Rain Bird

I have had the WiFi LNK for about two weeks now and I thought I was nuts when the seasonal adjustment was being applied to the programmed time and then applied again to get he adjustment. So a zone with a summer run time (100%) of 10 minutes with an auto seasonal adjustment of 50% gets moved down to a runtime of 2 minutes....this repeats each night until the programmed time is eventually down to zero. I had to turn off the auto adjust. I called Rain Bird support and had three calls with them. I had the impression this was a new problem, but I come to the app reviews and see comments that this same behavior was happening in July of 2020 and here it is November and it still doesn’t work. This is seemingly a simple math problem with the fix being that y’all need to program it so that it doesn’t change the programmed time at all and only changes the adjusted time. The user sets the program time...don’t change that! Adjusted time equals program time multiplied by seasonal adjustment. The program time should stay the same. It’s that simple! Edit 1: Dec 2, 2020 As of release version 2.16, my ESP-TM2 controller now appears to be functioning correctly with respect to the automatic seasonal adjustments pushed out by Rain Bird. I’ve changed my rating accordingly. I’m not certain, but I believe it also pushed a firmware update to the LNK WiFi module.

I use thus App for several customers. It has easy to use features and many of my elderly clients can use it more conveniently than the actual controller on the wall. My favorite feature is the rain delay I am not sure why it was moved in the recent update not that’s ok. Regarding set up, If you are having problems it is easier to buy a20-50 WiFi booster and set to 2Ghz to get it to link. Sometimes if you have a high end security system with complicated fire walks, then all bets are off and you need the customers tech to assist in set up. I would give this app 5 stars except for the poor attitude of the customer service. ALL other issue I have called RainBird about I have been treated with professionals but for some reason the folks that work the App customer service A. sound like they are reading from a script and have no clue what they are doing. B. 2x I have explained the problem and because they take sooo long (and I am standing in a hat garage in Houston Tx) I have asked them to email suggestions or call me back they say “No I need you to wait”. I would like it them to either come stand in the garage with me while they continue knowing nothing or realize they need to figure it out later and call back. Once it was a bad door another time it was the clients WiFi had been changed and she did not know it.

Seems like Rainbird has already made some improvements I noticed recently and probably more in the future. My favorite thing is that the app is not invasive, respecting of privacy, no special accounts requiring personal info, ad free, simple. High marks for that. There is room for improvement on connection speed and reliability however my system is at the limit of my routers range with slow internet and it still works 95% of the time. Suggestions: The manual station option could be improved to adjust the run times and add stations while manually watering. The rain delay change notification at midnight would be better to say what the new delay was instead of saying it changed which is more useful when it was changed manually. Notification of program success, each station is too many for me. Universal seasonal adjustment that acts on all programs. I have bought and continue to buy many Rainbird products because of the high quality parts. I still have some brass Rainbird sprinklers that are 30+ years old and many over 10 years old. Don’t decrease quality to try and make a buck. Keep making reliable parts and I’ll keep buying more and more and telling others to do the same.

It would be helpful to have a log of activity maybe 30 days worth in case you miss a notification You cannot water all stations from the app like you can from the controller You have to start each station one at a time Update notifications still not working all the time They worked on Monday but not on Friday Update 2 Thank you for the reply but neither the controller or the app have programs (A B C D) It is an ST 8 WiFi The point is that the controller has a button labeled Water Now which allows a manual run of all stations in order The iPhone app does not have that function From the app you have to start each zone individually This is a feature request to add that functionality Also in your reply you asked that I provide more information so you can assist further suggesting that I "click the email link" What email link? I could not find one in the review or in the email I received from Apple with your response The email was from an Apple no reply address If you are still willing to help with the notifications issue please provide an email or other contact for me to use Thanks

Most of the time notifications do not come through, even though I have every single option checked. Also, it would be nice to see a runtime log to verify which stations ran at which time, especially since the notifications do not come through most of the time. Would also love to see some sort of calculator interface to assist with setting up station runtime as well. *edit* notifications appear to have been corrected with the latest update, thanks! Raised rating to 4 stars, couple of small added features would make it a solid 5. *edit 2* dropping my rating back down, automatic seasonal adjust has not worked for weeks/months now, weather is nowhere close to accurate, connecting to the timer takes minutes most of the time from the app, notifications are extremely delayed most of the time, the app shows upcoming events that occurred many hours ago, and the clock doesn’t hold time well causing delays in scheduling. None of these should be an issue with an internet connected device, and do not appear to be an issue with cheaper internet connected irrigation controllers. Take my advice, do not waste your time with Rain Bird unless you want a 100% manual controller. Rachel and Orbit make much better devices at lower price points with better support.

