Blinds Automation Kit, transform Ordinary Blinds into Smart automated Window Blinds. iOS & Android Compatible.

I started with two blinds in our master bedroom to test out, but then quickly added five more in various places in our house. The installation is a piece of cake, as others have said, once you get through the first one you do. After that, each blind took approx 10 min. The solar panel, in my opinion, is a must and works perfectly. The app does everything I'd like it to - I have a Galaxy Note 9 with no issues whatsoever with the app.A few extra comments or tips which might be useful- These do NOT work with cordless blinds. We have blinds in our main level which I never adjust and thought adding MySmartBlinds to them would be awesome. I chatted with the manufacturer and they said these would not work on cordless blinds, but I saw some Q&A on here which suggested they would. I thought, "Well, my cordless blinds have tilt rods, so...maybe...." No. There's too much equipment in the header for these to work. Even though I did get one installed, the motor was so far out to the end, the blind just bunched up horribly and mostly couldn't turn the rod at all. I'm very mechanical and resourceful, but this was a hard no. Luckily, I had a bunch of other great places to stick the blinds I purchased, so no harm. I will upgrade my cordless ones to the pre-installed versions eventually.- When you add a blind in the software, you'll probably need to update. The firmware updates were fine. I just left my phone next to the blind while I worked on another blind. However, the LTE bluetooth updates were very laborious. You can skip/cancel that update and the blinds work fine. I will try the bluetooth update someday again when I'm bored and not needing my phone for a while.- You don't need the tilt rod unless you want to manually control the blinds. I didn't even bother hanging rods on several of my blinds because they are too high up to even bother. The mechanism for the rod allows you to pull the rod and the blind will tilt by quarter turns, basically, with each pull. But you can do this from your phone, a remote, etc...- I bought the remote control and I really like it. I have a very 'smart' home and I was getting tired of everything requiring it's own hub. I don't necessarily need Alexa to control my blinds, so I decided to skip the hub. The remote control can control up to five "zones." For example, I have the original two master bedroom blinds on one zone. When you push any button on the remote, it wakes up and then you can toggle to select the zone you need. Each zone has its own colored light. Wait until the light stops blinking - this is when it's connecting to the blinds - and then choose up or down. The remote does everything I need it to, though it is very minimalistic and might be hard for guests to figure out quickly. I'd love to see the manufacturer come out with a more full-featured remote.-- People have complained that the blinds use bluetooth without the hub, and therefore, there is a distance restriction. I personally don't care. I'm sure there are people with use cases for this, but I couldn't personally think of a reason I'd be sitting in my bedroom, for example, and think I needed to close a blind way upstairs. (see below about schedules and temp sensor)- I use schedules for my blinds. The bedroom ones open at 6:30am to wake me up (not because they are super loud, but because they let the sun in). The sunset/sunrise tracking works just fine, but it's a little tricky. If the sunrise time when you set it is 5:30am, for example, and you set your schedule to 6:30am and use the sunrise/sunset tracking, then the blinds assume you want them opened throughout the year one hour after the actual sunrise. For me, I switched to just a hard schedule and it's perfect. It's also very cool when the blinds just open or close all on their own - lots of "oohs" and "aahs."- The temperature sensor is brilliant. I love this feature the most, I think. The blinds have an internal sensor and in the app, you can specify if you want the blinds to close relative to temperature. There's a cold-> hot slider to select the threshold. I think this would be more useful if it corresponded to actual temperatures, but I've played around with it and ended up using the defaults recommended. Because of the position of our home, it's so useful to have the blinds close automatically if it's too warm and the sun is beating down.We have an upstairs which is only used for guests and can get pretty hot in the summer. These smart blinds are part of our energy saving strategy. We also use an Ecobee thermostat with sensors placed strategically, and just installed a smart fan (Modern Forms) which works with the Ecobee. Between these three key products, our upstairs temperature management is phenomenal - saving us money and not requiring us to go up there and constantly adjust things.I highly recommend these smart blinds! (Though, someday, it'll be awesome to have 'smart windows'!)

