Smart Life - Smart Living Reviews

by Jim99765

I started using Smart Life about 4 years ago to control a few smart plugs and switches around the house. At that time it was a great app. But it has now deteriorated to steaming pile of junk. Last year it became really wonky when trying turn on a devise from the first screen. I would press the tile for say a lamp, but SmartLife turns the plug for a fan who's tile was at the other end of the screen from the one I pressed. No rhyme or reason for this and it does it about 50% of the time. Infuriating. Next, I had an automation setup to turn off a fan 1 ½ hours after it was turned on. This worked fine for almost 4 years but now it has stopped working and the fan runs until I manually turn it off. And the last few weeks SmartLife has been excitingly slow to open and change between pages. It can take several seconds to open while I stare the spinning circle. This is on an iPhone 13 Pro so it's not an old, slow phone problem. Avoid if possible.

by -Jeff007-

SmartLife has great potential but it has been my personal conclusion that this company’s mission appears to be more vested in adding more compatible devices to SmartLife instead of focusing on adding features or resolving bug fixes for products that already support it. Coming from the ecosystem of WeMo I did not expect to see such a lack of features for a smart device app. I have had WeMo devices inside my house for over 5 years and over time the company did nothing but add features and improve upon itself. How can this company do the same as they do NOT support just a limited number of devices but instead support almost too many to count.
Programming in SmartLife is not straight forward. For example to set a device to turn on at sunset you have to create a “scene” in a completely different section of SmartLife . Very confusing as this should simply be coupled with the timed schedule feature. In addition there is not the ability to program an offset time before or after sunset/sunrise. Also, the countdown timer cannot be coupled with a timed schedule. This is annoying as I only want my lights to run for 4 hours everyday 15 minutes after sunset and then I do not want them to be on past 11:00pm. This is impossible to program within SmartLife but not WeMo.

by Tckyle

I purchased these bulbs in January worked great connected easy hooked up to my Alexa with ease. After six months they stop working they go off-line and switch onAt all times of the day and night I had them set on a timer through Alexa that doesn’t work anymore. They lost connection with Alexa they are not responding in SmartLife . When you contact customer service you get absolutely no help they blame your router or modem your iPhone or do you have power switch On to the devices “yes they asked me that” I disconnected the bulb 4 and tried to reconnect it to my network it will not connect. I reset my modem and reset my router nothing changed in the house I keep trying to explain this to customer support they don’t understand they just keep blaming everything in my house. I can’t get them to help and I can’t get any customer support. There is a 12 month warranty that is useless! Plus you have to contact them through the Smart Life app and using the Smart Life app only allows you 300 characters to respond to any of their questions! Just be aware that if you purchase these there is no customer support if they stop working, they blame everything but the bulbs or the software :(

by XRockyX

When I first installed SmartLife a couple years ago, it was amazing! But now, completely worthless. Nothing in my house has changed; same Wi-Fi, same switches, same phone, same network, everything is the same. SmartLife no longer discovers anything. The devices worked great right up until the power went out and everything disconnected. When everything came back up, SmartLife only connected to 3 of the switches automatically. I thought “no big deal, I’ll reset and reconnect”. I have 18 devices in my house, SmartLife can’t discover ANY of them. Kasa works great for my TP-link switches, eWeLink and Geeni work great for all the other devices. Smart Life can’t find ANYTHING! I deleted SmartLife and reinstalled it and still nothing, even joined the beta test-flight program and still nothing. Tried creating a new account, nothing. Only thing that was there was the 3 switches that were already connected to the account, but now 2 of those have dropped off so I loved them to Geeni as well.

It’s a shame to see an app that was by far one of the best, turn to the worst.

by Planejuliet

Smart life contact/help email does not work!!!!
I’ve tried it, but it isn’t recognized as a viable email and thus my email can’t be sent. The review I wrote below was submitted awhile ago and I expected to hear from someone...no help. Others have had this problem and had to reinstall all their devices. I’m considering switching to WEMO as they appear to be far more reliable with the 2 devices I have. But my 10+ this app devices are no longer cooperating or showing in my app.
Previous review.
I have several devices installed around my home. Several have been added to Alexa routines, and those still function within the routine. But individually they will not function and after the last update they’ve all disappeared from my app. I can no longer operate them from SmartLife or individually via Alexa. I’ve tried multiple ways to connect with you to no avail, so I’m hoping this review will get your attention. It was great when it worked...no longer even fair.

by Time99

I’ve had two Smart Life plugs for a couple of years. After initial set-up, with some difficulty, everything worked fine for about 18 months and then, we’ll, not do much. I don’t know if it was an app update or what, but I lost my settings, including Alexa skills for both plugs and while I was able to get one working, the other won’t work consistently. I have tried several times, but my great room lamp won’t turn on as scheduled, so I have to do it manually. It will turn off as scheduled however.