Automatic seasonal adjustment doesn’t work on one of my controllers, the other one sends a notification that it has changed but when you go on the app, it is still the old setting. I called support 4 times they go through their checklist, that confirms everything is setup correctly again and then put you on hold for minutes, come back want the same info that you have already given them and tell you that they are sending this off to the product manager and they will get back to you. This is not a new product, this problem has to have happened before. I have it on 2 controllers and 2 different zip codes. You think they would at least give you some information that is useful, no they just leave you hanging. I now have upset customers and have no idea if this will be resolved or not. The reason the clients bought this upgrade, was to save on water use, not use more. I may lose these clients and I am sure they will tell their friends. Thanks Rain Bird! Propose solutions, in a timely fashion, not will get back to you. What does that even mean, one day, one week, one month or one year??? I also believe that when they put you on hold, they are taking other calls, because it happens several times during the call and then and the end it is the same answer.

I don’t enable location sharing with anything that doesn’t actually need it. My sprinkler system doesn’t need to know where I am. Whether I am sitting on my living room couch, out a a restaurant, or out of town on vacation, what does that have to do with me getting into my sprinkler controller to either check on a setting or change a setting? My plants and lawn need water regardless of where I am. The message that appears when location services reads, “Rain Bird requires location services tone enabled in order to determine your WiFi SSID.” Really? Hogwash. I set up this controller a year ago. I programmed it connect to my router (SSID) and it worked just fine. It IS connected to my router. After one of the most recent updates, if I try to view or change a setting via my cellphone, Rain Bird needs to know where I am? In order to “determine” my SSID? On what planet? The controller is already tethered to my SSID. And, if I am out and about, my cell phone isn’t tethered to any SSID as it is using cellular data. So again, my location is needed for what purpose? This is an unacceptable collection of my data. Rain Bird, please reprogram this app to allow users to opt in or opt out of letting you track their whereabouts. But don’t disable the app if people value their privacy.

The app works ok. In that it connects most of the time, while sometimes it needs a few reboots to finally connect. Really wish it had an easily accessible log feature, because I am never sure what ran and for how long. Notifications should be much richer. Instead of just saying “controller irrigation event complete” how about it gives zone and time, for example “zone 1 complete: 20 min run time”. Automatic seasonal adjust has consistently failed me and my grass starts to go brown and die. So I’ve had to turn it off. Rachio has something like auto seasonal adjust but it seemed to do a better job as my grass never died using it. One of my biggest wishes Is that it would connect to IFTTT or SmartThings and or Siri Shortcuts. Alexa connectivity is a bit gimmicky to me because everything is scheduled. I don’t really have to much of a functional use case to ask Alexa to turn on the sprinklers (which in and of itself is not the most intuitive IMO). All in all the app works, but leaves much to be desired. I had Rachio at my old house and I felt app was much richer and integrated much more with other smartphone platforms. If rainbird can add some of the above it would be wonderful.

Buyers beware Rainbird is horrible at this app. If you want to connect it’s like a dial up modem LOL. It attempts to connect and it have to wait for 100% load etc. Then if you do a manual water on say Zone 1 then it’s done and you want to manual irrigate another Zone it won’t let you as it still thinks it’s doing the Zone 1. You go out and back to irrigation screen and this won’t help, you finally tell it to STOP irrigation on Zone1 and think you will be able to move on to next Zone. NOPE think again this does not work. Force close the app then go thru the loading and connecting to the controller..communicating, loading schedule wait for it wait wait finally 100% then go manually water the next Zone. Ohh want to manually irrigate another Zone go back and repeat all the painful steps. My water heater, Doorbell, Thermostat, and many other home automated products work way better than this. All software updates focus on adding languages to sell this crap in another country. Work on this app because it’s the Future. Moving on to Hunter branded products as they do work well with technology, look at the Hydrawise app from Hunter and then you can see what a company that knows were in 2020 can do.

