LEGO® Powered Up Reviews

by Homefixit

I have LEGO on my iPhone and iPad. I wanted to have the piano play thru the iPad while I manually worked the roller coaster functions to have some background music. So I bring up the piano on LEGO and when I click the listen side instead of getting the music choices all I get is a gray screen! I feel I have been wasting my money on the power up motors and hubs. Can we get an app that works

by Adrian_Gallo

So I downloaded LEGO onto my iPhone X. Connected via Bluetooth to the new this app Batmobile and everything works fine. EXCEPT when I’m done with LEGO and want to exit LEGO , I can’t! Swiping up on my phone to go back to home screen or to show all open apps doesn’t work. LEGO simply does not allow you to. Only way to close LEGO is to power off the iPhone via the volume down button and the main button on the opposite side and then swiping the phone off. EXTREMELY ANNOYING. Going to return the batmobile if there is no immediate fix. What a horrible experience after spending well over two hours to put something together that totally locks up your phone.

by Thisnicknameisnottakenyetisit?

Grand Piano kit portion of app doesn’t work on 2nd Gen SE (tried two different ones) but works with 1st Gen SE… all running the latest iOS. Looking on this app’s site for compatibility, the latest phone listed is the iPhone 7. Really??!!

Update 3 months later: this app acknowledged the problem but still no update. If you’re considering buying a PoweredUp set, you might think twice unless you’re sure your device will work. I know I won’t be buying any.

by ObiwanDave

Had LEGO on my Samsun Galaxy and it was great for powering my daughters train. Just got a new iPhone and downloaded LEGO to find the controls are shrunk to an area smaller than two inches and are unplayable as a result. There is no resize feature so LEGO is unusable until the developer fixes the sizing issue. It’s a shame to spend hundreds on a cargo train and not have working sounds.

by Mghebrialjr

Most of LEGO works great now (it used to be really finicky), but figuring out how to use it is really challenging. Most block coding environments have either a basic description of what each block does, or words on the blocks, but the this app powered up app provides no such descriptions. It seems that this app has backed themselves up into a corner by trying to making LEGO understandable by kids as well as attempting to achieve the full functionality of the Powered Up system. Adding a text programming mode (with Python or some other simple language) that unlocks the full functionality and contains thorough documentation while reducing the complexity of the block programming is the path that this app should take. (I am aware that the new Mindstorms system will be programmable in Python, I am hoping that that will be compatible with the rest of Powered Up)

by Taken I Dont Care

LEGO is cool but the train is too dependent on LEGO . Having to have LEGO open at all times while using the train is extremely limiting. Some people just want the train to run for an hour and relax and watch it. I understand wanting to save battery but this app needs to address this either by having an override on the actual motor or something in LEGO .

by Avery_-

At first LEGO was working really well, but then some problems started appearing, firstly, some of the controls just stopped working, (specifically the speed, the slower parts were the non working ones) I tried the battery on the train, I tried un-installing and re-installing LEGO , the list goes on. Secondly, you can rename the power piece of your vehicle, the only problem is it won’t let you rename the power price of your vehicle, you’ll delete the name and it will glitch right back on. Very frustrating indeed. And even if you write the name before it glitches, it’ll just glitch on top of it. All of it is just very infuriating, the only reason I’m keeping LEGO is I need it to power my train.

by Zantaf.io

Like many other reviewers, I am rating LEGO low because of the lack of instructions.