I sometimes wonder if the UI designers actually test their interface when one is as counterintuitive as this one. “Switch One” is on, but doesn’t that imply there could be a Switch Two for off, you there is no option to add Switch Two - the off switch is also Switch One. There are many ways to design a more intuitive interface for something as simple as on-off at scheduled times. I’m going to have to trash these plugs and SmartLife and buy something better. I do not recommend this product.

by Sklaszky

I am new to smart devices so I'm not sure what to expect from a smart device control app. But this one seems to do everything I need it to do. It walks you through basic set up of each device, which is especially important to a newbie like me.

As others have noted, your Wi-Fi network name must match whatever your device's network is. It will scan for devices on your Wi-Fi network and can even tell you how strong your wifi signal is.

Not sure if it needs Bluetooth on during device detection, but I activated mine just to be on the safe side. It recognized & controls all of my Maxico outlets & allows me to group them by room, task, etc. You can share control with others too. You can also program your device to perform tasks when certain events occur e.g. time, sunrise/sunset, humidity, etc.

Only minor issues I noted were...
1) it didn't recognize any of my outlets from the main device scanning page. I had to move to the smart outlets page and rescan for it to find each outlet.
2) English language message errors e.g. "Successed" rather than "Succeeded".

Note: SmartLife Store has a similar app called JINVOO. It is essentially an older version of Smart Life. I recommend that you do not use JINVOO as it may not recognize the latest devices like Alexa. Stick with this one, it's newer/better.

by Alpha Root!

I have two of their interior motion-sensing security camera’s with night vision installed in my small home for a little over a year now. First the good stuff, the camera’s give very clear video. Even the night vision video is clear. The camera’s are great. The big problem is lack of dependability. In the beginning I received sounds on my iPhone 7 Plus and my iPad Pro if motion was picked up by either of the security camera’s. Then I could open the camera app on my iPhone and watch whoever had entered my home. (The housekeeper usually). #1. Now the camera’s no longer send motion-sensor alerts. #2. Neither of the camera’s any longer transmit dependably. Even when I am inside my small home and open SmartLife on my iPhone or iPad to view my camera’s. One time the camera’s will connect, but another time they won’t connect. Or, one of the camera’s will connect. But the second camera will not connect. This has become a big problem lately. Broadcast strength of my 2.4 WiFi is 98%. Neither camera is further than 20’ away from it. This is not right.

by Shaffers4

I purchased two light/fan fixture controls because the outside plug was so easy to install in SmartLife and works instantly when I use Alexa. Not the case with the fan fixture control. It would not connect to my WiFi and all research online suggested I split my WiFi between 5 and 2.4. I find it ridiculous I would need to change my WiFi when other products connect with no issue. However, I used my iPad for the set up and it worked. I don’t believe my iPad is on 2.4 but I’m happy it works. The unit is great as I can control the fan speed ( up to three) and the on/ off of the attached lights. All this by SmartLife or by my voice ( the whole reason I bought this device). I would prefer if there is a dimming capability in SmartLife and by voice command. Maybe an update can make this occur. I will continue to buy Smart Life type products. They work great and without a hub. 5 stars for product but 3 stars for set up. If a dimmer capability is added I can see making this a 5 star product.

by Rileyhooker

Overall I love using SmartLife. Have the lighting in several rooms in my house fully controlled by SmartLife and once everyrhing is connected its super easy and can even be controlled remotely which I have found some fun ways to take advantage of ;) The pairing process for light bulbs seems overly complicated. For example two of my roomates lost their patience and opted out of using SmartLife alltogether. Its a little annoying but is easy enough if you actually just sit down and do it. I also have some candelabra bulbs that will only pair if Im right next to the wifi router which is annoying but also, easy enough. Apart from that I wish the feature to create preset lighting combinations was more robust. Currently you are only able to create presets with white light. You cant create fun or moody preset lighting combos with colored light, which is a bummer. I dont understand why it's like that.