I originally thought this app was “okay” at best. I thought it would mostly control the sprinklers and be automatic. The notifications stink. It only tells you after it runs. Not when it’s happening. Also, it randomly turned watering “off” once, and none of my scheduled watering would work until I turned it back on. Finally, last straw- it had a connection error. I have now tried everything to reconnect the device, restart, restart phone, restart WiFi, everything. Nothing works. Constant error telling me I cannot connect. I’m not sure if I have a bad unit or what. I planted new grass and I need something that will be reliable. I got this for peace of mind, and knowing the watering was happening. Not to be confused and wonder what the heck is going on half the time I’m going to return the whole unit and probably get something else. The app was glitchy at best but I might have been able to accept it. I have too many other things to worry about to be fighting with some $150 water timer that works “okay” and an app that is just garbage.

Not sure why I fell for it again. For starters app always forces you to give up your location to use it for anything. Must want to always track you. Second it’s a very primitive app. You need to have really strong WiFi near your outdoor controller or forget about it. It just uses a tiny chip in the controller with no antenna. I had to return my WiFi chip before. They cost about $200. I ended up adding with a commercial outdoor access point for other reasons so bought one again. WiFi now connects. It would not before even 30’ away from inside my house. App is still disappointing. Not enough allowed characters to even put in my areas in each zone name and I do not have that many sections in each zone that I want to note. Someone should be able to design a better app in short order. Only good now is it works but will not use it much as the WiFi location grab annoys me and probably really need to close out app and do reset to stop it from sniffing.

I had a pool installed which of course forced me to have my yard re-sodded. Not wanting anything to go wrong after spending the money on the re-sod, I knew I had to get a very dependable irrigation control system. Since I’ve always had Rainbird products, I chose to continue my relationship with Rainbird and it hasn’t failed me. Now with the app I have the ability to change programming at a moments notice which really makes any changes very easy. Especially after my yard has been treated and my lawn maintenance company requires me to water it one or two days after treatment and I’m not home. I can do it from anywhere and change back to my regular schedule with just a few key strokes. Not to mention, my lawn has never looked better.

The controller works fine but I have two main issues with the app. 1). Location services must be turned on to access the controller. There is no need for Rain Bird to know my location to water my lawn. Whether I am at home or traveling, the app works the same and therefore no need for me to turn on location services. I’m not one to live on my phone and don’t need my location shared just to work a product I purchased. 2). After programming a manual delay in the schedule (which is a function I like) the controller only says the front panel is “Off” but the automatic schedule does not show when the next watering will occur. You have to remember how many days you manually shut the system off. Those are my two complaints. Other than that the WiFi was easy to set up and program. The manual turn on function is nice when making adjustment to the heads

Date/Time won’t advance in my Rainbird app when I look at controller info, although programs work as programmed. So I have a confidence issue that at some point my programs will be all confused and not work as programmed. I’ve had the ESP-ME3 controller for two years and been very happy with it. I recently had WiFi issues in the house and all were resolved. Then had issues bringing my RB controller back online but finally did it including reloading my RB app, and moving one of my WiFi nodes real close to the controller in the garage. The date/time matter is my remaining issue and trust me I have poured over many websites and videos but nobody addresses this matter. Will have to call RB support if I can’t figure it out.

I would like to review a month’s history of sprinkling records. With a rain detector connected to the system I don’t know if the lawn has gone too long without watering, other than the evidence of brown grass. Especially since the default to allow the next cycle is 72 hours and I can’t adjust those hours to something like 24 to 36 hours. If a rain event occurs 12 hours after the last successful scheduled sprinkling event then the system will not allow the next scheduled sprinkling event to start, which will lead to a possible 7 day lack of scheduled sprinkling (assuming that there are only two days per week that sprinkling is allowed). With a historical record of successful vs cancelled records to review, I could determine if I need to manually start a sprinkling event to bypass the automatic system settings. Rain Bird Corp., please listen this recommendation to improve the app with historical data!

