Vivint Reviews

by Amie Sortino

We’ve been with this app for 5 years and could not be happier to cancel our contract. In that 5 years, this app changed our contract by cancelling a service we paid for (cloud storage with space monkey), failed to honor our moving terms that were specifically discussed before we signed our contract, and had faulty equipment installed at our new house that resulted in the police being called and my home being searched while we were gone. Vivint itself is horrible. Playback on our cameras almost never works. It takes about 2 hours to get playback to do anything if it decides to. Our camera on the front door always disconnects and sends an error. Vivint settings are set to auto record a doorbell ring and visitor but it only records if the bell is rung. The sales people for this company are AMAZING. Truly nice and honest people. They try to upgrade and sell to us often. We don’t bite any more because the customer service after you’ve signed up with this app is THE LOWEST OF THE LOW. this app does not care about anything but money. They are not a security company that wants to protect you. They just want your cash. Worst 5 year contract ever!!!

by Sey Wha?!

I’ve intentionally held back from leaving a review for months just so I could fully evaluate Vivint. I got their service in January. So, now let me share my experience. Vivint and cameras go offline every 1-2 hours per day. I’m very tech savvy, but my experience thus far takes the cake. I’m not impressed and I spend more time I. The phone troubleshooting the issue. Only to discover that I end up with a solution vs the reps. You guys have to hire a more competent staff and fix Vivint!!! Goodness, it’s so unstable. I can’t even look at the live view after updating to the percentage buffer when the video is loading via my doorbell. I met with constant error messages. Do more testing or get better beta testers to ensure Vivint will work before releasing it. This is ridiculous. I’m beyond annoyed at this point!!! 😤

Update 11/2

I don’t understand why you all would remove the ability to reset the panel from the phone. It was helpful having that feature. Now if the panel is down and I’m checking my home from the phone. Everyday I have to call you all to fix it because the panel goes offline every single day. Stop removing things and focus on making Vivint experience more stable. Apparently your beta testers and Vivint developers need to do a better job before releasing these updates because Vivint becomes more and more useless every release.

by Heofnshfifmf

Vivint rarely works for us. We are constantly having to reboot. Every time we’ve gotten notifications that our alarm is going off, Vivent calls to ask if our home is okay... and we’re not home so how would we know?? It causes such panic because we have been burglarized in the past. After we request they notify law enforcement, they have called back every time to say the police won’t be dispatched. Then what’s the point of having an alarm system?? And for the amount of time it takes to do all that, if our home was being burglarized they would be long gone. The cameras - when “online” - have been useful on occasion but typically when we really need them to actually work because we’re away from home they are “offline” and useless. For the amount of money we pay for the system and cameras and doorbell, I’d expect a lot better product. From day 1 the doorbell camera hasn’t worked properly. The only piece of mind it offers is that if our home is broken into while we’re away, at some point we will be notified. The way the system is set up won’t prevent burglars or make them leave... but at least we’ll be informed.

by Ryan.2009

I’ve had this app for nearly a year now and I’ll say it’s not worth the money. The security is great with lock door features and the options of alarming the house when your away, however we really hoped the cameras would be better than Rings camera as they said it should, but it’s worse and lacking. We have terrible neighbors and trying to build a case against them we need our cameras to record any movement in our front and backyard. When we had ring we can save the footage whenever we went to live camera mode as well as talk through our back camera, and the detection sensitivity was so high it even start recording when a cat was detected in our backyard, but this app don’t even have that feature let alone high sensitivity detection. this app never records whenever something is detected in our backyard or porch even when I put the settings to high sensitivity. We always have huge time gaps in our camera recording time. Even when using Vivint and we need to check the cameras it never fully work or we get a message saying the this app system is having troubles. For the money and trouble we spent on this service I expected better at the end we still continue to use our Ring regardless of having this app that’s how terrible I feel it is.

