You mean to say the Nano could end up with more features than your “flagship” product? If anything it should be the other way around! and in fact people would pay money for those extra feature. I donno Alyssa… Interesting decisions being made at Anova! Your product line should have looked like this in my opinion:
APC Nano: compact, basic, low power 700w affordable unit. Set temp / time and that’s it. usd 120.
APC BT: more powerful than Nano at 800w. Supports multi-step. usd 180.
APC BT+WiFi: Flagship device. Most powerful at 900w, Supports Multi-cook and Multi-step. usd 240.
Too late now I guess… you’ve already committed to offering those “premium features” on your entry level unit leaving nothing unique for a flagship to sell at a premium. I guess you can only imagine how customers who bought the flagship product would feel when they paid double the price of a Nano and ended up with less features. If that happens, I’m out.
On multi cook: I can perhaps understand why it would be difficult to implement multi-cook on the Bluetooth only APCs (connecting to multiple BT devices simultaneously can be tricky), but when it comes to the WiFi models, I can’t think of a reason why the app cannot connect to multiple devices found on the network. If the app can talk to one networked device, surely it can talk to many. You shouldn’t need me or anyone to convince you why this feature is important. If I can connect to more than one, then I’m more likely to actually buy more than one… more for you… everyone is happy
Multi-Step: This should be pretty straight forward. I’d be very surprised if the existing hardware couldn’t handle memorising a set of temp/time steps.
Good luck you guys. Looking forward to seeing those changes.
I think you’d be surprised at just how basic the logic boards inside the Precision Cooker really are. All of the logic is in the app.
In the case of the Wifi unit, once you’ve done the initial setup, it has a data connection back to ANova’s cloud. That’s how you’re able to control it via either Wifi or Cellular (any data connection). Not certain if it actually does direct communications when on the local Wifi network at that point or not (may still be through the cloud to minimize the code).
I see the BT product disappearing entirely…what we saw at CES is that ANova is going to a 3 tier model, yes, but it’s Nano, Precision Cooker (wifi) and Precision Cooker Pro. A higher end unit targeted at restaurants.
(me, I think there’s a whole bunch of Bluetooth only components that ANova’s using up, then we’ll see the BT only unit disappear)
Just received a refurbished Anova Precision Cooker as a replacement for my trusty Anova One that had a broken clamp that can’t be replaced. Thank you Anova customer support!
Since this is my first Anova with connectivity, I’m new to the app. I do, however, own another sous vide circulator with connectivity, so I can compare. Also, I’m an experienced computer technician accustomed to troubleshooting. Here are some observations about setup from a first-time user:
Account Creation – The app requests a user name, email and password. But after entering them and getting a confirmation email and verifying, I wasn’t able to login. That’s because I entered the user name instead of the email address. As I recall, the ID field said something like “User Name or Email”. It took me a few minutes to realize it wanted my email. Further, the ID doesn’t apply to the Anova store or Community. It would be nice to be able to use the same account for all three.
Wi-Fi Setup – I have three Wi-Fi routers in my house, one of which offers multiple connection channels and speeds. When trying to setup the connection, the Anova chose the 5.0 MHz channel offered by one of the routers. It was not able to connect. But the app doesn’t offer a means to choose a different connection. I ended up unplugging the router, after which the Anova picked up one of the 2.4 MHz channels from another router and I was able to connect. Later, I realized that the Anova was using the Wi-Fi connection selected by my iPhone to do the initial setup, and that by chance when I unplugged the 5.0 MHz router my iPhone chose the correct 2.4 MHz channel of another router, which the Anova then used. To test this theory I disconnected the Anova, but then was unable to pair it with the iPhone. In order to start over, I had to uninstall the app and reinstall. Once I did that, I verified that the network connection the Anova selects for setup is indeed the one selected by the iPhone. And, after I got the Anova connected, I was able to set the iPhone back to the 5.0 MHz connection and the Anova stayed connected to the 2.4 MHz channel. Bottom line, it wasn’t clear to me that the Anova was getting the network connection from the iPhone and not directly from the various routers (most devices give you a list of possible connections and let you choose.) The app instructions should explicitly tell the user that initially the phone must be connected to the desired 2.4 MHz network connection.
No iPad App, No Multiple Connections – I use my iPad in the kitchen more than my iPhone, so it would be great to be able to control the Anova from my iPad. But alas, there’s no iPad version of the app. Even a blown up copy of the iPhone version would be welcome. Further, my other Bluetooth/Wi-Fi cooker, which does have an iPad version, allows simultaneous connections from multiple devices. This is great if I’m in a different room and want to use a different device to check or control the cooker. Of course, this would require implementing BT Master mode in the cooker, which isn’t easy. But your competition has done so.
I haven’t tried any of the other app features yet because I’m sort of primitive when it comes to using the cooker. I like to lookup recipies/guidelines online and set the temp and time myself. The most important app feature for me is the ability to monitor and control the cooker remotely.
I’m not sure the competing product uses BT Master mode to implement multiple connections. They might be using Wi-Fi for that. Such a restriction would be fine with me, but not for people who don’t have Wi-Fi.
Some additional thoughts on the scheduling feature. You need to put the capability into your cloud that the cloud received that scheduled event from the app and holds it in place and executes it when the timer goes off (as the wifi APC’s have a cloud connection).