This app seems to have many, many errors. Currently I can not get the automatic seasonal adjust to work at all (huge reason I bought this system), the home display recently seems to have removed (the 5 day weather, WiFi connection, home button, rain sensor, and the no water buttons that were originally located at the top in a horizontal row). Also I noticed the current time is wrong on it, it was off by 7 mins. Why is that when it’s connected directly to WiFi? Also I dislike not knowing if my system even ran, I have messages enabled for it and have not received one yet, and from what I’ve read even if you get a message it’s vague and sheds no information on what percent it ran at, how long, what zones, etc. I bought this system and installed the WiFi stick and rain sensor, and this app for it to be convenient. And so far it’s just a big irritating pain. I’m very dissatisfied and annoyed that I paid extra for this all to be so poor. fix it or it’s getting returned

Seriously consider a different irrigation system until this App catches up with today’s (or ever yesterdays) technology. This app is too bare bones, not anywhere near were it should/could be, as it does not provide enough information to make any decisions. Would be much more useful if the following were included: 1. Weather information should include rain fall amounts expected as well as what is then recorded. Currently I have to go to a different App (Scott’s) for that. Weather should also be shown in calendar/schedule view. 2. App should show water utilization per zone, and how much that equates to when season adjust. My zones (normally set for 30m) adjusted to 15m. App should show how much water that is, or at least estimate for comparison to expected rainfall, or recorded with rain sensor. Currently seasonal adjust just shows a percentage, with no information on equation. 3. App should give some level of reporting or history. There is no way in current app to know that your watering efficiently. If season adjust changes schedule due to expected rain, but the rainfall does not happen or reach expectation, there is no way to view, equate or compensate in schedule to add water back. Without this info, really tough to see the advantage of this app for anyone trying to water the correct amount. It appears only useful for someone who can’t physically access their controller often/easily.

No comparison to the features other irrigation apps offer. B*Hyve app is far superior. If this is your first experience to be able to control your irrigation control panel remotely, then you’ll enjoy the convenience. But if you’ve used other irrigation apps you’ll quickly realize how inferior this app is. I miss being able to click on a zone while running and see exactly how much time is left in the cycle. Or being able to click on a zone and have data history. Even though options are selected I never receive notifications that a zone or program has finished. B*Hyve immediately let’s you know that a zone is complete. The saddest part is the Rainbird irrigation control panels costs 3 times that of Orbit. Unless they drastically step there game up on this app, I will not purchase another Rainbird. Their app doesn’t compare to what you can see, do or control on the Orbit B*Hyve. I’d give this 0 stars if I could. So very ancient in comparison to what else is available. So disappointed with this.

This app was just installed and works perfectly. Makes programming simple to set. Manual station mode great to check heads working properly instead of running back and forth to controller. Only thing to add is ability to start a program which I’m sure they are working on for future. I gave it 4 stars until future program start stop option then 5 stars. Hey just 8 years ago we used the mechanical wheel method!! Just received a response from Rainbird folks..... the app does allow manual start functions for program and individual station starts! Also the notifications can be set to alert you that program has run. I think the low reviews had to have been PRIOR to upgrades because the app does EVERYTHING needed. 5 stars!

*Uodate: I am I longer experiencing this issue and have been quite pleased with the App. Also I contacted support due to an issue (user error), and received a response in about 24 hours. Appreciate the response! After my initial set up of the App I have not been able to reconnect to the App. I get constant communication error messages stating the controller is in a active connection. Tracing this error on the website FAQs it would seem this error indicates that another user may be connecting to the app at the same time. However I am the only person in my household with the app installed, and only on one device (my iPhone). Will update the review if the issue gets rectified.

Okay, so mine was not the standard set up. My controller is located in an outbuilding that had no wifi. I ran an Ethernet cable to the building, but heaven forbid the controller would have an Ethernet port. I connected an access point to supply wifi to the building. Fine. Works great. The folks at tech support are fantastic, and over the last three days I’ve gotten to know all of them by name. The Lynx Wifi module is very difficult to pair with the wifi network, and every time you finally get there, if the network goes down for any reason, you have to start from scratch. At least the programming stays in the controller. Glad to be a beta tester for this rollout. There are lots of devices out there that very robust and user friendly, obviously designed by seasoned tech folks who do this all the time. Clearly this is not one of them. Rainbird makes great irrigating systems and I have no regrets with my purchase. If I had to do it again, I’d buy the Rainbird and probably wait on the techie connectivity.

