GLAS by JCI 4+

…the app takes sooooo long to load I just walk to the Glas on the wall and change the temp. All the while the app is still grinding its gears seemingly using 1% of the computational power our smart phones and tablets have nowadays. WiFi is super fast and not overcrowded, no issues with WiFi lights, WiFi locks, WiFi cams etc.
The coding in this app must be seriously flawed for it to take soooooo long to connect.
Been over 2 years since an update came out which was just added support for another device and not the issues many users are complaining about. Just like most of these types of apps that support some kind of hardware, the app part is superbly lacking. As if made by a kid in an attic with coding aspirations. In fact, the app would probably work better if that had been the case. Shame on this app for pulling down the experience of an otherwise awesome hardware product.

It pains me to write this review, because I love the actual GLAS hardware. The thermostat itself with its transparent OLED panel just looks sleek, and it’s UI is pretty good when you’re using the thermostat directly.

What I do have a major problem with however, is the absolutely awful app. I’ve tried to edit the wake times for various days of the week over a dozen times now, and each time I change it and hit save, the wake time immediately reverts back to what it was previously. The only way to make a schedule change stick is to manually input it into the thermostat itself. If I was interested in that, I would have bought a $30 dumb thermostat from the hardware store. This is a smart thermostat though, and a very expensive one at that. I have smart light switches that cost a fraction of what this does whose app works flawlessly. And I haven’t even mentioned the myriad of other problems, such as frequent crashes and wait times of as much as 20-30 seconds after opening the app to actually use it.

Come on JCI. This thermostat has a lot of potential. Your physical hardware is great. Just fix this god awful app and you’ll have something truly special on your hands. For the moment though, until that happens, I would recommend neither the app nor the thermostat.

Coming from another smart thermostat this app is definitely behind the times. You get three comfort “temperature settings” and that’s it; Home, Away, and Sleep and they can’t repeat within the day. For example I used to have my sleep start at 9 pm and then start again at 2am in case someone had messed with the thermostat. I can’t do this with GLAS. I had a Wake temp setting which was warmer than Home for Winter use to get everyone out of bed. That’s gone. I also used to have a Weekend temp setting which was a few degrees warmer than my Home setting. I also can’t do that now. The app works but it’s a bit slower and clunkier than its competitors.

In the end this is a pretty piece of hardware lacking quality software and I’ll probably end up returning it.