iAquaLink Reviews

I have been using this for a year now. iAquaLink basically lets you remotely do what you normally due at the pool heater control box. Set temperatures and program a schedule. There is also good integration for property managers to automatically sync with guests. However, there is no way to request notifications like when the system loses connectivity to the device. Such a basic feature that I have all around my smart home. Last month I spent $200 in natural gas when the house was empty because the comm link component was broken but the heater was running very high the whole time. I only found out and fixed it because the gas bill was astronomical. A simple notice of lost connectivity would have been extremely helpful to trigger an intervention. Also where are the usage reports and MonM comparisons. This is very basic UX stuff that a programmer could complete in a week. So do some comparison shopping before picking your smart pool heater.

Their software is so bad that I cannot imagine who they hired for this. Any average software programmer can write better software than what they have. If you accidentally close iAquaLink while editing the times for your devices, you won’t be able to reconnect to make further changes. You’ll be forced to call them to reset your transceiver, or you’ll have to do it yourself. Now to be fair, the system is convenient, and if they had better software, it would be excellent, but if you decide to edit any time ranges, be super extra careful not to accept a phone call while editing, and pray that iAquaLink doesn’t freeze, or that you don’t have a mental lapse that causes you to close the software without hitting the save button. Clicking edit without a save is all that is needed to completely muck up your ability to connect to the system. One more point. If you read the reviews, they have had a really crappy app for 4 or more years. Someone from their company responds to the reviews and apologizes, saying they are sorry, or saying something else that makes you think they understand and are trying to fix the issue, but nothing is done, absolutely nothing!

Update: iAquaLink developer replied and recommended I call their tech support to update my system. After 3 days of trying I was able to connect with support. Tech supports response was essentially, don’t know why you were told to call for an update. My criticism stands, the this app iOS app only has rudimentary functionality. The web based interface is all there is for more detailed information. Based on the insane wait time for support and the lack of functionality in the iOS app I revise my rating to 1 star. It’s hard to see how iAquaLink gets 4+ stars.

Newly installed pool automation, (IQ904-PS, AQUALINK BUNDLE PACK, Jandy VFD Pump and heater). This iOS app is about as rudimentary as it gets, certainly not what is expected in 2023. I can set pool, clean and spa mode, can see pool and air temp, turn lights on and off that’s about it. No salt generator output, pool salinity, pump speed, schedule, etc. The equipment schedule, pump speed, Salt generator output can only be viewed by clicking the “web” link in iAquaLink. This opens opens up what looks like something from the MSDOS era. I guess it works but EXTREMELY disappointing.

I alway have a green dot, and I know from experimenting that it’s definitely not my Wi-Fi connection — that’s good. But a few weeks ago or so, iAquaLink would be stuck in the “waiting for connection” screen, which meant I had no control over the schedule, etc. Sometimes I would get the message “program changes must be saved before exiting this screen”—even when I hadn’t tried to make changes. Nothing would make that message go away. Meanwhile my pool guy said I needed to change the filter pump schedule because the pool was getting bad—but I had no way to do that.

Finally after a couple of weeks, it suddenly started working and continued to work for a couple of weeks without incident. Worked for a couple of weeks, and it appeared to be right after an app update, so I’m assuming the update fixed it. But now I’m back to the same problem. No idea how to fix this and no information online. Right now I have no idea how to fix this, and meanwhile my pool condition is getting worse.

Frankly, it’s quite shocking that an app that controls something this expensive would be so bad. Had I known this when we got the pool, I would have insisted on a different solution.

App is horrible! I’ve consistently had issues over the last year where iAquaLink freezes and becomes unusable. Customer service has to unfreeze it just to use the web interface. I’ve called and emailed for help numerous times. Even had their local rep come out to my house. Still having issues! Their reps are generally courteous and professional, but have little ability to resolve the overarching issue that their app is poorly designed and unstable. They just dance around the real issue, providing mostly ineffective troubleshooting advice. Not a shocker that the customer service reps blame it on my internet connection and act like I’m the only one in the world with this issue. Weird, that my internet connection is the issue when all the other connected devices in my home works as designed. Also disturbing I see so many users with the same issue. Time to own up to having a defective app and redesign it.

Nearly every review over the last year is essentially the same story about iAquaLink freezing and the web interface not working properly. this app responds to these bad reviews requesting feedback. How about fix iAquaLink ? Or maybe you could merge the buggy web interface portal into the actual app? The UI reminds me internet in 1991. Start by making your app work and eliminate the web interface! Maybe hire some better developers or outsource to a new company. Guys, not that hard to develop a smooth app that functions all of the time.

