Click to view our Accessibility Statement or contact us with accessibility-related questions
Showing 1 of 1 conversations about:
frozenbeef
10
Mar 11, 2018
bookmark_border
Blitza
2
Mar 11, 2018
bookmark_border
frozenbeefI am also in the same boat as frozenbeef and could write the exact story as his. I unfortunately cannot recommend these bulbs and suggest you look at other options.
cegan
6
Mar 12, 2018
bookmark_border
BlitzaHey @Blitza & @frozenbeef , have you reached out to support to help troubleshoot any issues you are having? Sorry to hear ya'll haven't had the best experience but want to help you get on track any way we can. Also, there are a few slow fade effects built into the app itself. For these adjustable white as example there's a built in candle light effect.
frozenbeef
10
Mar 13, 2018
bookmark_border
ceganI contacted support numerous times, more than one should be required. One of the more frustrating times was after a considerable amount of support time I was given the solution to abandon my account and start over in order to remedy a profile sync issue.
For the cost of the light and what can be done with the hardware as well as the app a proper slow fade would be something where you could pick the color start and end, with a cycle time. Not the builtin effects that cycle in blue or green only and in a rapid enough fashion as to lose any intended effect.
Thanks for your offer to "get me back on track" but the project and the product was never really on track. I'll continue to do all my workarounds to get less than I expected, but I'm not wasting anymore time nor money.
For the cost of the light and what can be done with the hardware as well as the app a proper slow fade would be something where you could pick the color start and end, with a cycle time. Not the builtin effects that cycle in blue or green only and in a rapid enough fashion as to lose any intended effect.
Thanks for your offer to "get me back on track" but the project and the product was never really on track. I'll continue to do all my workarounds to get less than I expected, but I'm not wasting anymore time nor money.
cegan
6
Mar 13, 2018
bookmark_border
frozenbeef@frozenbeef I really do appreciate the feedback and apologize that you've enjoyed less than a stellar experience. For the slow fade, do you want just a pure saturated color cycle like a rainbow effect or something else? As you know it's always a balance of simplicity and customization within an app, and we don't offer the ability in the app to create custom effects yet. However, we are constantly adding new effects and would appreciate your perspective.
If you do have any specific problems though, please do reach out to us. We'd like to help you anyway we can.
JubilantBear
100
Mar 14, 2018
bookmark_border
frozenbeefI agree, but for different reasons. I got 1 bulb and it is not horrible, colors are good, app is good when it works...
Bluetooth is just not the way to go, there is no real Echo, Google Home, etc. They have a solution, but it frankly is crap and forces the app to run in the background all day, some days draining my battery more than it should.
The settings seems to reset after a month, you can do cool things but they just aren't reliable.
The app stops working and I need to restart my phone to fix it, not sure whose fault this is, but my phones bluetooth works fine with other devices...
Bluetooth is just not the way to go, there is no real Echo, Google Home, etc. They have a solution, but it frankly is crap and forces the app to run in the background all day, some days draining my battery more than it should.
The settings seems to reset after a month, you can do cool things but they just aren't reliable.
The app stops working and I need to restart my phone to fix it, not sure whose fault this is, but my phones bluetooth works fine with other devices...
Blitza
2
Mar 21, 2018
bookmark_border
ceganTLDR: Unfortunately despite reaching out to support the solutions have all seemed like a step backwards and my experience with these lights only seems to get worse with time rather than improve. What a bunch of wasted time which should not be for something of this price.
I turned to support during a time after switching from the Original ilumi app to the New ilumi app (encouraged by the ilumi notification to upgrade) where I found none of my lights and settings were there. Support directed me to how it is "easy to add lights, create groups and new scenes" with the New App in response to my trying to find out why my profile from the Original ilumi app was not imported to the New ilumi app. This meant I had to reset my lights (turning on and off five times) in order to get the "Search for ilumi" to see the lights. In other words my profile would need to be recreated with the New App... I had hoped that the value of having to sign into this app would sync my grouped lights and settings over...
So I went ahead and reset my lights adding them back into groups and creating some scenes. Then when going back into the app wanting to turn my lights off none of the lights or groups I just added where there... So heading back to support I was directed to reboot my device and then sign out and back into the app. Which unfortunately did not load any of the lights or settings I had just added earlier under the New ilumi app profile... I just wanted to turn my lights off at this point so I thought I would try signing into the Original ilumi app as it had never dumped my grouped lights. However then my ilumi account was not being recognized on the Original ilumi app since signing into the new app? The only direction given again at this point was to yet again reset my lights and add them back into the New ilumi app. What a joke. At this point of time I just manually unplugged or removed the ilumi bulbs to turn them off and would deal with resetting them and trying to add them back into the app at a later time. Fortunately at a later time when resetting and adding my lights back the New app decided to save my lights and settings even though I had done nothing different in process from the first time. I suspect perhaps is was some server side issue?
