I was excited to use the smart on/off feature offered by this app, but sadly it does not work. I mean, technically the feature does work. If I keep the IQAir app open and on-screen while my phone’s screen is on, the app will turn the Atem on and off based on my proximity to the device. However, if I turn my phone’s screen off, navigate to the Home Screen, or launch another app, the IQAir app will no longer control the Atem. I don’t fully close or force close the IQAir app. The app is still open in the background, but despite this the smart on/off functionality does not work. Instead, I have to by a power switch I can control using my phone to make up for the broken feature provided by IQAir. I suppose all this should not be a surprise to me. IQAir’s home air quality monitor has a bug where it provides the wrong location name when viewing a device, which I reported back in 2021, but the IQAir team hasn’t gotten around to fixing it yet. It’s a shame that such good hardware is spoiled by poor software.

I like the app features, including the ability to adjust fan speeds higher than the Atem’s default fan speeds for low/medium/high, the display of current temperature and humidity, and the display of filter life, BUT Bluetooth connectivity is poor. Even with my iPhone sitting only 1 foot away, it kept disconnecting, such that firmware updates to the Atem were impossible. Only when I leaned my iPhone against my Atem could I successfully install firmware updates. I can’t use the “Smart on/off” feature because with my iPhone on my bedside table, only 3 feet away from my Atem, the connection is poor enough that my Atem keeps shutting on and off. Bummer. The only way I can reconnect with the Atem after I lose Bluetooth connection with it is to remove the app running in my iPhone’s background and re-launch the app. Also, I have tried at least 5 times to register my device via the app. Each time I’ve filled out the form and (seeing that my device’s serial number is auto-filled for me) I hit the submit button. Each and every time, I get returned to a blank form! No indication from the app that my registration was successful. Atem has more work to do on this app.

It’s a little hard to rate this. IQ Air products are incredibly great built, especially the Atem line. But everything related to software is behind hardware. Their website although good looking is hard to find the replacement filters page, info is limited, and they make no promotions, discounts or subscription options. This APP is fairly good, but sometimes you get some glitches like the APP not connecting immediately with the device, or not updating speed settings. But all these are NoT very common. That’s why I’m rating this APP 4 stars.

The app is ok, but the Atem itself is excellent. During the Canadian wildfires air quality disaster in the northeast - during which our local EPA official AQI went over 400 - the interior of my car was completely odor free. Open the car door and the smell was overwhelming. Close it, and a few minutes later the car was clear. I used the app to boost the Atem to 100%, rather than my usual 50-75%.