Have been using iAquaLink for 3 years now, during which time have been a bit disappointed in iAquaLink not being improved, but generally satisfied because it worked.
Now after latest update, there are a number of recurring problems. First, the temperatures are not refreshing unless I pull up “My Systems” - I only have 1 - and re-select mine. But it also is very inconsistent regarding what is turned on or off. When I turn on our spa, it involves enabling spa mode, and turning on heater. While both say enabled, when I go to web connection, usually I see the heater is actually disabled. Then it takes a few attempts in web connection to actually get them turned on.
This is very disappointing. Previously it wasn’t very flashy, not many bells and whistles, but it worked. Now after upgrade, it “looks” a bit nicer, but still nothing really new - except that now it is not working consistently.
Here’s to hoping a new update comes along soon to restore it to its previous functional glory! At that point, I’ll increase from 2 stars...

It doesn’t handle all the pool setup or settings but will handle the normal tasks like start the cleaner or heat the spa.

Now, the real review. The lighting support is kinda pathetic as it doesn’t support anything but really old lights. The lights I have were made maybe 3 years ago by a well known company and it’s a guess as to what color will actually show up when I pick one. I’ve asked support about this a few times and they have acknowledged the lack of support in that area but haven’t committed to doing anything about it.

There is no Alexa or Siri support which in today’s automated homes is becoming a far bigger deal. I also asked support about this and was told it was coming - but that was over a year ago. As a developer I can promise you it doesn’t take that long.

I can’t tell it to drain the spa from iAquaLink , for that I need to go directly to the control panel.

Nearly all the actual pool settings are hidden in some god awful web interface that is difficult to navigate. I’m not entirely sure how they could make a scheduling interface for the pump any worse. It feels like a high schooler programmed it.

Like most people I have one pool to control. So I’m not sure why it makes me select a pool every time I open iAquaLink .

Which leads me to this: they need to hire a UI designer and start over with iAquaLink OR open the API up so those of us that know what we are doing can write a good app for them.

I am giving iAquaLink 2 stars because their customer service responds pretty quickly to fix the problem. The issue is the same problem happens all the time. I have had iAquaLink for a little over a month now and 3 separate times I have been trying to change pool settings when iAquaLink gets stuck on a “Waiting For Connection” screen. The only way to then do anything for your pool once this happens is to email support and wait for them to reset your account.

Aside from this ridiculous problem that is quite important, another issue is that iAquaLink functions like it was created in the 90’s. I sometimes wait between 15-60 seconds for my button push to take me to the next screen, so doing something as easily as turning the pool lights on can take up to 5 minutes! And of those 5 minutes, 4:50 of them are waiting for your button push to load. And sometimes you’re just waiting for the screen to move on but then you realize iAquaLink froze and you’re now stuck.

It’s a great idea because it’s awesome to control my pool from my phone. But iAquaLink itself is brutally bad and it appears that what I’m dealing with is exactly what everyone else is as well. I feel lucky when I use it and don’t get locked out.

This also seems like something that should be easily fixed by the creators. But I don’t have much confidence after reading other reviews.

Having an app for my pool is great. It does what you need and it’s way easier than my old aqualink wall unit. For simple stuff like turning on the lights and spa, it’s great. Also great to check if you accidentally left the spa on. But there are several issues. It’s really lame that you can’t access all the features on iAquaLink . You have you have to launch the web to access some crucial features like scheduling and setup. So when their service is down, your kinda screwed. Luckily, I still have my old wall unit. It’s also a little buggy. I once was looking at the schedule. I didn’t make a change but it asked me to save. I didn’t want to. So I closed the web interface. Then I could no longer access the web interface. I had to reboot the this app from the breaker. It’s also super complicated. iAquaLink was made BY pool service people FOR pool service people. It doesn’t feel like it’s designed for an average user. For instance, I would just love a button to change my variable speed pump speed. You can’t simply do that. You have to go deep into the UI and configure the pump. It’s clumsy and off-putting. One thing that is great is if you have a good pool service person who know this, he/she can access and monitor your pool remotely. Super convenient. Overall good tool but needs a better UI designer.

