sensoAPP 4+

Machine is great, software is terrible

As is typical with many German hardware manufacturers, the engineering of the machines is fantastic. Unfortunately it’s very obvious Vaillant have taken a “waterfall” approach to software development, as opposed to agile, and ended up with applications that are very sub-par expectations. (Yes, I’m a developer)

Visually the app is “okay”, but they’d have gotten better results sticking to more standard UI components. A good UX person would have also thought more about what information is priority to optimise for the available space and quick usage. So much requires multiple taps to access information, such as current room temperature compared to desired, or comparing charts on consumption.

The most frustrating thing however is how long the data takes to load. It can take minutes, and you’re never quite sure if it’s fully completed or not. There are no loading spinners, just as few random imprecise messages. It’s hard to understand why this the case. Surely all the data is stored in the cloud in an optimised database? Surely the hardware at home is sending all the data periodically? I don’t get it.

Another very frustrating aspect is for alerts. You get an alert for example when the water pressure drops in the system and stops, which is good, except when it happens in the middle of the night when you can’t do anything about it. Some pre-warning “your pressure is getting low” would be great to try and deal with it, but alas.

Vaillant should look at software companies for tips. Tado (based out of Germany) have a great product and clearly use their own products. Fortunately, software, unlike hardware, is easy to replace, so here’s hoping improvements are made!

Respuesta del desarrollador ,

¡Hola Samlown! Muchas gracias por compartir tu opinión. Estamos constantemente introduciendo mejoras, y este tipo de comentarios son muy valiosos para nosotros. Si tienes cualquier pregunta, no dudes en contactarnos en conectividad@vaillant.es ¡Un saludo!

Podría funcionar mejor

La app va lenta y tengo que refrescar varias veces porque tarda, por lo menos en iOS. Además, ha dejado de aparecerme la información, muy útil para mi, de consumo, renovable, etc tanto de calefacción como acs…
Es normal? Lo habéis eliminado de la app?

Respuesta del desarrollador ,

Hola. Queremos ayudarte y facilitarte más información al respecto. Para ello, por favor, contacta con nuestro equipo de conectividad al email conectividad@vaillant.es. Estaremos encantados de atenderte. Un saludo.

Some aspects to fix or improve

To be fixed:
The app doesn't do well the totals by period of renewable contribution to heating and warm water. Always shows the total from the beginning.
To be improved:
Would be very useful to allow download the database of consumptions and contributions.
I'm sure all users will appreciate these changes.
Thanks in advance