blinds any time via the app. Features: • Quickly open or close blinds with Smart Open and Smart Close buttons • Gradual tilt option moves blinds silently • Set up multiple weekly schedules per room • Sun tracking adjusts blind schedules with seasonal sun position change (requires firmware 1.5 or higher) • Energy savings feature closes your blinds if it gets hot. (requires firmware 2.0 or higher) • Quiet motion: you won't hear the blinds move when they close/open on schedule (requires firmware 2.0 or higher) • Conveniently control various blind position and adjustment presets with optional Smart Switch ••••••IMPORTANT INFORMATION•••••• MySmartBlinds is a premium home-automation kit. The app is free to install, but it requires the purchase of one or more MySmartBlinds retrofit kits to control your blinds.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: MySmartBlinds at 2.5 against Smart Shades's 2.1. MySmartBlinds also leads on monetization model (free with in-app purchases vs paid) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and update cadence there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
MySmartBlinds holds the better App Store score, 2.5 against 2.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 65 and 101 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 25% of Smart Shades's written reviews are positive against 20% of MySmartBlinds's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Smart Shades ships an update every 2 months, MySmartBlinds every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Smart Shades | MySmartBlinds |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.1 (65 ratings) | 2.5 (101 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 25.0% of reviews — better | 20.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 65 | 101 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 47 MB | 68 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Wazombi | MYSMARTBLINDS, INC |
Customer experience
Smart Shades
MySmartBlinds
User reviews
Smart Shades
From 65 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Works with HomeKit
- 👍 Automations and scenes work
- 👍 Good product, great service
- 👍 Easy to set up
- 👍 Works well with HomeKit
Room to improve
- 🐛 App crashes frequently
- 🐛 App not opening
- 🐛 Basic and poorly designed
- 🐛 Unreliable connectivity
- 🐛 Software awful
MySmartBlinds
From 101 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Great concept for retrofitting blinds
- 👍 Easy installation and app setup
- 👍 Voice control functionality (when working)
- 👍 Energy saving features (when working)
- 👍 Quiet operation
Room to improve
- 🐛 App frequently crashes
- 🐛 Unable to log in / login issues
- 🐛 App requires frequent re-login
- 🐛 Blinds randomly deleted from app
- 🐛 Support is non-existent or slow
Bugs and requests
Smart Shades
Reported bugs
32 issues- App crashes with Smart Shades 3
- App crashes after update
- App crashes instantly
- App closes itself right away
- App won't open at all
Show 27 moreShow fewer
- App crashes before it even opens
- Sunset function stopped working
- Sunset trigger doesn't work
- Bluetooth stopped working
- Not responding to Alexa
- Soma Connect not working
- Soma Connect shows WiFi numbers, not names
- Soma Connect connection failed
- Shade control only works on Android
- Next button missing during calibration
- Calibration deviation over time
- Blind drifts out of calibrated position
- Cog works its way off spindle
- Battery status inaccurate
- Motor is slow
- Units open at different speeds
- Blinds lose their position
- Hub setup programmed poorly
- Voice commands limited
- App not updated for over a year
- Easy to interrupt movement
- Device forgets min/max heights
- Pairing Soma Connect is almost impossible
- Blinds slip and need reconfiguring
- Motor is slow to respond
- Ripped the gear cog to shreds
- App crashes halfway through firmware update
Requested features
24 requests- Matter support
- Change app language
- Change highest/lowest position
- Recalibrate function
- Simple up and down buttons
Show 19 moreShow fewer
- Dusk to dawn automation
- Sunrise/sunset schedule
- Siri Shortcut integration
- Group triggers
- Confirmation dialog when cancelling setup
- Manual adjustment offset
- Notification for low battery
- Single screen for all battery levels
- Support for iPhone X screen size
- Rename groups/individual units
- Speed control for motors
- Temperature setting (Fahrenheit)
- Dusk/dawn open and close
- Edit shade name
- Continuous open/close feature
- Update for iOS 11 group creation
- iPad version
- Live power meter for solar panel
- Secure version of product
MySmartBlinds
Reported bugs
22 issues- App crashes on launch
- Login failures (password reset not working)
- App deletes all paired blinds
- Bridge broken for weeks
- Cannot log back into the app
Show 17 moreShow fewer
- Google Home compatibility issues
- App crashes when selecting a blind
- Hub randomly removed from app
- Blinds not staying connected to the app
- App requires login every time
- Login fails to show blinds
- App crashes randomly
- App not working with iOS 16.2
- Schedules not running
- Cannot close blinds
- Hub unable to connect to WiFi
- Sun tracking feature not working
- Energy savings feature not working
- Calibration not working after adding new blinds
- Apple Watch app disappeared
- Setup lost after logging out
- Bridge not proceeding beyond WiFi setup
Requested features
10 requests- HomeKit support
- Siri Shortcuts integration
- Apple Watch app support
- More modern app interface
- Improved voice control for multiple blinds
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- Ability to control individual blinds without separate rooms
- Sunrise/sunset functionality
- Ability to set actual temperature for energy savings
- Firmware updates for blinds
- Consolidate MySmartBlinds into Tilt app
In-app purchases
Smart Shades
No in-app purchases
MySmartBlinds
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Smart Shades free?
Is MySmartBlinds free?
Which has better reviews, Smart Shades or MySmartBlinds?
Do Smart Shades or MySmartBlinds have ads?
Which is updated more often, Smart Shades or MySmartBlinds?
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