I’m saying it needs to be initiated by the cloud as the phone could be out of data coverage at the time that the cook should kick off. I’d have the app on the phone verify that the scheduled cook kicked off when back in data coverage, but you want that robustness of the cloud kicking it off.
Hey gang - Just finished chatting with my dev team. Looks like its possible to release an SDK and in the coming weeks will be something we’ll sort out and push to the group.
In the meantime, please list out the feature sets you’re looking for and I’ll communicate it back to the right peeps to see how we can make this a solid release!
Just had another thought (though it would somewhat diminish the point of having a wifi unit).
You could build the cloud connection into the app as part of your multi-tablet/phone support. If you have a device at home, within bluetooth range of the device that is connected to the ANova cloud, then you could use your other device that’s with you (remote) that also has a pre-existing relationship with that device (for security purposes) to control the device at home - with the instructions being given to the bluetooth device from your home phone/tablet that’s connected to the ANova cloud.
Obviously, both phone/tablet devices would need to be using the same userid to connect to ANova.
Heh…likely what you guys are doing for the Nano already.
Hi, I would add my voice to others with the need for full iPad support including rotation support in landscape mode.
I don’t like using my iPhone as an expensive kitchen timer around water and heat. We have a couple of older “kitchen” iPads for recipes, timers, temperature monitor, etc that work very well. The iPads have Bluetooth keyboards that work best in landscape mode.
But the current app is portrait mode only, which I could deal with except it doesn’t support 180 degree rotation so the Lightning connector is on the top, while sitting in a stand. And forget using an iPad Pro with an attached Apple Smart Keyboard.
I would also like to see multiple device access including from a computer. Not necessarily to control the Anovas but at least monitor the cookers. For me, it would be keeping an eye on the Anovas from a home office on the other side of the house. A number of other IoT devices provide this already.
@fischersd This is a great idea, something that our developers would love to implement. However, we aren’t sure we can make it a priority given some other features we are considering developing.
Most notably, @MaxLaChat, our developers are investigating a web-based cooker control that you could access from a computer. However, it is complicated to implement given the WI-FI requirements of our cookers. We’ve also had requests for iPad support as many people are in the same position as yourself with older tablets that are suitable for kitchen use. This is a feature request that is in our backlog but hasn’t been prioritized for now.
Thanks for the update. As technical support for a software company which also provides iOS and Android apps, fully understand the need to prioritize to avoid “scope creep”.
For me, multiple device access would be nice but not critical. There are other ways of monitoring the Anova including something as simple as pointing a networked webcam at the cooker or iPad.
Support for screen rotation on iPads would be enough to meet my needs. Some of the other precision cooker apps (and my company’s apps) already provide screen rotation without any other iPad specific features.
How about an official API for both the BT and WIFI version?
You wouldn’t even have to develop the app then.
Even atm there’s unofficial ways to control them from the web.
Yep, here’s node.js: sous-vide - npm
Can be integrated in a lot of things including Home Asisstant where you can control it from the web (or app’s and whatnot).
Here’s a homebridge addon: homebridge-anova - npm
With this you can control it from siri or your control center on IOS.
I’m pretty late to this conversation. But I’m asking for a UWP app for Windows/Xbox/HoloLens/Phone. I don’t own Android and iOS devices and my family doesn’t have plans to purchase any such devices. We however own Surface tablets, Xbox Ones, many Windows 10 IoT Core /w Cortana on Raspberry Pies, and Windows 10 Mobile devices. To use it’d be super cool to just say “Cortana, start the sous vide” or “Cortana, ask Anova to start cooking”. With Microsoft’s upcoming Harmon Cardon “Invoke” speaker this would make our house complete.
It’s hard for me to recommend Anova to my friends when I don’t even know how the app works. Because THAT’s the first question they ask me. Quite honestly the reason I bought the Anova is because I don’t need an app. But I do feel like I’ve been lobotomized when compared to all the features the app brings. There really isn’t any excuses anymore for not having a Windows ecosystem based app. Especially since Microsoft has bent over backwards to provide tools to port iOS apps to Windows using Project Centennial aka “Windows Bridge for iOS” https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/bridges/ios.
Facebook ported the iOS app to Windows and it’s pretty cool. Slack runs on everything now and it’s a chromium app.
Be like Facebook and Slack. Be cool. You’re only missing out on 700M Windows 10 users. But whateve’s. Vine didn’t build a Windows app until it was too late and look where Vine is today. [DEAD]
You really didn’t need to incorporate the attitude. You could have been polite.
8 1/2 years of my life in BlackBerry…trust me, I understand not having apps available for your preferred platform.
But Windows is line noise in the mobile arena. They’ve made a dent in tablets, but for how long? Without having a presence in the phone, they’ll fade. Having the desktop isn’t enough. You need a play for each platform.
And now they’re playing the game of chicken with the FTC over their EDGE browser - by not allowing other browsers on their Windows 10 secure platform (what’s old is new again).
ANova isn’t an IBM or Microsoft…they don’t have 10’s of thousands of developers they can turn loose on all platforms. I don’t blame them at all for investing in the largest platforms first. Those with common sense should do the same.
Your product line should have looked like this in my opinion:
for you… everyone is happy 
All of the logic is in the app.