This is a very disappointing app from Rainbird. You’d expect this industry leader to have a cutting edge lawn watering app. Unfortunately, this app is very poorly designed, not very user friendly, way outdated (think 2007 basic entery level quality) and HORRIBLY SLOW! Just when you think it’s loaded, it starts loading another portion of the app’s opening sequence! This app very badly needs a major upgrade. Or better yet, just start from scratch and build a brand new cutting edge, user friendly app that loads quickly Rainbird!!! ***************************************** Even the contact developer link, on the IOS app notification that the developer posted a comment, doesn’t work right! The link takes you to?the Rainbird website, not an email to contact the developer. After reading all the negative reviews, I can now understand why they can’t fix this app. They are spending too time telling negative reviewers thank you for the comment or review our FAQs. If another vendor’s WiFi module will plug into my Rainbird controller, I’ll buy it to use a better designed app. If not, I’ll replace my Rainbird controller with a brand with a more user-friendly, full-featured app. This one is pretty sad and unacceptable! _______________________________________________ Just received another Developer response of: Thank you for your comments, please visit our website for assistance. Who are these people???

Thank you for fixing the app crashing issues. I do have a rain sensor, but my lawn guy led me to believe this system incorporates weather data like Racchio and others in this space. That would not force the system to rely on sensors - if my sprinklers are scheduled to go on at 7 am and then it’s supposed to rain all day starting at 10, then don’t go on at 7. Integration with weather can also have the system water more during extreme heat. The system is fine for being able to access the controller and do manual adjustments - but having AI and smart actual weather data is why I bought this and my expectations fell short. Maybe that’s on me for not researching more, but this seems to me to be another example as a big brand doing the minimum to compete while smaller breads are being more innovative. You’re the leader - please lead

I have to say I was very excited to get the rain bird controller and irrigation system. I had no irrigation system before. I used a B-hyve garden hose WiFi adapter which was pretty cool. It really was user friendly and had quite a few functions. I thought of course rain bird has to be better. This is quite the let down compared to b-hyve. Yes after waiting each time to connect to the controller I am able to set programs/turn it on and off. I just wish it did not have the lag and more of a real-time feature. I cannot even turn a zone on and be able to see in real time if it finishes because I have to restart the app. I’m not going to sit here and bash the app because it does do the bare-bones minimum to which it says but in a smart connected world it is a dinosaur. I guess my question is, is an update on the way to get with the times or is this just how it is?

The app has glitch/error every time I start manual watering as it pertains to connecting to the controller. The system turns on and works and the time left appears after resetting the app. Also, there needs to be unlimited program options, why cap it at three? Also, we need to be able to set a pause between zones activating during a program…because…my well pump is just a bit more efficient at pumping than the active recharge rate of my well. I have to add multiple activation times to a single program so the well can recharge. If I was able to put a 5 or minute pause between each zone, my well would have plenty of time to recharge and I would be able to start and run an entire program once instead of multiple times.

I’ve been using this controller for a while but just realized that the time is not adjusted with daylight time and neither is keeping the minutes synchronized with the internet. I move the string time of my Program A to 8am today because Rain was forecasted, so I decided to not manually set the rain sensor to “Rain” and let the entire system to work by itself. My surprise, it was raining, my sprinkler were running with the rain at 7am because the controller time still had the summer daylight savings hour. The rain sensor didn’t act either to skip the program today. Some recommendations to rainbird developers. The controller is connected to internet. Why don’t you get the time from there? About the rain sensor, I know this is not the scope of the app but that makes you think the quality of the rainbird product as a whole.

I like the ap when I can connect to it, but the random inconsistency connection issues with the controller deems it unreliable. I am fairly technical and had no issues setting up the controller to the 2.4 Ghz portion of my wifi network. However every day when I try to get back into it, the connection fails and says to try back in a minute. After several attempts it does seem to work and it seems to connect better if I switch my connection to the 2.4Ghz network. I am never able to connect outside of my home network. So checking on status of the system while I am away is currently not an option. The ap is a nice concept but has sever bug issues when it comes to connectivity. Please fix this

I had a ESP-TM2 WiFi panel controller installed so that my vegetables and flowers would be watered on a daily basis, as well as my programmed zones cancelled as needed, should there be heavy rains. The app has not worked from day one. When away from home, I get an error message telling me that if I do not see a green light to press the button on the WiFi module. How can I possibly do that if I am away from home? The whole purpose of the app is to be able to water as needed when away from home. I have tried to contact the various phone numbers listed in the manual with no success. I repeatedly get a message saying that they cannot answer any questions. What a terrible system!!!