by Ver01ynn

First off I just wanted to say that these people lie. I was home one day and a salesmen came to my door and presented me with this app, a cutting edge security system that can control your thermometer, lights, motion detector and has a doorbell that records videos. It all sounded amazing so I decided to purchase it. The very next day the system lost WiFi, so I couldn’t even access the system while I was at work. I was told it would still record even while it was offline, which was a lie. I called the service team and was told that they couldn’t fix it. I then had to call the guy would sold me the system and he came over, told me that apparently they received a batch of faulty panels from the manufacturer and they just needed to replace it. That night a technician came over to replace the motherboard, which did not fix the issue. After about 2 hours they decided to replace it with a brand new, “hasn’t even been released to the public” smart hub panel. The seller told me that this new model wouldn’t have any issues. Only a week had passed before another issue with the smart hub panel came up. It is an inconvenience on me to have to call multiple times a month to have any issues with this system taken care of. This security system is not worth buying and I wish I never had.

by Gidusthxjcuctx I I I

Vivint use to only mess up on me occasionally but now it won’t even work. I’ve deleted and redownloaded several times, and customer is awful and can’t or wont help either. Spent over two hours on the phone with them and they fixed nothing. Their support through Vivint was unprofessional and very sarcastic when trying to “help” me. Vivint now will take 5-10 seconds to even load the live footage so whatever was detected is already moved or gone. The playback won’t work on my phone but will on all other devices. It’s so pixely as well even when on the clearer setting. Vivint won’t let me change anything in the settings unless I use another device or the panel. It simply went to doodoo in the last few weeks and customer service is doing NOTHING to fix it. They gave me a ticket number but nothing came of it. It’s takes a million years to get customer service on the phone. I pay way too much money a month for this to not work properly and them doing nothing to fix it. I’m over this company and I wish I wasn’t in this garbage of a contract if they can’t get their stuff together and fix these simple issues many people seem to be having.

by Mari Austin

1. Lately all the cameras are “Tap to skip to the next video”, usually happens when we need the video playback the most. 2. Long lag on doorbell camera, by the time I get the doorbell camera to load on Vivint the people have already left. 3. The alarm started to count down on its own and we didn’t even set it(lucky I was home). 4. The “orange boxes” under detection settings constantly disappear and we have to reset each box for each camera two to three times a month. 5. When we call the customer service center they blamed me for not “checking on the detection boxes periodically” or blamed me cause “our panel wasn’t updated with the latest software?” I have more issues but this post isn’t going anywhere, as I have sent emails up the ladder only to be compt’ed for one one month of service, but it is still crappy service. I don't care how much you charge me monthly, just please make the system work like it is intended to. They have really gone down hill in the last year. Can’t cancel cause it renders the camera useless. They are charging me $35/mth just so I can use my own equipment, no this app monitoring or emergency calls to the authorities, THAT is the real crime.

by Wyverncreature

We have had many of the same issues others here have written. Since our installation around Christmas time our system, cameras, doorbell, microphones, app, panels freezing and no reset helps, etc have never ever functioned appropriately since the minute the first install tech left!!!! We have had multiple technicians out and have notified this app nearly every time (exhausting, inconvenient, annoying). We have told their manager fix it or give us our money back. No response. So we call back for a repair tech. Each visit’s fixes and upgrades do nothing. We have repeatedly heard “Your home is too large, cameras are too far away”?!? Really?!? Then why sell to us telling us it will all be great?! Everything is delayed just like many here have written. We get double notifications, mics don’t work, video starts after the car has driven in or out of view. We have our doorbell on our gate. We never have gotten a live feed or live notification ever! It’s really really shady business to charge what they do and the product does not work even close to promised. Only our Nest works and that’s not even this app’s. Ugh! this app I would like you to honor your commitment or give us a full refund and put our house back the way you found it!

by System Is Yuck

Let me start by saying, I wanted my comment nickname to be “frustrated customer” and it was taken…. Not a good start…. We recently had our system installed. It’s our first time having a this app system, and have had several issues. The installation technician did not put batteries in the thermostat, and when they were finally installed it caused all other devices (including the A/C) to crash, because the system had not been “calibrated properly”. No doorbell or cameras either. They wouldn’t send a tech out until they walked us through troubleshooting it over the phone. When I say I spent a FRUSTRATING hour and a half on the phone, it’s an understatement.. We were then told that a technician wasn’t available for two weeks. Which meant no air conditioning for two weeks, in August, in Oklahoma!! Then we were told they would wave the service fee and that we “probably won’t owe anything”. SERIOUSLY?? It was never installed properly. Why would us owing anything even be considered?? After throwing a big fit, they were able to get someone out in three days. The new technician showed us features and codes we had not been shown at installation. This company has some improvements to make.

