3 Ways Smart Home Apps Lag Behind Their Hardware

You’re excited because you just got home and want to try out the new smart home device you just bought. This might be a smart lock or smart LED lights or even a smart plug.

With new smart home trends on the rise, you’ve made the decision to purchase these devices as a way to be more environmentally conscious and to be a leader in the IoT space.

You open the package, check out the hardware, then pull out your mobile phone and download the vendor’s app. Your smile quickly turns to frustration.

The app can’t find the device even though you’ve followed the directions and your wireless router clearly shows it’s connected to your network. The problem is definitely with the app.

Or, it takes a dozen taps and swipes just to program one light switch to turn on after work at six – and then it doesn’t even work because the app failed to mention it uses a 24-hour clock.

It’s these things and many more that consumers are all too often frustrated to find out; there’s a huge disconnect between a smart device’s hardware and its software offerings.

Why is that, and what is being done to solve this growing concern with smart home apps?

What the Data Says About the Software Lag

Argus Insights conducted a study and looked at the user experience consumers have with vendor apps and their smart home devices.

Specifically, they looked at the challenges and irritations consumers faced when installing and connecting the vendor app to a particular smart device.

Let’s look at three areas of concern for consumers.

1. Smart Home Apps Functionality is a Pain Point

By far the biggest concern for many people is the functionality aspect of the device’s app.

If you’re finding you have to set the timer five times before it confirms your new setting or stand two feet away from the device before it works, then any person’s frustration level will go through the roof.

The study found the most complaints however, centered on slow video streaming (for devices with cameras) and long load times.

2. The Market Trend is in Devices That Delight and Apps That Don’t

There’s a growing trend that indicates big brands are creating wonderful devices that people rave about. But, on the flipside, they are also complaining about how irritating the vendor’s apps are for these devices.

And you know what ends up happening? The more devices you have, the more apps they come with, and pretty soon you have app burnout and just don’t want to deal with these apps anymore.

3. The Lag Between Hardware and Vendor Apps is Getting Bigger

Source: Argus Insights
The report concluded that the large gap between the consumers’ delight with the hardware and the frustration they have with the smart home app will result in less enjoyment over time with the hardware.

So, what’s being done to solve this growing problem in the app space?

Tekoia is Listening To Customers

Here at Tekoia, we want the best user experience possible for our universal remote app.

And as a third party app vendor, we know we can fill the gap between hardware satisfaction and software frustration.

We are working hard on developing the best universal remote app in the market.

We’ve added some cool new features, have great customer feedback on how awesome the app is, and we are the No. 1 ranked and top-rated Android universal remote on the market. With over 4 million downloads, we must be doing something right.

And users love our product.

We are also working with IoT B2B partners to integrate their devices into our app. We currently have over a million different devices in our system.

And we are on top of things with regards to user experience, and are working on making improvements in every version of the SURE Universal app.

We also try to give the best customer support possible and to be easily available online. You can let us know your questions or concerns over on Google Play, our Facebook page or via our contact form.

So, no matter how frustrated you are with your brand’s app, you definitely won’t be disappointed when you go the SURE Universal way.

Have you tried our SURE Universal app? We think it’ll put a smile on your face, and if it doesn’t, we really will listen to understand why!