Smart Shades

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The app is ok and lets you open and close blinds. However, it really needs a simple recalibration function to set upper and lower limits. It also needs to have a function to set which way is up or down for when calibration fails. If the App cannot determine which way is up or down the blinds will not function.

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I purchased 7 smart shades and was excited to use them with HomeKit. The setup with the app was a nightmare. Only 5 out of 7 of the blinds the next button wouldn’t appear during calibration. I tried with 3 devices (iOS air 2, iPhone 7 and iPhone Xs) all on iOS 12.1 and had the same problem. Next issue is the app does not allow you to recalibrate devices without deleting the device and re adding it. This is frustrating because one of my smart shades refuses to keep the calibration that I set and it unrolls the shades much further than I need which is causing them to bend. My third issue is only and issue if you intend to use their app and not homekit, if you add two devices to the same group there is no obvious way to control each independently. This wouldn’t be a big deal if we could move devices to their own groups without deleting them and re adding. I’ve never reviewed an app before but this experience was beyond frustrating especially after sinking so much money into the product. This has been out for over a year and still has so many glaring flaws. I will be using my smart shades solely with HomeKit and pray that I don’t run into any issues that require me to use the smart shades app.

Like other reviewers, I also am stuck with the same issue of being unable to finish setup and calibration due to the missing “Next” button. I only bought 1 instead of the 4 motors that I need to complete the job. I may have to return the one and find another solution. Really wanted this in HomeKit but can’t finish setup to get to that part. (Update - after speaking to support, it was discovered that if the motor can’t determine if it is lowering or raising the shade due to the shade being too light, it is necessary to fool the motor by holding the chain and providing some resistance during the “configuration” step while it is raising the shade. When I did this, the app correctly identified up and down and allowed the whole setup to complete. Yes, the App still needs to be able to guide us through the setup better so I’m adding only 2 more stars)

I have the version of Smart Shades that only works with Bluetooth. The app does what it needs to do without much extra. This is generally fine in the I can set my shades to open and close at the appropriate times. I have two devices on a single group called “Living Room”, so it’s easy to change the settings for both devices. The app lacks additional sophistication such as enabling alerts when the battery needs charging (I don’t use the provided solar panels - too obtrusive) or any links to the company web site or support. The app is also really difficult to find in the App Store. I can only access it through the company web site.

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The Bluetooth for shades works fine, but the soma connect shows WiFi numbers and not the names which is annoying, and after putting the password in, it says connection failed. I’ve tried it on three different devices and it continually fails. PLEASE FIX!