by Iveyscott1

I have been using Vivint now for a week and found some annoyances. Mainly in the dashboard. I feel like it could be more customizable. I would like to have the option of the dashboard returning back to the security screen when I open Vivint every time, or any specific screen the customer would want to see when they open Vivint . Secondly, the security screen should have the option to add light/ room switches to the security screen for ease of use. I have ten Phillips bulbs in six rooms and Vivint does not make me want to go to it to operate those switches. Which doesn’t really make this the smart home controller that I was sold on. Third, I believe camera notifications for people detection should have a link to the video recording. Makes no sense to read the notification and then have to go somewhere else in Vivint to see the video. Lastly, the administration portion of Vivint does not work well. Initially when setting up the camera to my specifications, Vivint would pop up errors of configuration failed, but when setting it up on the panel, there was no issues. Fortunately, I now have it setup to my liking. For a lesser tech savvy person, I could see this as ver frustrating. I understand the connections between admin trough the internet and admin through Zwave, but not all users are tech savvy. And I also understand that there is tech support that can be called, but why should I need them if the product was simpler to use?

by Suchetajv

I’m sure this is a great company. I think they have done away with master electricians because the system is no longer being installed right with the electrical wires inside the walls. It is being installed with a plug. I have personally one on accident bumped the plug and it has been disconnected from the main monitoring system. I left and then the monitoring company called me to tell me it was disarmed and I had worked 18 hours that way and it was really inconvenient. I’m thinking about switching over to a company that will do a different job.

As far as the application, the menus are not at all user-friendly. For example I have brinks at home and I can program it very easily to tell me who is opening the door who is not opening the door. To give them certain privileges. On the this app Application it is so difficult to figure out where the setting is, even then you’re guessing because it is not clear in any way shape or form. I think this is something the company can work on as I think they already have a big customer base. It would be nice for me at least because I am legally blind and needed a more user friendly company to work with.
As far as a service, the people that work for this company are excellent people and have never had an issue so far to work with them.

by Msfoxe_44

Initially when I got the system I thought the images were awesome and great but now something has changed. My daytime images almost look black and white I can’t even tell the different colors or shades that are outside which will be a problem when trying to describe someone to the police. I can’t tell what color they have on or what color a car is because there’s no color in my camera anymore. Also my system has disconnected from the Wi-Fi many times. The last time my system disconnected they could not get it to reconnect and had to come out and service my panel and that took a whole week to get an appointment . For that entire week I wasn’t able to view my security system from Vivint while I was at work or away from home it was a awful feeling. I got a $15 credit ... woohoo! Smdh My water sensor went out weeks ago and it takes at least eight weeks to get a new one so I haven’t had a water sensor for almost 2 months. Its exhausting to deal with this system and I’ve only had it about four or five months and I’m regretting purchasing it. About to call them again and try to figure out why I have Black and white images with no color on my camera.

by Criminycricket

One of the first things I noticed about Vivint was its ease of use. Even for non-tech saavy folks, the UI is easily navigable and intuitive. There’s very little searching that needs to be done to access most of the features. I love how simple they make the process of setting custom rules, though I hope in the future they offer some more complex options. I would particularly love to see if/then statements become available.

My only complaints would be technical—when adding users, I keep getting an error when attempting to set a pin. Settings also tend to reset or not save when attempt to set accessibility for guests. The cameras also tend to freeze sometimes, and I’ve noticed that playback for events can be a little slow. These are little things, however, that don’t detract from the over all experience.

Ultimately, however, I’d say this is definitely one of the best home security apps I’ve used in terms of features and accessibility. Thank you this app team!

by Presdad12

Is there a reason that Vivint is not compatible with landscape mode on an iPad? It would be great to use it as a secondary touchscreen mounted in another room of the house. All of my other smart home apps have the ability to work in portrait or landscape mode. Please work on this, this app.

