Edit: I'm changing this from 1 to 4 stars. They replied to my email request with the explanation of how to edit my schedule. However, it's more difficult to navigate than it used to be. To edit your schedule, you have to first click on the device icon. But the calendar that shows past and future seems to be gone. Rachio is a capable and functional app. We are having lots of rains here now and it is canceling the watering schedule properly, as it has always done. App navigation is unintuitive.
Reviews for Rachio
← Back to RachioHaving this smart sprinkler has saved me a ton of money. My water bill used to be really high (running off city water and sewer, cannot get a well). After installing the sprinkler controller (real easy to do it yourself) and setting up the zones (again really easy), you just leave it alone and it does all the thinking for you. I got the weather intelligent sprinkler unit and would highly recommend spending the extra money as it will automatically do the watering schedule for you with weather.
5 for the product 2 for the app. First, the installation and wifi connection process is horrible. Don't say "something went wrong". Say "you entered the wrong password" (if that's the case as it was the first time for me). Then it made me go through the fallback process. Finally, it's a computer program: why can't it remember the bar code i scanned instead of making me scan it 3 times? Finally, I just spent a couple hundred dollars for a sprinkler controller. Why do I need to see ads now?
Pleasantly surprised, usually apps like this are garbage (looking at you Traeger App). However, the Rachio app just seems to always work, setting up my unit was fairly simple (I had to get a little involved but that was due to my own router and Internet set up). The app has been extremely easy, robust, easy to use, and I've had zero issues. I can highly recommend this sprinkler system to anyone who's looking!
love being able to use my sprinkler system remote is app. app is user friendly. I took away 2 stars for the water intelligence. I connected .03 miles from a weather station and even though its gonna rain it does not cancel the watering. so I tried another weather place which is still under a mile and I get the same thing. i do not use a rain sensor anymore so now i really need to keep an eye on the weather a manually cancel the next watering.
The app is great! I set up all 4 of my stations, added the time i wanted, and used the smart soak option. It has done wonders for my lawn and plants. The ability to do a quick run when needed also helps. Seasonal changes are perfect when you don't realize you no longer need to water as much or water more based on the season.
I tried to add a wifi hub using the Android app but was unable to connect the hub to my wifi. I read that others with the same issue were able to work around using an Apple device instead. I tried my wife's iPad, and sure enough, the process completed smoothly. So the Android app gets a 1 star for being non-functional until this issue is fixed. If you can't add new devices to your wifi, your whole shiny system is DOA. Rachio makes good stuff, but its Android app team should be embarrassed.
Not a fan of them putting weather adjustments behind another paid upgrade. Whole point of device is saving water and now you're charging for efficiency related features. Also find it very difficult to adjust amount of watering. Seems to water way more than needed without obvious way to adjust. I end manually triggering watering which defeats the whole point of the thing.
I have used the first generation Rachio for several years now. I have never had any problems with it. Not even one, now that I think about it. I have replaced our router several times over the years and had zero issues connecting this to any of the major brands, (Asus, Linksys, etc.). When Rachio implemented the water saver system based on lawn type and weather reporting, I easily saved enough money to pay for the system.
Love the controller for my water system. The only setup challenge/difficulty I had was to figure out how to turn off my 5ghz wifi temporarily so the 2.4ghz could connect. After that, I turned it back on, and no problems since. Intuitive user interface. Two years ago I had another brand and it was always dropping it's wifi connection. Super happy I switched to Rachio.
they lock features behind a $30/month subscription. These features are the entire premise behind buying a ratchio over a market viable, cheaper alternative. but having these features justified a higher initial cost. If they were going to lock features behind a $30 subscription the initial cost should be cheaper and they should have stated that as a requirement clearly for the initial purchase, but none of that occurred. these are skeevy and dirty business practices, I don't recommend ratchio.
Moved over to this from a Rainbird ESP3 with wifi because the Rainbird app hasn't been updated since 2016 and often loses connectivity with the controller. The Rachio app has all the features and ability to fine tune you would want. I paid the 1 time $30 fee to connect it to my Tempest weather station and was not disappointed. I have a 10 Zone system with rotors, sprays and drips.
Very far from perfect. Interface requires way too many selections to get to where you want to go. Weather forecast is skewed too heavily on saving water, except lately the sprinklers have come on when it's raining and the forecast is rain all day even after changing station types. Customized settings are way to complicated - it's a sprinkler not a moon landing! Integration with Google Home is practically non-existant - off and on is all you get. Create a widget already!
Used for a couple seasons now. Love the idea of a system tracking the weather to adjust watering patterns. It is way to conservative however, to the point where my grass will dry out due to the amount of times the watering schedule is skipped because of a small "chance" of rain. Now Rachio is adding additional subscriptions to track heatwaves for an additional $30 which is highly annoying. This should be included as it is advertised that Rachio tracks weather to adjust watering patterns.
App notifies me after sprinkler run, but as a user I would like it to remind me prior to a run so that I could skip (especially if it recently rained). Also, this is extremely difficult if not impossible to use at a house without wifi (rental / vacation home). They totally miss the mark in making it user friendly for contractors to setup. No real updates to the app. I would not recommend it.
You asked how I'm liking the app while in the middle of checking a zone without letting me skip: If the predicted rain amount is less than an a quarter of what the irrigation is scheduled to water, don't skip the watering. I live in TX. August is the hottest month of the year. Despite this, Rachio decided to do a seasonal shift, reducing the amount of water going into August. When selecting a popular nozzle, like the hunter MP rotator, you should know the rate is 0.4 in an hour, not 0.8.
mostly app and product are fine. But after trying, using, and talking with support the smart features aren't very smart. If they are right the weather source you can change only applies to the control not hose timer. So if you use both they may behave differently. also apparently the weather skip feature is not a rolling time, it only updated at midnight. so if you are watching at 1150p and it schedule to rain at 1205a, it won't skip. hope that's not really the case. still trying to adjust.
Should've stayed with my old "dumb" controller. Rachio has had ZERO meaningful improvements over the years, now they add some basic functionality under a $30 unlock barrier? once my device stops working I'm done with them. I've stopped recommending it to anyone that asks. If you're in a hot climate, forget about this "smart" irrigation controller, it's not smart, only good thing is that you can manage stuff from your phone instead of having to walk to the controller.
Overall, an excellent app and controller. The biggest problem with my 3e is, if the controller goes offline for several days, it stops watering, even though it's supposed to keep running the last saved schedule. This is made worse because, if the controller is connected to a wifi network with both the 2.4G and 5G wifi bands enabled on the same SSID, the controller can often have trouble selecting which band to use causing it to go offline until you reboot it. I would still buy it again.
I love being able to test my system while walking around my property and being able to stop & start it from my phone to make adjustments. As well as being tied into my local weather to stop or run depending on my actual weather. Also being able to run the system even when you aren't home, for example if you're traveling and you see your home area may need more watering, you can activate your system from anywhere!