Comparison

Escea Remote vs AUTOMATE SHADES

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Escea Remote

Control your gas fireplace remotely from your smartphone. Adjust temperature, turn it on/off, manage flame effects, and set timers for ultimate comfort and convenience.

Highlights
  • Remote on/off control
  • Thermostat temperature adjustment
  • Flame effect control
  • Fan boost control
  • Timer functions
  • Multi-fireplace management
Features
Read full description

*Experience fire at your fingertips with the Escea Fireplace Company - Gas Fireplace Remote. Compatible with any Escea D Series or MODE KS Series gas fireplace, this app allows you to control your fireplace from your smartphone – wherever you are. Walk into warmth every day with full control of your gas fireplace: - Turn the fireplace on and off - Set and adjust the thermostat for the perfect temperature - Turn “Flame Effect” on or off - Turn “Fan Boost” on or off - Set timer functions - Name and control multiple fireplaces in your home For more information on Escea or where to purchase Escea gas fireplaces, visit www.escea.com Only compatible with Escea D Series and MODE KS Series gas fireplaces at this time.

About

AUTOMATE SHADES

Effortlessly control and automate motorized window shades. Organize shades by room, group them into scenes, and set timers for daily routines. Monitor battery levels and signal strength for all shades remotely.

Highlights
  • Room-based organization
  • Scene creation and activation
  • Automated timers
  • Remote control
  • Battery and signal monitoring
  • Sunrise/sunset automation
Features
Read full description

The Automate App has been re-designed to embrace the architecture of a home and provide effortless control of Automate motorized shades. Easily operate or Personalize the daily routine of shades; organising them by room, grouping them by scenes and automating them with timers. Unlock the convenience of smart shade operation, with the Automate app. The new Automate app not only allows you to activate, adjust and automatically position your shades but does so through One Tap on the Shade Tiles. One Tap to close, One Tap to open and One Tap to activate and stop scenes. A double tap stops a shade’s operation, and a single long press opens a dedicated shade control screen giving you access to more customized settings. White tiles indicate the shade is open or partially open and a grey tile indicates the shade is closed. A summary screen displays the battery levels of all your shades along with signal strength indicators, prompting necessary action to either charge your motors or troubleshoot connections. The Automate App lets you create an automation routine, and once setup, autonomously raises and lowers your smart shades at the optimal time, so your home’s climate is always at its best. The Automate app has been designed to make controlling your shades easier than ever with a long list of features and control options! MOTOR TYPES The Automate Hub supports a variety of shade types including: Roller Shades, Romans, Awnings, Drapery, Venetians, Cellular, Skylights, Large Outdoor Shades. LIVE FEEDBACK VIA ARC ARC technology enables live communication between your Hub and Automate shades, so you always know what position your shades are in, as well as the battery percentage of your motor. Quickly check shade information within the app or ask Siri to check for you! SUNRISE AND SUNSET DETECTION Utilizing your home’s time zone and location, the Hub can automatically raise or lower your Automate shades according to the position of the sun. Set a ‘Morning’ scene and watch all your shades promptly rise when you start your day, or create an “Evening” scene that will dynamically alter based on the sunset in your location. SCENES Personalize shade control and organise how your shades operate by specific daily events or scenes automatically at the optimal time. Creating a scene for your entire home can be completed effortlessly with a Scene capture button. SHADE HEALTH Check the health of your motorized shades at a glance with Battery level and Signal strength icons on your device tiles. COMPLETE CONTROL HOME AND AWAY If you have multiple locations like a home, office, or vacation home, simply switch between them for independent control. Always be in charge of your privacy and security! Enjoy your time away from home without having to stress about your shades, the Automate app allows you to remotely access your shades, know their position and operate them as you would if you were home. HOMEKIT The hub is HomeKit compatible, shades are automatically added to the Home app and can be controlled with voice commands via Siri compatible devices. SMART INTEGRATIONS We’re all about convenience, so we’ve partnered with all the latest smart home assistants to deliver the most convenient shade control options. Intuitively operate your Automate shades with simple voice commands through Amazon Alexa, IFTTT, SmartThings, and Google Assistant.