Thanks for fixing the issue I stated below regarding the cropped screen. Not sure yet about the Nest functionality. I updated the panel to 3.10 so I’ll have to give it a few more days or weeks before I can tell. I’m glad you guys added support on Vivint and the panel for Philips Hue lights but what about adding it for the Apple Watch? Any idea when this might be updated?? Thanks in advance!

I’m pretty sure the “fix” you guys did for the iPhone X has caused an issue with the resolution on all other iPhones. Whenever I pull up a camera now, the image is lowered at the top and cut off at the bottom. Please fix this for users who haven’t made the leap to the X. Also, I consistently lose connectivity to my Nest. I have talked to tech support and performed a reboot on the Sky Panel at least 6 times and it will work for a few weeks and then stop. It’s not my WIFI.

by Ichibonnissan

I really love the this app security system. The installation wasn’t fast it took time. A lot of work. Even though it was pouring rain all day they still showed up and installed. The installer was a perfect gentleman full of knowledge. He took the time to explain everything I’m 60 years old and my husband is 68 years old not at all familiar with smart home devices. Because of the simplicity of the this app security system we also added google home devices. The smart home that was provided is easy to use and we feel very safe. The first time we left the house my Yorkie set the alarm off and I immediately deactivate it and within a minute this app called to make sure everything was alright. We have a complete view of the front of the house including our three driveways, both sides and the back yard of the outside of our home. I have one camera in the den and it’s wonderful to be able to see and talk to the grandkids when they visit and I am contemplating installing more inside cameras. We live on almost a acre of land and the video is clear, even at night. Thank you this app for making security affordable and our life simple.

by Mrs PHD

Easy to use, makes arming the house fun! Almost everything can be controlled from the phone as well as from your Alexa or Google Devices; arming and disarming, monitoring & controlling the temperature, locking and unlocking the doors, letting the garage up and down. We also have the digital key locks, and indoor & outdoor cameras. They also provided Linksys systems to help expand the WiFi throughout the house. There are other Aps that can be used with the system to help enhance its usefulness, such as Streety to help connect with other this app users in the neighborhood. Easy to change the PIN numbers also, and it monitors your carbon monoxide systems also. Alerts the police, fire dept, etc. The only thing I don’t like is that all of my doors have to use a different key now. Even though we do not have it yet, it has the ability to control lighting by use of special type light bulbs. Very quick install process. Definitely worth the money.

by Ayana V

I love Vivint it is so easy to use a is VERYYY helpful. My family and I use this. We have 5cameras and the doorbell. It works so nicely. When you watch the live camera or doorbell it’s less than 1 second delay which is amazing! It notifies you right away when there’s motion. Not just that but the people that came to put the cameras and doorbell on, are so nice, and they have great service. I definitely recommend Vivint!!! When you talk through the cameras, the audio is so clear and loud. You can lock your door easily even if you leave the house it will notify you and you can lock it from your phone. I love that it has the emergency tab. Or when someone’s in your house and they say to turn the alarm off there’s a button you click and put your passcode and Vivint will send help and it will look like the alarm is off but it isn’t. On the emergency tad they have three options panic, emergency , and fire. I love Vivint it’s a life saver..!!!!!!!❤️

by Rhondaxoxo43

We had a new this app system installed a week ago and could not be happier. Vivint has functioned perfectly for us, arming, disarming, viewing live cameras, play back of previous footage, search of old footage (we do have the sky monkey which allows 30 days storage), we use Vivint to lock and unlock doors and also we have connected our Hue Bridge and can control our lights with Vivint as well. We have set up custom actions that work like a charm. Things as detailed as, when system is disarmed from keypad, turn kitchen and living room lights in 50% for 30 minutes.
When I needed help adding the hue bridge, I used the support option in app and chatted with an agent. It was 11pm, I had 13 people ahead of me and I had about a 5 minute wait time. Not bad. They helped and resolved immediately. The next day when I needed help on adding a user I did same chat, I had 5 ahead of me and took maybe a minute. We are just completely pleased with our equipment, our sales person Mitch, our installer Ben, the customer service agents and Vivint. It has worked perfectly for us.

