Worst app

This is the worst app on my phone. I used to think it was facebook but this app has replaced it.
Everytime I want to do something I have to spend 15 to 20 minutes going through all possibilities to set/reset something.
I want to enable a done that was disabled and I have spent my 20 minutes of wasted time and still do not have it enabled.

@normc19 - I believe there is an option in the app to show disabled zones. See the bottom section in this support article ->

If you’re still having issues, post a screen capture and someone will probably chime in on the solution.

After wandering around the app more I finally hit the right place to enable the zone!!

Ouch, that really hurts to be compared to the facebook app :wink: I’ll be sure to provide and send along any feedback you have to our product team. Please let us know if you have additional feedback.

:cheers:

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It’s far from the worst app, but I agree it’s confusing to use. For example, it’s not intuitive to find the place where schedules are located. I end up hunting and pecking around every time I want to make adjustments, etc.

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+1 for not being intuitive

Admittedly I don’t use the app every day however, it shouldn’t be a an easter egg hunt every time to find something

I also find it too limiting in some cases (field capacity) is either empty or full, or the flex schedule is way to granular.

My yard is not designed around the R3, I have mixed heads on every valve, the custom settings require water flow, capacity, rate and who knows what else kind of experience just to get close.

I find i’m watching/tweaking it quite frequently just to ensure things are not jacked up with my yard.

Yes it’s convenient to be able to turn on a valve while standing by a head, other than that, it’s an expensive toy, IMO

Rick

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So it’s a problem with Rachio that your irrigation system was poorly designed/implemented? Having mixed heads with various PR’s on the same zone isn’t advised, and won’t work well regardless of smart or dumb clock.

Swap out your heads/nozzles with matching sets, and I can almost promise that you will RARELY have to touch the settings in Rachio.

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LOL, easier said than done.

I have grass and Ivy on the same zone, that is not a head swap. Fruit trees, some way more mature than others, again, not just a head swap

Yes, my yard was designed 30 years ago, undergone many renovations so yes, it’s not a good fit at this time.

Noticed you are a Power User or dare I say Fan Boy… For the average home owner, it’s an expensive toy… again IMO

Rick

Nope, just someone that has been using my Rachios for over 3 years now, and enjoy helping people understand Rachio, and in many cases their own yard, but thanks for thr kind words.

My point is that a lot of people that struggle and blame Rachio for poor preforming irrigation systems. You understand that your system is less than ideal…and you’ll have to make some concessions with how to water your yard.

I spent a lot of time prior to getting my Rachios, fixing and maintaining my aging irrigation system and even moved zones around so I could have like plants on each zone. So when I got my Rachio, my only hurdle was re-training my plants for correct waterings (long, infrequent waterings).

Hi Rick,

I am not a ‘fanboy’ of Rachio, although it is what I chose for my yard, it is not perfect. I too, at times have to poke around the app to find the page I just used last week.

But no matter what controller runs your irrigation system, if most of your zones have mixed irrigation needs, whatever schedule you set up for a zone, either manual or ‘intelligent’ will not properly irrigate everything in the zone, or end up wasting water.

I think in your case, you should stick to fixed schedules and add some weather intelligence where you can.
I think you probably need to redefine your zones by vegetation type, to improve your irrigation, and agree this will require a lot of effort.

Hi @franz, I know you guys are trying hard to create an easy to use app. It feels like the app is focused on simplicity, but that seems to have the opposite effect and the browser ui is different from the android ui. (and I assume the iOS one as well?)

For example, Android has “Home Yard Calendar and More” across the bottom, the browser has "Home Schedule Zones History " across the side. The Android More sub menu is in a different order than the remainder of the browser options.

Consistency would help, Android has “Calendar” and the browser has “Schedule”, both of these bring you to a calendar which has schedules below that. Maybe I a difficult time finding my schedules since they are named different on the two ways I try to access my schedules?

I’ve been in the software industry for 30+ years and my team supports an app that runs on 6 different platforms (Android, Chrome OS, iOS, Mac OS, Windows). One thing that we strive for is a consistent experience no matter what device they use.

One thing I can suggest is to make sure the app is easy to use for the casual or first time user. It doesn’t help to get power users such as @tmcgahey basically berate users when they are having problems. This device is sold in places such as Costco, Sams club, Home Depot, Lowes, etc. These people are far from tech or irrigation system savvy.

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