Fundamentally, iAquaLink is useful because there really isn’t any other choice to control my pool equipment and having access at all on my phone is great, however, iAquaLink has a long way to go to be truly useful. I think it’s flawed from first principles. iAquaLink feels like it was designed from the point of view of the equipment installer and not me, the home consumer. I constantly find myself checking my assumptions on how things behave. For example, the one touch feature doesn’t really let you create scenes. If you have devices set to off in a one touch setting, they don’t actually turn off if you move between one touch groups. Also, since there is a delay between when you press a button and an action happens, it would be nice if there were separate status indicators so you know which actions are in process. I find I spend more time in the ‘web’ settings than I do using iAquaLink . Also, there is no connectivity to HomeKit which is a fundamental flaw. So, generally useful but it can be significantly better.

So far…so good. We have a smaller pool so I did t think the full 2 hours and 50 minutes was going to be necessary to clean the entire pool and I was right. In less than 30 minutes all of the leaves have been picked up after last nights massive monsoon storm. Now it’s just the dirt and dust remaining (not the reason I purchased a robotic cleaner). I have the pool filter running at the same time since the cleaner continually pushes up the dirt and dust so I’m hoping the filtration system will grab it after it has been disturbed. I will continue to allow it to finish its complete cycle and see what it looks like. For now I’m pretty happy. Only complaint so far is the remote system is “one push” control meaning you have the cleaner will continue turning in circle until another button is pressed. Makes it difficult to drive it up on top of the stairs. A live joystick remote system would be much easier to successfully maneuver the cleaner. Hopefully an update will come out with a more user friendly interface.

My wife and I put our pool in about five years ago, and I downloaded iAquaLink at that time, using it to basically manage our hot tub and pool lights. Our original robotic pool cleaner wasn’t comparable with iAquaLink so when it started having issues, I looked for a replacement, which worked out better than I hoped because the new cleaner empties easier, and I can tell from iAquaLink when it’s full.

Now I use iAquaLink to basically manage everything for my pool except the tunes or the iBook my wife brings out with her when she wants to enjoy the afternoon.

iAquaLink is easy to set up and so intuitive, my wife added it to her mobile phone so she can run the hot tub without having to ask me to. Also, as it normally takes time for it to heat up, if you’re away from home and want too climb in to relax, you can turn it on no matter where you are, so by the time you get home, all you have to do is slip into your bathing suit, grab a towel, and enjoy.

As far as apps for your pool operated by your iphone, this system SHOULD work as noted but there are perpetual problems with the server and the software. It sounds great in concept but actually working is a completely different matter.

This system was not inexpensive and we trusted our pool maintenance company to provide us with a system that actually worked. We have had this installed for about four years now and when we try to use it, it lets us down. We gave up for a long period and operated everything manually if we needed a deviation from the schedule—such as spa use.

I see that we are not the only ones with issues with this and it never is fixed for long. Updating iAquaLink doesn’t help because there are always bugs in the software that have to be updated and fixed and that requires deleting iAquaLink and re-downloading it—which means completely reinstalling it—very inconvenient. This system is not dependable and it is a never-ending battle to try to get it to function—when you most need it.

Edit: so I am happy to follow up and note that with all the recent updates the application is working much better. In all fairness, Aqualink contacted me directly to attempt to make things right but with the updates (and that I initially deleted the program completely and re-downloaded it) no further tinkering was necessary. Thank you for your personal effort to correct this and I hope no future efforts will be necessary.

Many times with aqua link it will not link up to the system it shows that it is and when you try to connect to the system then you get a system off-line and click on the web function of aqua link you can see it try to connect several times and then finally connect which is good it’s unfortunate that iAquaLink does not consistently pull the website the equipment for connectivity so that commands could be easier. Does not have the choice of Red for LED lighting although it does do Red White and blue. This is one of the more poorly performing apps I have used but have no choice. Additionally it has no means to enter a preset run time on the Jacuzzi. A timer function would help from forgetting to turn functions off. iAquaLink is terrible.

When we put our pool in many years ago I was given the chance to put automation in but decided, "hey, why spend so much money on pool automation? It's no big deal to just get home, turn the pump on, turn a few valves and switch the heater on manually". And that's what I did for 10 years. Cold nights, running back and forth to the pump and heater. Then someone in the spa (usually my wife), "it's getting too hot or it's still to chilly. I don't want to get in yet. Back to the heater I would go. Then my x-brother-in-law, still a good friend and aircraft maintenance manager an pool guy on the side says, man you should put this automation gadget in. I thought, well why not. The kids are out of school and out of the house. Well when my B-I-L told me the cost, well jeepers, it was a lot less today than it was 10 years ago! I did install the system and wow, what a difference it has made. Out on a cold bike ride, or at the office? Not a problem. Whip my phone out and when I get home it's all ready the perfect temperature. And when that someone says what's the temperature, is it ready the right temperature? I can whip my phone out and say, is 98 okay? Yep, that's it. And if she gets in and it's still to chill? Wait right there honey, I'll bump it up a degree. I'm a hero! All I can say is today my this app automation is a no brainer.