The app is great once you’re in! I can adjust watering schedules and create multiple schedules for different areas when needed. Very user friendly, when it’s working anyway. Lately however, every single time I open the app to adjust my water schedule, I get an error message: “Cannot connect to comptroller”. Meaning I have to go outside to the sprinkler box and mess with the USB provided, click the button until the light flashes green/red, reconnect my wifi, turn my Bluetooth on and off again, and then try again. More often than not it takes me 15 minutes to get the app to successfully connect as I repeat this process. Today it took me 20 minutes until I finally gave up and manually adjusted the sprinkler time since I was at the box anyway. This app really isn’t worth it at this point. Having to open the outside box to reconnect the app every single time defeats the purpose entirely. I gave 3 stars because it worked well in the beginning. When you’re in the appyour water schedule does exactly what you set it to do. However, the hassle of getting it connected at this point is just too much.

Still have not update to address limitations noted by some reviews from several years ago. Limited flexibility in customizing schedules. Cannot manually run all stations to preset time. You have to manually run each station after the prior one completed. Who has time to watch each zone and then kickoff the next one. The manual run screen does not look like the one that is shown. It is now a sliding scale, it only lets you set the time on one station. How about manually just run my custom schedule or any schedule that I have programmed. My previous Hunter controller had a “run all” button and it would just run all stations to the preset time. Done! While I like the remote aspect and not have go to the garage to change the schedule / now it takes me 5-10mins to schedule an off cycle run. And I’d have to go back and adjust the schedule back after the watering is completed.

My new controller was installed a week ago. So far I really like the convenience of the Wi-fi module. It allows me to control the TM2 from the palm of my hand. The app has worked correctly for what it offers. The only thing missing is a history of water events/delays/seasonal adjustments. Having a history would allow me to fine tune my water usage. Im on a well system and want to be water-wise. Add a history and I will think we are pretty close to my ideal water app (or create a moisture meter sensor to check the ground moisture to really fine tune my watering!) Rain and freeze sensor will be added before winter.

This app has a good concept but its implementation is flawed. I am unable to change the date on the app (even if the date on the controller itself is correct; the app date and controller date are not synced), and changes that I make to my programs on the app are never saved despite me clicking save and attempting to program many, many times. I’m not an old man that can’t work technology; i’ve done everything right, but the app has failed to work. Its 2020 and this app should work seamlessly and flawlessly. Also, the developers badly need to add some history data. I want to know not just what waterings are scheduled, but which waterings actually happened. If I have an app, an expensive sprinkler controller, and a host of sensors set up, I shouldnt have to reach into my dirt to tell how moist it is and determine if it watered. The app should do that for me.

Second edit- still works as advertised, I have added a second controller at a different home and no issues at all. Looks like they have fixed the issues. Edit- after many,many phone calls and emails Rainbird was able to resolve my connection issues and now the app works as advertised. I was only able to connect through cellular one or two times and then it stopped working. Always works when I connect through the Wi-Fi at the location but that’s not the point of this app. If it only works when you’re on location why do you need the app. I would give this app no stars if I could. Rainbird needs to fix this app as they are selling product based on its ability to work with this app and it doesn’t work. Just spoke with Joe at rainbird again. His solution is that it must be my issue even though while I was on the phone with him he couldn’t connect to his own controller through the app multiple times. They need to fix this before it turns into a class action suit for fraud. How do you sell a product based on its ability to work with and app that doesn’t work.

This system is a replacement of a basic Hunter brand that was installed by my Homebuilder. Moves into new home on August 27, 2019 had the Hunter brand system for one season. I told my wife we need to replace and get something more user friendly or simple to use. I like the Rain Bird ST8I-2.0 because it allows you to operate from control panel, iPhone or Alexa. In addition, just a few steps to startup vs Hunter you had to go through a ton of buttons or steps. For example to do Manual Run. Lastly, this product fits nicely since we have a SmartHome throughout. Will be adding Rain Bird Wireless Rain Sensor soon. Great product and best on the market!

I really want to like this app for the control it gives me of my timer via mobile. But it’s so clunky and not well laid out. The wireless connectivity is ABYSMAL. It’s constantly timing out and needing excessive time before I can reconnect to it for another operation. This is especially bothersome when trying to test zones out when going around the yard doing maintenance, or when my irrigation contractor is here. You can fire up 1 zone, but then you have to wait like 5min beige it will respond again. They leads to me or my contractor having to run to the basement all the time to manually control the next zones. Makes WiFi app totally useless. Unless this app and connectivity improves, I may get a new timer system that is not RainBird next season. Even though I already paid an exorbitant amount of money for their ME3. NOT what I expected from big RainBird at all. Maybe Hydrawise is more robust???