Unfortunately ilumi has recently allowed me the privilege to relive this above experience as without any notice I could no longer log into the New ilumi app. Going to support I was directed that the New ilumi app is no longer supported on devices with anything older than Android 5.0 & up (the device I was using only updates to 4.4.4) and that I could now go back to the Original ilumi app which is supported on Android 4.3 & up. Before making the switch back on my Android 4.4.4 device I tried installing the New ilumi app on an Android 6.0 device. Only to find it would not restore my profile and I would have to recreate everything... Which I tried doing only to find the lights very unresponsive.
So reluctantly I reinstalled the Original app on my Android 4.4.4 device to find I could sign into it again however my profile was not there and I once again had to reset lights and recreate everything... Now having made the switch back my experience with Original ilumi app is worse than when I first used it. My lights are now the most unresponsive they have ever been, I constantly get a message about firmware being out of date and then when trying to update it replies that I have the latest firmware on all lights. My Bluetooth driver will now crash when trying to use the ilumi app. Funny thing is I have three other Bluetooth devices that work flawlessly with this phone. ilumi support now advises me that for Android devices you need Bluetooth 4.2+ for best results... when at the time I had originally purchased these lights they were claimed to work with my version of Android and Bluetooth 4.0... What a terrible answer and no ilumi I am not going to go out and buy a new device that has Bluetooth 4.2+ in hopes that it will make this terrible app and lights works better. My trust has been broken...
I turned to support during a time after switching from the Original ilumi app to the New ilumi app (encouraged by the ilumi notification to upgrade) where I found none of my lights and settings were there. Support directed me to how it is "easy to add lights, create groups and new scenes" with the New App in response to my trying to find out why my profile from the Original ilumi app was not imported to the New ilumi app. This meant I had to reset my lights (turning on and off five times) in order to get the "Search for ilumi" to see the lights. In other words my profile would need to be recreated with the New App... I had hoped that the value of having to sign into this app would sync my grouped lights and settings over...
So I went ahead and reset my lights adding them back into groups and creating some scenes. Then when going back into the app wanting to turn my lights off none of the lights or groups I just added where there... So heading back to support I was directed to reboot my device and then sign out and back into the app. Which unfortunately did not load any of the lights or settings I had just added earlier under the New ilumi app profile... I just wanted to turn my lights off at this point so I thought I would try signing into the Original ilumi app as it had never dumped my grouped lights. However then my ilumi account was not being recognized on the Original ilumi app since signing into the new app? The only direction given again at this point was to yet again reset my lights and add them back into the New ilumi app. What a joke. At this point of time I just manually unplugged or removed the ilumi bulbs to turn them off and would deal with resetting them and trying to add them back into the app at a later time. Fortunately at a later time when resetting and adding my lights back the New app decided to save my lights and settings even though I had done nothing different in process from the first time. I suspect perhaps is was some server side issue?
Unfortunately ilumi has recently allowed me the privilege to relive this above experience as without any notice I could no longer log into the New ilumi app. Going to support I was directed that the New ilumi app is no longer supported on devices with anything older than Android 5.0 & up (the device I was using only updates to 4.4.4) and that I could now go back to the Original ilumi app which is supported on Android 4.3 & up. Before making the switch back on my Android 4.4.4 device I tried installing the New ilumi app on an Android 6.0 device. Only to find it would not restore my profile and I would have to recreate everything... Which I tried doing only to find the lights very unresponsive.
So reluctantly I reinstalled the Original app on my Android 4.4.4 device to find I could sign into it again however my profile was not there and I once again had to reset lights and recreate everything... Now having made the switch back my experience with Original ilumi app is worse than when I first used it. My lights are now the most unresponsive they have ever been, I constantly get a message about firmware being out of date and then when trying to update it replies that I have the latest firmware on all lights. My Bluetooth driver will now crash when trying to use the ilumi app. Funny thing is I have three other Bluetooth devices that work flawlessly with this phone. ilumi support now advises me that for Android devices you need Bluetooth 4.2+ for best results... when at the time I had originally purchased these lights they were claimed to work with my version of Android and Bluetooth 4.0... What a terrible answer and no ilumi I am not going to go out and buy a new device that has Bluetooth 4.2+ in hopes that it will make this terrible app and lights works better. My trust has been broken...
Drop Refurbished
Like-new products you can trustDrop Rewards
Get $5 for every 500 points you earn! Learn more
Drop Keyboard Club
Become a member and expand your keycap collectionCollaborate With Us
For Brands & DesignersFollow Drop
I was super unhappy with the first version of the bulbs and the app, but I stuck with them and got the new hardware and the new app. Different issues, but same underdeveloped garbage. The app can't even do a slow spectrum fade which is common to $8 LED knockoff bulbs.
The bulbs are decent build, but the app is absolute garbage and hasn't really improved in 4 years, even with the app overhaul.
Major issues include lost or corrupted server side profiles and non-responsive hardware, and firmware updating obstacles. Scheduling is broken and gives erratic results. Some of the lights occasionally flash or blink during transition.
Stay away!