Smart Life - Smart Living

This app dev has squeezed the most use with minimal bugs or issues out of the open source software it’s based on. My use over a years + time span has been nothing but fantastic. I also have extensive use with two other apps based on the same open source software and while they have had minimal bugs or other issues as with this app they didn’t quite have the same expanse of use. This goes for shear range of devices that could be controlled, not to mention how many different ways/signal types could be used to control devices, but also the main use I enjoy is the breadth of color I have to select from with the color changing light. Lighting is my largest use for this app next to power consumption monitoring devices and I have only one complaint about the lighting. I would love a feature that allows my color change lights to change colors in conjunction with the music I have playing with just a couple basic hue settings to keep the color in one area of the color wheel, so in one song I’m not getting every single color available at a strobe lights pace because that just is not pleasant. In synopsis, this is a fantastic automation app that takes advantage WiFi, Bluetooth and WiFi signal variations all while charging not a cent.

Show more

Put away

Smooth system with great extended coverage as it seems all devices link! If something ever fails, just redo it like it was new without changing the name, and it will reconnect in an instant. I use all the features including several groups, timers, all of the settings offered on the light bulbs, and others. If power goes out temporarily, in a few minutes your devices will automatically be back on line w/o any input from you! I like the energy monitoring switches in various brands that work with this system and they all work very well! Of the colored light bulbs, I have found that the ones that are a dollar or two more than the cheapest will mimic the really expensive colored bulbs! Remember to get WiFi extenders or similar when you add lots of devices so that everything runs smoothly! When I add an extender, every device seems to be much quicker and no bobbles! Last note I will mention is that in 99% of any failures is your WiFi not this program! However, remember to reinstall any device that is not working per instructions that came with the device! BTW, I have around 35 bulbs and switches on this system and about 60 other devices and they all work fine because of an upgraded router designed to handle many devices as well as three extenders!

Show more

Put away

First the app work as expected although pairing some of my plugs was difficult and time wasting. After a couple months the APP got stuck and would not open. After a few days I removed it. In the APP store I found an app that looking identical but it’s name was ‘Smart Life+. I installed it. It work just like this app and the only noticeable different was the main splash screen was a larger tree of devices, etc. Today, not this new version (so I thought) is not in the APP and maybe that explains why the APP would not open. So, now for the third time I have to pair all my plugs and recreate scenes or activities, whatever. Alexa seems to be working as usual. So. I don’t understand how the Smart Life+ app was working in the background. Now I’ve installed this Smart Life app and there must not be a data storage for these apps. I need to pair everything again, recreate scenes and get Alexa to detect my plugs. This is such a mess with duplicate in my Alexa APP for every time I’ve had to start all over again. Crawling on the floor, moving my bed to get to plugs behind it. So tired and even more confused. Developer, Help! What happened to this APP? Where did the + version go?

Show more

Put away

I have never been a morning person. I have struggled my whole life with waking up on time and getting out of bed. This alarm clock has literally changed my life. I set my alarm to start turning the light on 25 minutes before the sound will go off to wake me up. I have woken up to just the light so many time before the sound even goes off, and it is such a better, more relaxing way to wake up in the morning! I have also noticed that I wake up feeling less groggy and have more energy throughout the day because I’m not oversleeping. I would HIGHLY recommend this alarm clock to anyone who struggles with waking up in the mornings, or anyone who just wants to wake up and feel more refreshed, less groggy during the day, and just overall relaxed in the mornings! The app is pretty easy to use, my only suggestion would be to add more wake up sound options. I usually listen to “River Sounds” or “Ocean Sounds”, but like a light “Rain Sound” would be cool or something :). My overall satisfaction though is still a 10/10!!

Show more

Put away

I wasn’t going to write a review on this, since I’ve been using it for so long, but after a recent update and request to beta test, I thought I would read some reviews to see what’s up. This app has worked flawlessly for me for so many years (4+yrs) on close to 15 devices, doing everything you would expect. It was relatively easy to figure out and super easy to use. I read some of these comments, and I’m baffled at how people function in life. It’s odd to see the flaky ones where people use their rating as a weapon and people actually said they gave 5 stars but made it 1 when something didn’t go their way, then when fixed they were like yayy you get your 5 stars again..... What??? I see these same types of keyboard hero’s on the other review sites..so ridiculous! Some reviews are mad at this app because they cant figure out the cheap device they bought, not realizing that this app is just the platform on which other companies hardware works. It’s like watching people buy cheap appliances and being mad at the electric company because their gadget doesn’t work! Bottom line...this is decent app that provides the platform to control multiple devices, they do a pretty decent job of trying to accommodate every smart hardware, they seem to get blamed for the manufacturers and programmers of the hardware but I guess that goes with the territory!

Show more

Put away

I have a new issue. Some time ago when I set up my smart bulbs in my old home I was able to set up the automation option of switching the bulbs on and off via location settings. I'm now in a new home and I cannot do that anymore, my problem is that when on the location proximity selection screen, if you hit the OK button it does absolutely nothing, therefore you cannot proceed setting up. App is updated and cashe is cleared. Please fix, this is one of my favorite features. -Using a Galaxy S10+

Show more

Put away

The app works. However, the nomenclature is inconsistent and confusing to some. Switch ON/OFF for garage door OPEN/CLOSE, record for history, and Timer for schedule are examples. Android notifications for garage door OPEN and CLOSE are confusing as well. This app needs a professional User Interface designer to make some simple changes to make this into a 5-Star app.

Show more

Put away

Partially incompatible with my Samsung tablets. Aside from the portrait only orientation of the app, much more annoying is that it pops up an intro window (when accessing Scenes) that explains the Scenes' functionality and Blocks access to the Scenes controls! This necessitates closing the app entirely. Fortunately, I have the app (a version from June 2022) also on a non-Samsung phone that does not show the pop up and lets you access the Scenes' functionality; I dare not update it!

Show more

Put away

App wont stop running in background. Ugly slow loading user interface. Awful menu for adding devices with few options. No options to use different wifi connections. Do not use this sketchy software! Horrible reply from support forcing useless feature that slows down devices to make up for bad programming. Still no changes to make this app better and lights randomly lose wifi info and needed reconnection. Support is awful and will always blame internet connection. Bad softwaresupport overall.

Show more

Put away

This app has a really horrible user interface. I tried to set up a simple on/off schedule and found it extremely difficult. Not at all intuitive scheduling functions!! I've used apps for other brands of smart switches (e.g. Govee) and they are much much easier to use than this piece of junk.

Show more

Put away