by Taxswiz

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!

by Turn_Burn

I had suffered a severe back injury. The injury left me unable to walk. Placed me pretty much into a wheel chair.
I have installed all remote light and receptacles in my house remote ones. The lights and receptacles are controlled for my cell phone and from Alexa home system. Also the climate control for the house is also controlled from the cell phone and Alexa.
One regret that I have had I wished I had done the sooner to my home updating it to remote control. One does not know how difficult it can be sitting in the wheelchair trying to turn on a light or open the garage door for a salt delivery to the water softener.
The system for the house is very dependable and can be done a little at a time or a lot at a time to convert the house. Sincerely yours Garry are Blaskie.

by TigerWizards

First SmartLife work as expected although pairing some of my plugs was difficult and time wasting. After a couple months SmartLife got stuck and would not open. After a few days I removed it. In SmartLife store I found an app that looking identical but it’s name was ‘Smart Life+. I installed it. It work just like SmartLife 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 SmartLife and maybe that explains why SmartLife 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 SmartLife? Where did the + version go?

by Fire12344321

Replaced high end devices with devices that work with Smart Life. I fist purchased 2 light socket devices for just a on at dusk, off at sunrise, but since purchasing these, and seeing the continuous improvements and adding features, I have slowly replaced all of my devices. I’m not sure about the review on here that says Wem0 is better, it’s not, not at all.

My only reluctance was that (obviously) I’m on apple, and my other devices worked with HomeKit. After installing my latest devices, I noticed scenes now works with Siri! Awesome new feature. It took me a few tries to realize I had to say “yes” after voice prompts to Siri. It would be nice to skip that step, but in no way a deal breaker.

Keep up the improvements, but for now, you already score higher with me than 2 big name brands. Smart Life, for life for me.

by Toddjensen7

With the switch from incandescent to LED light bulbs our old dimmer was unable to turn the lights down without initiating a flickering that was so annoying we had to keep the lights on full bright or turn them all the way off. We tried different brands of light bulbs (more expensive ones), to no avail.

When we noticed the old switch had started arching because the contacts on the dimmer were wearing out, we decided to upgrade.

The installation instructions that came with the smart life switch were easy to understand and I was able to install and connect it to our WiFi without any trouble, myself. When we first turned it on the flicker returned but we soon discovered the ability to change dimmer modes with the smart life app which solved the problem completely.

We were so happy with our smart life switch, I convinced my mother to order one which I installed for her.

Funny side note: while I was at my mother’s house doing her demonstration and showing her how to navigate SmartLife by showing her how on my phone, I slid the dimmer up and down and because I was connected to my mothers WiFi, I startled my wife who was at home and witnessed the unexplained brightening and dimming.

by Thummert

I am very, very pleased with SmartLife and the supported devices I have. After using the OMOTON outdoor dual plugs (Smart Wi-Fi plug IP44) for floods, I purchased the wall switches (OMOTON Smart Wall light switch). Slight hiccup on the wiring but fixed that and works perfectly. I can be across country or in my bedroom and control all the lights I have associated with these devices with SmartLife. Love it and it automatically updates the firmware in the devices. So far cannot say enough good things about SmartLife, super easy to use, rename devices, find (discover), etc. I have not been paid or compensated in any way, just a real life consumer that likes when things just work. I set up outdoor lights to come on at dusk and off at dawn, and worked just like it is supposed to work. I have not as yet set it up with Alexa to control, but may get around to it this weekend. Highly recommend.

by Duqdude

I have no less than 4 apps and a hub to run various WiFi devices. This works great, after you get the trick of turning the lights off and on several times, setup is a breeze and unplugging and power outages are not problematic as with other devices in loosing connectivity when power comes back on. The light controls are amazing and amazing with Alexa also. The trick is that the color on SmartLife does not always match the light. If you think of it as a suggestion of color rather than the actual color. It is not SmartLife , rather the color bulbs as I have three bulbs, all configured the same, will look different. It’s easy to match color and brightness to be the same. The schedule is easy to create and is very convenient. I will say I spent the least amount of using this product in setup, and I have had the best results.

by Whocares009

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.