Another very important feature is missing: please prevent the phone from auto locking when LEGO is in use. I’m trying to run a long program but after a minute everything stops because the phone screen auto locked!

by Vspot415

The reset of the keys on the grand piano was always not that great from the beginning. After the update it’s even worse. What happened!? It used to hit the stopper and then slightly rotate back and the keys would be mostly aligned. Now it hits the stop and and motor does not rotate slightly back leaving the keys totally unaligned! Please
fix this

by Theraven Six66

I will clarify this review as LEGO does work and the phone (iP 11 PM) does talk to the this app hub via Bluetooth but when I press the controls train does not move. Disappointed because the guy at the store just sold it to me and didn’t mention about earlier iPhone compatibility. Hopefully for support with newer phones.

by CitroënDS

I have a train MOC with the PUP hub, train motor and color sensor. Without instructions, it’s very difficult to “trial-and-error” my way through the places/color plates where I want the train to stop, wait X seconds, reverse, etc.
Also would be great to save a program sequence from LEGO to the remote controller. Doubt it’s possible unless there’s a memory module, but it would make it easier to turn on and “run”. A desktop app would be even better.

by Alejandro B

Got LEGO for the this app grand piano. It works well, but a couple of things would make it much better:
- the motor resets when going into play mode, but it spins longer than it needs to. It feels like it’s damaging the motor and I cringe every time
- PLEASE make it so that it keeps the phone awake while playing music! Very frustrating to be listening to a piece and watching the movement, only to have it abruptly stop because my phone shut off the screen. Most apps override this when playing video or other content, please fix!

by DaveJ456

LEGO looks promising but has no instructions or troubleshooting. The intro video did NOT play on my phone or my wife’s iPhone. LEGO appears to connect to my son’s train via Bluetooth because I can see battery life and the device name. However the train doesn’t move and the controls don’t work... when I press a button nothing happens. I can’t find any help or instructions anywhere. Legos are typically a premium product but the experience with LEGO is disappointing. I have tried the this app website and instructions there are not clear either.

by 22x14

On Technic Control +, I can connect to a Bluetooth speaker and the Technic hub at the same time, put my speaker in my Technic model and play sounds from the model, not the phone. In LEGO, you cannot do that. I would like to run my trains with sound, please update LEGO so it is consistent with Technic control +

by KurtK9

It connects fine and you can drive the car (batmobile in my case), but none of the programmed buttons work. I finally figured out if I disconnect and reconnect again after trying a programmed button they’ll start working.

by Braalexis

Just did the Croc train and works fine but when trying to access the iPhone camera to take video of it moving along it stops. Does the same just by leaving LEGO . I see others have had the same issue. Wondering if fixed. Would be cool to show the train off.

by N95JNNI

When I play the pieces for the piano, everything works great. Whenever I try to listen, often the keyboard gets clogged after not long. At first, when we weren’t done, it was simple to fix but when we were done, it was extremely hard to fix. It happened today and it took us 5-10 minutes to fix.

by QMLinkM

The reason why it’s not working that well is because you have to put in battery’s. It’s not that hard! Just look through every page of the instructions and you will literally see how to make the motor work! It’s nice and you can watch the train move on the tracks.

by Peter_smith

Gave LEGO a try despite the mixed reviews. Really glad I did.

LEGO was quick and intuitive. No issues whatsoever connecting the devices on my iPad mini 4. A software update was required for the hub itself and straight after, my son was enjoying his train!

Great for the kids, even better for the parents in saving x4 AAA batteries 😃

by Jackie@83

Connected to my Batmobile almost immediately within one minute. Great simple instructions didn’t even need to watch video. Great STEM activity for kids and adults of all ages. Even though the car itself is very pricey, would recommend for everyone. App was just amazing too! Keep up the good work this app looking forward to seeing what other STEM products you come out with!!

by .-mars-.

At first LEGO was working really well, but then some problems started appearing, firstly, some of the controls just stopped working, (specifically the speed, the slower parts were the non working ones) I tried the battery on the train, I tried un-installing and re-installing LEGO , the list goes on. Secondly, you can rename the power piece of your vehicle, the only problem is it won’t let you rename the power price of your vehicle, you’ll delete the name and it will glitch right back on. Very frustrating indeed. And even if you write the name before it glitches, it’ll just glitch on top of it. All of it is just very infuriating, the only reason I’m keeping LEGO is I need it to power my train.