Smoke-It app alternative?

[SmokersWife]

So I purchased this smoker for my hubby for Christmas. His last one was just too old, it was time, and he was really excited about an upgraded version. And really wanted a Pit Boss.
I did a little reading on it before I bought it and found this forum. I remember reading that the smoker was well liked but that the app super sucked, and an alternative app was suggested. I told him he should look it up because I couldn't remember the name.
Now that he's opened it, put it together and used it once with the sucky app, I can't find any thread that talks about an alternative to Smoke-It.
I hate it for him, he was so looking forward to it, he can still use his blue tooth temp he's had from before, but can't control the smoker. I feel like this purchase wasn't worth it and his Christmas present is ruined.
Help?
Any suggestions for an alternative? Clearly after all of these months (reading all of the threads) the 3rd party isn't interested in fixing anything.
#PleaseSaveChristmas !

 

[Mike From R.I.]

Welcome the smoker that you bought; does it have WIFI? Some of the Pit Boss pellet smokers do not have WIFI. As far as I know there is only one SMOKEIT app. Pit Boss Tech support can help you through the app and WIFI set up 877-303-3134 option 1. I have the PBV4PS2 and it had a bad controller brand new, it is a really easy job to replace a controller if needed.

 

[SmokersWife]

Welcome the smoker that you bought; does it have WIFI? Some of the Pit Boss pellet smokers do not have WIFI. As far as I know there is only one SMOKEIT app. Pit Boss Tech support can help you through the app and WIFI set up 877-303-3134 option 1. I have the PBV4PS2 and it had a bad controller brand new, it is a really easy job to replace a controller if needed.

Yes, it connects, and works... kinda. It won't stay connected. He had a series of other complaints about it but felt bad so stopped lol. The smoker is great! He made dinner tonight. It's the app itself, it's just bad.

 

[Mike From R.I.]

I'd call Tech Support, they can help with the app. Maybe the controller is not giving out a strong enough WIFI signal, they will work with him to see if it is too weak of a signal. My first controller wouldn't work 2 feet from the smoker with WIFI, the new controller hasn't caused any connection issues.

 

[Mike From R.I.]

Yes, it connects, and works... kinda. It won't stay connected. He had a series of other complaints about it but felt bad so stopped lol. The smoker is great! He made dinner tonight. It's the app itself, it's just bad.

You ever call?

 

[Avigland]

I bought a smoker (1150 from Lowes) about a year ago and was very dissatisfied with the app. Since then I was able to get PitBoss to replace the controller and they have also completely rewritten the app since then. When I got everything working, I was actually very pleased with the app. I was able to reliably read and control the temp remotely (through WiFi to the cloud, so I could do it from wherever I was) and they added a very cool graphing capability so you can see the temperatures over time for your cook.

So, the first thing I would suggest is to call PitBoss and confirm that you have the latest controller with the correct firmware version. Second, if you are still having trouble connecting the grill to WiFi, call the support line (the app is developed and maintained by App Assist) and get them to help you through it. The grill needs to be able to connect to a 2.4G WiFi connection, so if you have a newer router running 5G it needs to be able to support the older 2.4G connection for the grill to connect. Most do. If your new grill does not have the latest controller, they will send you a new one and it is a fairly easy swap out.

Good luck, and know that you should be able to get the latest app working and get good results out of it. Many of the super negative comments (some from me) came from the earlier version of the app. The new version is WAY better and does what you would expect the app to do.

 

[SmokersWife]

You ever call?

I shared your info with him, I don't think he's had time yet. He'll use it again next week, will try to call then.

 

[Steelheader1974]

I bought a smoker (1150 from Lowes). Have u updated to the latest version for the app yet? That’s when everything started getting weird for me. It was working fine before that.

 

[diversification]

FYI I too have had a HORRIBLE time with the app and my Laredo 1000 (and yes, I'm on the current version of the app, and I'm speaking from multiple very recent experiences.) It works well sometimes, but more recently it has had several recurring issues.

1. The Laredo has temp settings of 180, 200, 225, 250, 275, etc. The app only registers temps properly at 225+. Below that it'll just show a 5, so you have no idea what temp it's being set to.

2. If you try to adjust the temp with the app, sometimes it takes, and sometimes it doesn't. Not being reliable is a pretty big deal for an app like this.

3. Sometimes when I open the app, it won't connect to the cloud. There's no way to predict when it's going to happen or determine why it happens. I've tried rebooting my router, rebooting my phone, force stopping the app, wiping the app cache, wiping the app data, uninstalling and reinstalling, moving the grill closer to the router. Nothing reliably fixes it, and while it sometimes will just suddenly let you login again if you just wait a minute or two, this again is an issue of reliability.