First year worked great and no issues and every time I logged on through iAquaLink the pool was online. Flash forward one year- same router and nothing but connection issues. Picks up and drops - shows connected and then check from app on phone and shows offline. Frustrating so purchase an upgrade to a Nighthawk 8000p and thought never have an issue again. Connect to WiFi- shows connected on app- and 10 minutes later- not online- this needs to be addressed and until then- save your money!
Update 5/22- got an email from your support and it’s spotty at best as to your request - much like your product- followed all your guidelines and used WPS and used iPhone and loaded and connected the this app to the router (over and over and over again)- actually... I log in from a desk top and can actually see that the this app is connected and green and it is connected.... it’s your poorly designed updated app or software that is supposed to make the bridge so we can use your app that is just terrible. Reading the other reviews in the last year tells me this is the case. Fix your software! It use to work!

Somehow they’ve managed to “improve” iAquaLink by removing the ability to review and change the set programs through iAquaLink -web interface. Now I can’t review or program my system using iAquaLink . Nice Job (sarcasm).

First Update. The developer reached out to me and I was able to help them track down the bug. Nice to know they listened. I’d raise my 1 to a 3.5 due to this.

Second update. Fluidra has been relentless (in a good way) about chasing me down to understand my issues on both iAquaLink and a problem I’m having with system programming. If they can provide this level of customer service to all their customers I would put them up there with the faucet companies (Delta, Moen and several others) as my picks for customer service hall of fame. My rating changed from 1 to 3.5 to 5 based on their response...I was pleased.

Update:I uninstalled app from each device and re installed app ( simple update of existing app did not work) and that resolved the problem and now I have more functionality than I imagined with One Touch buttons. I have an upgraded system with 8 Aux functions from fire bowls to Tiki Torches so having the One Touch Scene buttons really make it useable and convenient. Thank you Developer for your response as it prompted me to update and hopefully resolve that issue for others. Next my system will be Intergrated with Control4 for even more ease of home use!...... Old Review:Not a fancy app but it works. I'm happy that I can remote heat spa before getting home. Update: I just loaded the French app on my visitors iphone and they have additional One Touch features and my English version doesn't.... Why?

Overall, iAquaLink has some really good features and I am able to setup our pool and change settings with Alexa; which is a really nice to have feature, but the main app page should be customizable where a customer/user has the ability to select what controls are available on the main page. In addition, the swimming pool background is no longer showing up on iAquaLink page. That background should be something that customers should be able to change on the entire page, so they can load their own pool pictures, and have the ability to control transparency, so that the control are nicely visible.
From a developer standpoint, these are very simple changes, and what make a huge difference.

The Jandy this app control system is by far the most user friendly automation system I have ever used, and I have used them all! Hayward control systems are a joke. They try to make them look fancy with touch screens that on the outset look really cool but are very difficult to program and even harder to figure out how to do even simple tasks like heat up the hot tub in a pool/spa combination. Pentair control systems are even harder to set up and use with layers and layers of hidden menus. Not to mention the massive connectivity problems thousands of users have. Pentair’s resolution to connectivity issues is to hard wire the outside control board to your router. So now you have to pay an electrician to run an Ethernet connection from outside to inside. The past few years I’ve had the this app and have NEVER had one single problem. It is so easy to program and all of the functions are right there on the Home Screen. Even when I have experienced power outages at my home it seems the first device to reconnect to the internet is my Aqualink. I cannot recommend the Jandy control systems strong enough. Oh by the way, Aqualink will even control other manufacturers equipment. Hayward and Pentair don’t do that. Please don’t be tricked into buying those two because of the pretty but useless bells and whistles. You will be frustrated with your purchase.

This company does not care about customers. Many of the problems have been around for years and instead of alerting customers to the shit design and post a workaround, they do NOTHING. Buy NOTHING with company that does business this way.

iAqualink is the worst! Needed to move the network to a newly named network and nothing works right. You actually have to unscrew the cover, get into the circuit board and flip switches to change to a newly named network... WHY??? After successfully completing that, although Siri recognizes the app and the commands, I get the message that iAqualink is taking too long to respond. But don't expect any help from iAqualink either. If you have an issue on a Friday you are SOL for the rest of the weekend and at this point I don't know if I'm getting any help at all. THE WORST!!! Hire somebody who understands software. Or just keep taking advantage of those of us who bought your product trusting it was going to work as advertised.