Screenshots

Escea Remote4 screens
AUTOMATE SHADES4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: AUTOMATE SHADES at 3.1 against Escea Remote's 1.0. AUTOMATE SHADES also leads on update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 16 months) and review sentiment (33% vs 9%). Escea Remote's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

AUTOMATE SHADES holds the better App Store score, 3.1 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: AUTOMATE SHADES has 93 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 9% of Escea Remote's written reviews are positive against 33% of AUTOMATE SHADES's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Escea Remote ships an update every 16 months, AUTOMATE SHADES every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Escea Remote versus AUTOMATE SHADES: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEscea RemoteAUTOMATE SHADES
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.0 (2 ratings)3.1 (93 ratings) — better
Positive reviews8.8% of reviews32.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings293 — better
Update frequencyEvery 16 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB151 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEscea LtdROLLEASE ACMEDA

Customer experience

Escea Remote

All ratings2 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews68 reviews
Positive8.8%
Neutral4.4%
Negative86.8%

AUTOMATE SHADES

All ratings93 ratings
Positive50.5%
Neutral4.3%
Negative45.2%
Written reviews230 reviews
Positive32.6%
Neutral7.8%
Negative59.6%

User reviews

Escea Remote

From 2 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to setup
  • 👍 Quick to set up
  • 👍 Works well (when it works)
  • 👍 Slick new version (in 2016)
  • 👍 Allows programmed timers to be set (though remote does it easily)

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Very glitchy
  • 🐛 Remote access hit and miss
  • 🐛 Often completely unavailable
  • 🐛 Not possible to set custom times
  • 🐛 App has been left to rot

AUTOMATE SHADES

From 93 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great customer service
  • 🚀 Fantastic support
  • 🚀 Works as described
  • 🚀 Excellent functionality and flexibility
  • 🚀 Timer function is exceptional

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Buggy and unreliable
  • 🐛 Frequent disconnections and sync issues
  • 🐛 Difficult to set up and configure
  • 🐛 Poor HomeKit and smart home integration
  • 🐛 Unresponsive devices

Bugs and requests

Escea Remote

Reported bugs

50 issues
  • App crashes when reopened
  • App crashes unexpectedly
  • App broken in iOS 17
  • App broken with latest iOS
  • Fireplace goes offline
Show 45 more
  • Cannot turn on fireplace
  • Cannot find fireplace on network
  • App doesn't work on mobile data network
  • Fireplace unavailable on mobile data
  • App has not worked for many months
  • Timer doesn't work
  • App affected by iPhone update
  • App not working since iOS 16 update
  • App no longer works with latest iOS
  • Fireplace is unavailable half the time
  • App does not connect remotely
  • App does not connect
  • Connection often drops out
  • App is essentially useless
  • Doesn't connect remotely
  • App hardly ever works correctly
  • App hangs trying to refresh
  • Non Wifi/external connectivity no longer works
  • App constantly jumps to remote mode
  • App doesn't connect remotely
  • App only connects via WiFi
  • Timer doesn't work
  • Remote feature doesn't work
  • App will not connect remotely
  • App can only be used on home WiFi
  • App doesn't refresh
  • App doesn't update with status
  • App is hit and miss, more miss
  • Cannot connect when app states not available
  • App does not work without WiFi connection
  • Cannot login to server
  • App is unreliable
  • App seems very unreliable
  • App doesn't work
  • App doesn't work remotely
  • App doesn't work over 4G
  • App doesn't refresh when going back into app
  • App has connectivity issues
  • App hardly ever works
  • Fireplace is unavailable most of the time
  • App doesn't work when at home
  • App doesn't work over 4G
  • App doesn't refresh
  • App doesn't seem to allow timer changes
  • App doesn't work since iOS 10 update

Requested features

14 requests
  • Add Alexa integration
  • Add Google Home integration
  • Add Apple HomeKit integration
  • Add Amazon Alexa integration
  • Add ability to set schedules based on weather or temperature
Show 9 more
  • Add ability to set schedules for different days of the week
  • Add ability to set custom times for on/off
  • Redesign the app
  • Ability to add commands in Shortcuts
  • Allow remote turn on using phone network (3G/4G)
  • Update the app
  • Fix the app
  • Add iPad version
  • Allow changing timers in the app

AUTOMATE SHADES

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Frequent app crashes
  • Shades disappearing from the app
  • Timers and schedules not working as expected
  • Connectivity issues between hub and shades
  • Inconsistent performance after updates

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved user interface and navigation
  • Better sync and reliability across devices
  • Enhanced smart home integrations
  • Customizable shade positioning and automation
  • Battery level notifications

In-app purchases

None

Escea Remote

No in-app purchases

None

AUTOMATE SHADES

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Escea Remote free?
Escea Remote is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is AUTOMATE SHADES free?
AUTOMATE SHADES is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Escea Remote or AUTOMATE SHADES?
AUTOMATE SHADES is rated higher. Escea Remote averages 1.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while AUTOMATE SHADES averages 3.1 from 93 ratings.
Do Escea Remote or AUTOMATE SHADES have ads?
Neither Escea Remote nor AUTOMATE SHADES shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Escea Remote or AUTOMATE SHADES?
Escea Remote ships an update every 16 months, and AUTOMATE SHADES every 6 weeks. Most recently, Escea Remote was updated on November 1, 2026 and AUTOMATE SHADES on October 26, 2026.

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