Increasing rating by one star as timeout errors have not occurred. But the time it takes to connect and stability could still be improved. The app shouldn’t have to connect to the controller and download the schedule every single time. The controller should upload the data to the cloud and the phone app should only connect to the cloud. Please make the time it takes to connect shorter. Weather data could be much more advanced. Should be able to take into account wind speed, temperatures and skip watering based on past or expected precipitation. Wish the calendar tab would show if a program was successfully executed (by showing a check mark) Notifications could be improved. Instead of sending notifications after every zone is finished just send one 5 minutes before a program begins and then as soon as it ends. Also show the seasonal adjust percentage in the notification. Integration with Siri would be much appreciated like with Alexa. Please improve. Rainbird irrigation hardware is the best out there but the controller side of things could use some work.

App works great. It’s easy to use and understand and it’s very convenient for testing and adjusting the system. The modules are are unreliable as they easily lose their WiFi connection and then the only way to get it up and running again is to repeat the setup process which can only be done at the controller. It’s a real pain to do even if you are always on site. If you’re away on vacation, etc, you’re screwed until you return. Interesting how I don’t experience this problem with my doorbell camera, smart thermostat, or other similar devices. I do wonder how competitor controllers work under the same circumstances...

Changing the controller's password is a complicated process on the RainBird ST8i irrigation controller. Password's requirements like length, letters, numbers, symbols aren't addressed in the manual or in FAQs. I had to call support to get answers. I was told to push the button on the wifi module, wait until the orange light comes on, and then change to password. However, that didn't work. I had to reset the wifi module, delete the existing controller in the app to be able to change the password. This process could have been simplified by adding a change password option in the app's settings. Password's requirements should also be spelled out. As of this date, it only accepts small case letters and numbers; no symbols or capital letters are allowed.

Update: Aug 1st 2017 (Initial review) Pros: - Very easy to install controller. - App is very intuitive. - Very easy to schedule zones to run multiple times per selected days, nice feature. - Has a very nice feature whereby you can delay the scheduled program. Cons: - It does not appear that you are able to run a "program" off schedule manually? Pro/Con: - Calendar feature is nice for an at a glance view of monthly and weekly scheduled zones. However, the weekly display could be condensed by listing each zone on one line showing activity for that zone instead of listing the same zone multiple times depending upon start times. Update: Aug 2nd 2017 (Response to Developer) #1 - I own the ST8. I had previously attempted to do as you suggested in order to run the zones by manually setting the times on each zone, however, the App only allows one zone to be set at a time. If you attempt to set a 2nd zone the 1st zone will default back to zero. If this was doable it would be a satisfactory workaround. #2 - Thank you for considering the consolidation of the Calendar weekly list.

The app works fine for me, although the module is located relatively close to the WiFi router. Like the Rain Bird controller, app documentation is lacking but you can figure out the functions in about 20 minutes of trial and error. Two important notes: The app does not show you the status of the rain sensor. You really should be able to check the rain sensor status (green or red) in the app. Also, while the app shows the next scheduled watering, there is no way of checking history. Since my system waters overnight, I would like to be able to confirm it watered last night... and to compare watering history with my reclaimed water bill.

For the most part the app is useful. I would give it higher marks if it had an easy way to cycle through all zones. I have not found a way to use the app to either select one zone or to easily cycle through the zones on command. It would be much more useful if there was a troubleshooting feature. The feature would allow one to pick a zone and turn it on/off on command or to manually run a cycle and on command jump to the next zone. This way one could walk through the zones and see how the sprayers are working maybe stopping the spray to adjust the sprinkler head the starting it again. I hope someone reads this and creates an enhancement request around it.

I was very excited to replace my old control box with Rain Bird. The thought of controlling my system from anywhere is enticing. First. I agree that the app needs some work. I was unable to configure the WiFi controller with my iPhone 10. I was lucky to have an older iPad to get the job done. Then I was able to enable my iPhone by just using the email they sent me. Cool. Please test newer devices. This is clearly a WiFi issue. I was alarmed for about an hour. The app is ok. Not great. Some things are not intuitive. For example, I woke up to hear my sprinklers going off this morning. I looked out the window and it was raining. I fired up the app and wasn’t able to figure out how to skip the current day. I wound up just turning the system off and disabling Sunday from my schedule. That worked. Please make the “skip” option easier. If I hit “skip” then just turn everything off until tomorrow. I summary I’ll give the controller an A and the app a B. The app needs polishing. They will get it right. Software isn’t always easy.