by Birmingham44

We absolutely love Vivint when the this app system is functioning correctly. Mainly the video doorbell constantly stops working and the Sky Panel has to be rebooted to get the video functioning again which is very annoying. Technicians have been out several times, get it working only for it to stop working again sometimes hours, days or weeks later. My guess is that the Skye panel itself may need updating because my internet/WiFi works excellently. Only this time, the video is working on the Sky Panel but not on Vivint . So this issue may be a problem with Vivint . Also, we have a 2nd indoor camera that never worked after the technicians left our home. It may stay on 30 mins or less then goes offline. I think that this app needs to update all video components to their system. The remaining components are stable and works perfectly. We receive a lot of package deliveries which is why we need the video doorbell to work consistently. We love the system but may consider switching to a different company that can offer comparable services on a more stable system.

by Horshoeflats

I write and work using my IPad. I use a case with a keyboard. It is always with me. Everything works great and I love this app. Customer service is very awesome. My Doorbell Cam, indoor camera’s etc. all work with very little down time. Always easy to reset. I use one Camera to help take care of my Elderly mother who has severe Dementia. We can make sure she is alright and we can talk to her using the camera. She can’t answer the phone anymore. this app as a company gets 5 stars from me. But, until Vivint has Landscape mode it only gets a 1 from me. If some rings doorbell or I get a notification I have to try and get my IPad out of its case. Or flip everything to see it. Very irritating. I have an IphoneX too. Vivint is awesome for it I love it. I do not need the phone when writing on the IPad. In fact I often do not want it to disturb me. I have to keep it near me now. Vivint is basically useless to me. My Ipad is very new. I love it. I guess I expected it look like my panel. It is Landscape. Hopefully this app will fix this soon. I did give it a 1. It works awesome if my Ipad is not in its case.

by Tr893

I’ve had the this app system for about 6 months now and it’s been decent, but Vivint needs major improvement. At least once a week I will have to manually lock doors, close the garage, or arm/disarm the system. Which I know sounds like I’m just being lazy, but it’s the times when I need to access these things remotely that it becomes an issue. I’ve had items delivered to my home or needed to give a repair person access while I’m at work and I’ve gone to access Vivint and it simply refuses to connect to my system at all and that’s incredibly frustrating. There’s times when I’m in my driveway trying to arm my system after I’ve locked my doors and closed my garage and I go to arm my system and it won’t cooperate, so I have to go back inside and do everything manually. Whats the point of home automation when you’re app refuses to cooperate with the hub, which in turn negates the convenience of your app? If the convenience of Vivint is a big selling point for this app’s system for you like it was for me when I was shopping systems maybe look elsewhere because it’s definitely not the convenience they claim.

by Rosie Lady

We've had this app for about 3 weeks but it hasn't functioned properly from the beginning. My husband has talked to service several times. They walked him through several things to no avail. A service man finally came and It worked about 3 hours. But now it's worse than ever. It hasn't clipped anything since Friday while service was here. I was on my patio with my dogs for about 15 minutes. It didn't do a thing. The doorbell video has only worked once today then it works a while and records bugs flying around and cars passing a block away but rarely records someone in the yard or at the door.
They need to do something about Vivint as well. That could be one of the problems too, but yet today the sky panel isn't clipping today except once 😡. We should have stayed with ADT ....JUST SAYING

I may change my mind if they ever get it performing properly ALL THE TIME. It doesn't do us any good to be away and not be able to monitor our home. That's why we have it. RIGHT????? In order for us to have security with this app ALL THE TIME is to sit and watch the LIVE 24/7 😡

by K9TrainerLarry

The system is great, overall. However, there are issues that constantly pop up. The cameras are the main issue. Even though I set it for recording on movement and the sensitivity is set low enough to record when it detects objects as small as my chihuahuas, I’ll walk around in back for several minutes and when I come in to check the operation of the cameras on my iPad or iPhone, it shows under clips that the last recording was hours ago. I’d hate to have a burglary and have to rely on this system to provide authorities with evidence.