SmartLife 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 SmartLife because they cant figure out the cheap device they bought, not realizing that SmartLife 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!

by TMB0211

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! SmartLife 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!!

by AuntieJay

I have the exterior motion surveillance cameras. The set up and use was easy. Now that I have had them for about five months I would like to see two changes in the software: 1. I would like to be able to see all three cameras simultaneously one one main screen, and not just one at a time. 2. When a motion alert occurs a still photo is taken and a recording of the movement is made. In order to see the video of the movement you must scroll through all of the videos made during the day and find the time stamp that corresponds to the time on the still photo. It would be preferable that finding the recorded video would be easier. It would also be nice to set up viewing and use on a computer and not just phone and tablet. Those are the only reasons I gave it four stars and not five.

by Avid-reader

The outlet devices worked great initially. So great that I ordered two more. Of course within days of the arrival of the new set the first set stopped working. Multiple attempts to reset failed. Trying to connect the new outlets failed. I followed the Troubleshooting directions, re-downloaded SmartLife twice, reset my router and when all that failed I tried to contact support. There appears to be no help request within SmartLife but I found a message about an upgrade causing issues. Unfortunately it appears there is more to the message but there is no way to expand it so I am left in the dark. So I tried to submit the help request through the Link on SmartLife Store but found it launches a website in Chinese. Unfortunately I don’t read Chinese. I have to give SmartLife 1 star. I will be happy to upgrade my rating if I can get some help AND they agree to make some app changes that will make it easier for users to read messages and to submit help requests in the future.

by Photographer On The Go

Individual devices almost always turn on and off if switched individually. Scenes regularly fail, with many of the devices not switching. It’s definitely not a connectivity issue, since those devices can be switched manually.

Room for improvement: automation could use additional features. Lights on at sunset are useful, but the ability to add a random (+/-15 minutes) time shift to an automated action, and a fixed time shift (+/- any amount of time) to automation would be huge. Adding a random time shift to automation is a security feature, making it seem as if someone might actually be home to turn the lights on. The fixed time shift would allow for lights to come on a set amount of time before sunset, since by the time the sun sets, it’s already too dark inside.

by Chem_Prof

Setup of the 4 lights that were purchased was relatively easy once my WiFi was set to operate at 2.5 GHz. In order to get my dual band modem to operate at 2.5 GHz, I had to call my service provider for them to configure my modem to operate at this lower frequency as well. For a 60+ couch potato like myself, I’m so happy that I don’t have to get up to turn the lights on and off, that I can automate when to turn them on and off and that I can control whatever light color I chose from the comfort of my couch. For those who have an iPhone and have used others Apps, SmartLife that controls these lights is pretty standard and loaded with features. I installed these lights today and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they continue to function as well as they’ve functioned today. Two thumbs up!!

by Lufkin Man 2

Most of the problems I have with my camera are caused by my internet connection. When the camera seems sluggish, so is my connection. Increased distance from the router is not a huge problem. The cloud recordings are good but not perfect. SD cards work a little better. The picture quality itself is awesome. Location of the camera determines effectiveness of tracking and motion detection. Closer to the body being recorded is better. Too much distance and activation is choppy. If you try to test it too much you’ll get frustrated. Work on camera location and let that location ride a day or two, then try a different location. You will see differences in motion activation with different locations. I’ve found that higher locations work best.

by Chessxguru

I love SmartLife. I can’t wait for other “smart devices to adopt it. I can turn on and off devices remotely. It allows me to setup multiple schedules. If I want a countdown for a particular device, yep it’ll do it too. It’s a centralized location for many of my smart plugs and light switches. You want to see stats on power usage for your particular devices, that’s in there too. I’ve not played around with sharing of the devices with other family members as I’m the only one at the moment using the smart devices, but it’s there too. I’ve only mentioned a few of the features I personally use , but there are many more and more I’ve not discovered.

To the developers: Please keep innovating and adding more devices. One of the best apps I’ve seen. Thank you!

by A_Schemin

I was getting so frustrated with this air conditioner because it just wouldn’t connect to WiFi for some reason. After trying everything under the sun (twice) I finally gave up and googled the customer service number (since it couldn’t be found anywhere on the packaging or instruction manuals). I spoke with a guy named Bob that helped me figure everything out. My husband called me while I was on the phone with him and I forgot to click back over while my husband and I were talking. Bob held on for about 15 mins before hanging up. He called me back about 5 mins later and walked me through everything. Such a pleasant experience!