The Rain Bird App is very functional in allowing control of the saved programs and the seasonal adjust feature is pretty slick. However, the app takes a long time to open to the program page (it runs through several cycles of getting the schedule and settings). It is not a huge problem, it’s just frustrating compared to other technology of today. The current status indicator (while watering) would be much more useful with a real-time countdown (updates infrequently/randomly). Perhaps not possible, but it would be great to be able to access the delay watering function from the main app page.

The app works well to control my RainBird controller with wifi module. Sure there are communications issues every now and then, but they aren’t a big deal and usually resolve themselves. I do have to problem with the latest update, though. I cannot connect to my controller via WiFi unless my device has its location services turned on. Why? This broke much of the automation I had set up as I don’t allow IoT devices on my network to broadcast their location. Is there a real reason location services have to be on now? Or is there a way to turn this requirement off?

It does offer basic functionality of being able to connect remotely. It's certainly easier to create a schedule for each zone from the app than via the buttons on the physical controller. And you can turn on a specific zone manually. But it is surprisingly lacking in basic areas. One cannot, for example, create a program or group of zones, such as "Sequentially run zone 1 for 12 minutes, zone 2 for minutes, zone 3 for 11 minutes, etc." You cannot simply ask it to "Run all zones now." Or "reschedule all zones" (though you can delay all zones by X number ofdays." I'm also really surprised the configuration is not Cloud based. Much of the data is stored only on your app. It makes it much less easy to have a group of people control the system.

I love the idea and convenience of this App. However, part of the reason I wanted it is to make sure it runs when I’m out of town. However, it does’t tell you if the the cycle ran or not. It tells you it was scheduled to run. For example, my breaker tripped so the sprinkler didn’t run. I realized it and fixed it. However the app then said the sprinklers were running and they weren’t. It said that because they were scheduled to be running. The only way I know the breaker is tripped and it didn’t run is if my app won’t connect. When the mat happens I don’t get an error message or anything. I wish it had an actual history of did it run or not and let you know if there was an error and it didn’t run.

Every time you need to change any setting it goes through a sync process. There is no real time station that are running. You can only see it if you re-sync it. I can’t even figure out how to manually start my program. There should be a real time view on the app. I spent $70 dollars for a WiFi adapter for this really horrible app. What a waste of money! I would not recommend anyone to get WiFi for there sprinkler system from Rainbird. Very disappointed. Again if you think you’ll easily control your irrigation system don’t be angry when you find out Rainbird has dropped the ball. In a day of age when technology is in the forefront of everything we do it seems like we are going into the early days of apps when they really couldn’t control much.

It’s like your a rain God! Controlling where, where and how much you need. Simply just make it Rain. It’s easy to use and install. As in older models the connections are the same. I could see a few improvements, such as adding a quick pause button which then changes to resume. As people walk through your active zones this would be nice to access. Second where the wires are connected. It uses the traditional screw down. Sometimes more than one wire links to a given screw and is difficult to attach. Especially the common which can have a few. Ultimately that’s it, still learning the nuances!

This app does too much synchronizing. Seems like it would be easy to toggle a bit on the controller when someone has changed values at the controller. The app could check this bit quickly without spending time reloading the schedule. I like being able operate the controller through the app. This is my preferred way to program my controller. However, if my phone locks, my phone switches between home network & phone network, or I just take too long on a screen, I have to reconnect (if The controller will let me) and resynchronize. This almost makes the app unusable. In fact, sometimes I give up and walk back to the controller. Does anyone at rain bird actually try to use their products at home?

I purchased the ST8I for remote access and easy programming. The install of the controller was easy and the app and WiFi hook up was similar as well. I loved the app and being able to control everything through the app. Everything was great until the next day. I kept getting timeout errors while trying to control the controller through the app. I tried resetting the app and the controller several times with no luck. I have read similar reviews so I’m disappointed that the issue has not been resolved. I tried calling Rain Bird for help and I either get a message to call back or their closed on weekends. In other reviewers the developers ask the customers to write an e-mail. CAN I GET SOME SUPPORT! It’s a brand new product that I purchased and there is no support for customers. Geez.