The other issue is the wait time to speak with a representative when there’s a problem with the system. It took over 20 minutes on hold today to get a camera issue resolved. It’s the same excuse other companies use; higher call volume than expected. Geez! Figure it out. If your system is malfunctioning so often that you are getting such a high volume of calls, either fix the system or hire and train more reps. 20 minutes is way too long!

by Skerbalicious

When we signed up with this app in 2015 everything was great. Now for the last few weeks we have had nothing but trouble with the doorbell camera not recording and it is a new doorbell. It does sometimes show recordings on the sky panel. Support told me that it was either too far from my modem or it had to go through too many walls. Funny, I can log into apps on my TV which is at the other end of the house. In addition there are 2 laptops and my iPad that are in the same room as the TV and they work just fine. Plus even those clips that do show up on the sky panel never make it to either my phone app or my iPad app. Essentially the doorbell camera does me no good as I need to see the recordings when I am away from home. Apparently the last couple of updates that were supposed to fix “bugs” didn’t address this problem. Having a doorbell camera that doesn’t record is not good in the case of a break in. I’m not very happy with this system at this point.

by Pacrat0331

Vivint is without a doubt the most useful app. I have the motion activated door bell, inside camera and the auto lock installed. The video on the inside camera and the door bell is crystal clear no matter the time of the day. I use Vivint to both arm and disarm the alarm system. I have also used Vivint to unlock the front door on occasions when I was in the front yard and needed something inside the house. Super handy and also gives me peace of mind while I’m not home. Yo get notified each time someone rings the doorbell along with a 10 second video clip. You never know these days, being in law enforcement I have worked cases where people ring the doorbell to check to see if someone is home and if not they break in.
I haven’t set off the alarm yet (knock on wood) so I can’t attest to how loud it is. I can’t recommend Vivint enough!!

by TA2MAMA

From DAY ONE, I was and still am, impressed with the this app HOME SECURITY SYSTEM! This is not only a great investment, it’s a smart investment!! Worth every penny and then some!! Camera quality is clear, live video feed is up to date within seconds, microphone is as clear as a phone call or any high quality intercom system, and the monitoring from various vantage points is top notch!! And you can check and monitor EVERYTHING from any smart device; cell phone, laptop, tablet!!
With videos and the ability to take pictures of people lurking around the property or at the front or back door, you’ll never be in the dark, as to who, when, what and where!! PLUS, motion sensors and blaring loud alarms inside your property, trigger a call to the police!! I recommend this system whether you live in a home, condo or renting!! this app is like having a live- in, big beefy security guard!! But one who doesn’t eat you out of house and home!! Bottom line: GET THIS SYSYEM, IT WORKS!!!

by Jucacho

First let me say I was reluctant to change over to this app security I’ve had their solar service for aprox 5 years and love it, now back to smart home i was a 16 year ADT customer and to be honest I can’t complain about monitoring service they are on point but as far as sales people are a bunch of liars you would think each time you renewed you would have up to date equipment or they would do more for being a loyal customer but not unless you call to cancel they want to offer you the best I don’t play those kind of games, so this app after coming to my home many times I decided to cut the cord with ADT and I can say I don’t regret decision love their up to date equipment I got more, a lot more for the same monthly service I was paying ADT for their plane Jane equipment without asking for more
ADT’s pulse app is so laggy to connect on smartphone annoying this app on the other hand connects flawlessly and fast also love all the extra smart home gadgets I had installed couldn’t be happier System working awesome
Thanks this app

by Nicoletaylorrrrrrrrrrr

I’ve had this app paired with my app for 9 months now and I love everything about it! I’ve never had an issue with Vivint or my smart home system. I love that you can make custom rules that allow you to get the most out of your system. For example, I have Vivint work with my motion sensor and light dimmers so when I walk into my kitchen late at night for a glass of water, my lights automatically turn on to a dim setting. Also if I walk away from my home for more than 5 minutes and I forgot to lock my house, my this app system will lock my home for me. The best part is how it saves on my heating bill because it senses I’m not home through motion detectors and doors opening/closing and will automatically turn off my heater. Love my system, my cameras have always worked great and save all my clips!