4. You can't create a login with an email address. The only way to actually make a login is with a google account, and by doing that you're agreeing to let t2Fi (the developer of the Pit Boss app) access some of your google account data. Not exactly something I really want to give up if I don't have to, and in this case I shouldn't have to if their app worked properly. Wanna know what they say if you call and report the problem? "The website has been down for months. There's no expected time for it to come back up." Yes, really.


Now, the one thing I have not done is call for a new controller, which is something that I was considering doing anyway due to what seems like heat temps much higher than expected. I've been trying to use the included probes as alternative measures to the normal temp probe, and regardless of location, they pretty consistently report that things are hotter than they should be. Frustratingly, I'm not even sure if I can trust those either. I will tell you that despite following the advice of many youtube videos, this smoker has overcooked and dried out brisket, chuck roast, tenderloin, pork shoulder, and several other cuts. If it was just one cut of meat, sure, maybe it's user error. When it consistently cooks way to fast despite me following instructions & instructional videos from numerous different sources, I'm given to conclude that it's actually probably the grill.

 

[MKinHB]

I had random problems with the app. changing temperatures even when the app is not in use, has been forced stopped etc.
the thing would still do weird things to the grill even though I didn't use it.
Since I deleted the app, no more problems.
I don't need no stinking app anyways.
Not if it's gonna change my settings randomly.

 

[diversification]

I had random problems with the app. changing temperatures even when the app is not in use, has been forced stopped etc.
the thing would still do weird things to the grill even though I didn't use it.
Since I deleted the app, no more problems.
I don't need no stinking app anyways.
Not if it's gonna change my settings randomly.

I fortunately have not experienced it adjusting the temp on its own. Still, if they're going to advertise these grills as having a Wifi and bluetooth controller (which they're clearly using as a selling point) they better darn well make sure it works. The "well I don't need an app anyway, so it's nbd" is all well and good for those who bought primarily for other reasons, but some of us really do want to use an app to control the unit and having an app this terrible makes it feel like I got sold a bill of goods.

 

[MKinHB]

I fortunately have not experienced it adjusting the temp on its own. Still, if they're going to advertise these grills as having a Wifi and bluetooth controller (which they're clearly using as a selling point) they better darn well make sure it works. The "well I don't need an app anyway, so it's nbd" is all well and good for those who bought primarily for other reasons, but some of us really do want to use an app to control the unit and having an app this terrible makes it feel like I got sold a bill of goods.

I agree

 

[Avigland]

I bought a smoker (1150 from Lowes) about a year ago and was very dissatisfied with the app. Since then I was able to get PitBoss to replace the controller and they have also completely rewritten the app since then. When I got everything working, I was actually very pleased with the app. I was able to reliably read and control the temp remotely (through WiFi to the cloud, so I could do it from wherever I was) and they added a very cool graphing capability so you can see the temperatures over time for your cook.

So, the first thing I would suggest is to call PitBoss and confirm that you have the latest controller with the correct firmware version. Second, if you are still having trouble connecting the grill to WiFi, call the support line (the app is developed and maintained by App Assist) and get them to help you through it. The grill needs to be able to connect to a 2.4G WiFi connection, so if you have a newer router running 5G it needs to be able to support the older 2.4G connection for the grill to connect. Most do. If your new grill does not have the latest controller, they will send you a new one and it is a fairly easy swap out.

Good luck, and know that you should be able to get the latest app working and get good results out of it. Many of the super negative comments (some from me) came from the earlier version of the app. The new version is WAY better and does what you would expect the app to do.

Update: Support just dropped a new update to SmokeIT on 12/31/2021. It may help.

 

[diversification]

Update: Support just dropped a new update to SmokeIT on 12/31/2021. It may help.

It doesn't fix anything. They update the app about once every month. None of the updates actually fix anything that's described here. They claim that they're adding support for more devices. I suspect they're fixing extremely minor things or just pushing updates to improve compatibility with Android 12, because I've not been able to find a single change.

 

[Avigland]

It doesn't fix anything. They update the app about once every month. None of the updates actually fix anything that's described here. They claim that they're adding support for more devices. I suspect they're fixing extremely minor things or just pushing updates to improve compatibility with Android 12, because I've not been able to find a single change.

Well, for me it did. I was having an issue with the graphing and had a couple exchanges with support. They made the drop and it fixed the issue I was having. I’ll be the first to say the app stunk before the rewrite, and it has a ways to go yet, but it is working for me now and they have made great strides. I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt that they will continue to improve.