I love this thing. I installed it in a blind that is over our staircases, 16 ft. above the floor. With it we now have ambient light during the day and privacy at night. With the app it is really easy to use and program. With the solar charger I am not worried about battery life. Getting a large ladder out to charge it would not work.Make sure you understand what you are getting so you are as satisfied as I am. It includes, a motor box, a rechargeable battery, a wand switch and the optional solar charger. The “motor box” is much more than simply a motor. It includes a Bluetooth module to communicate the programing from their cell phone app to its microprocessor. After you program the “box” it will remember your schedule for the operation of the blind while not linked to the phone. It has a built-in time keeping device that will open/close the blind at a specific time of day or a time adjusted for sunrise/sunset based on the location it receives from your phones location service as it is programmed. As an example; it is programmed to open at 7:00 am every day, you can even select the days. It’s also programmed to close at 9:00 pm (dusk) but adjust for solar time. It now still closes at dusk but has adjusted itself to close at 8:15 due to the days getting shorter. Everything I needed.My experience:- Don't expect much from the instruction book. It has small print and poor-quality pictures. If you review the videos and are a little handy you should understand it. It is just a blind, nothing to complex. On the other hand, if you don’t feel comfortable taking apart the headrail on your expensive horizontal blind the videos will not make you into something you’re not. Consider phoning a friend.- Don't take the time to install it without checking for updates to the firmware. The unit I received would not update and crashed: yet I gave it 5 stars because it now works so well. Don't fight with it, just go to the website and use chat to tell them your problem and they will send you a new motor box within a day or two. I am sure this issue will be resolved as they use inventory. The replacement unit was ready to go.-The motor box would not slide into the silicone cover in the headrail. Without the cover I was afraid it would vibrate so I cut the cover in half and it snugged in nicely. This could be an issue because my blind is 10 years old and I am sure it is difficult to fit every blind manufacture.The app has other features I did not use such as the temperature sensor, but I am sure others will cover that.

Updated 12/30/18:Android App was updated to 2.1.7 and now calibration, ability to control, and install new units appears to be fixed. Upgraded my ratings since Android app is now working pretty well. Some minor nuances that come up are that when you pair multiple units in a single room there seems to be some lag between the units when trying to change settings (not a big deal to me, but slightly annoying). No integration with Alexa or Google unless you purchase Bridge unit separately.Finally got the the "My SmartBlinds" installed. I took down my existing mini-blinds and replaced the parts of the mini-blinds as instructed and installed the motorized unit. I also purchased the solar panel adapter to keep the battery charged for running the motor. Not too difficult to install, but if it's your first one plan for a little more time.The main issue that I had and why I'm down grading the product is that the software application is not useful if you have an Android based device. For example, there's a calibration sequence that's required and using a Samsung based Android phone, I was basically unable to connect to the device to calibrate the motor for opening/closing the mini-blind. I then switched over to my spouse's iPad and things calibrated more easily and the automated controls were much more seamless. Considering that I am unable to use my Android phone to connect to the device consistently, I have uninstalled the Android app. Wasted about an hour with it ...

The unit works great once you charge it and get updates.... I have seven units and they work with Google Home...I found you have to charge the unit (I find 24 hours works best) and update the unit using your app before you install it...Installation was easy and they work great... I use the app to automatically close at dusk and open 5 minutes before my alarm in the morning... So far so good and I am happy...

I was impressed with this kit.Easy to instal and easy to use. Got delivery pretty fast. It takes 20 min. to install.High on the pricing. Working fine with phone app. Awaiting hub to see how it works with Google Home.

Really wanted to love this thing. On manual mode it works great and does eveything I could ask for. The problem is with the schedule mode. For some reason when it changes from one position to another under the schedule, it does it at a much slower speed than when you do it manually with the app. And perhaps because it doesn’t have the same momentum at that speed I find it keeps getting stuck before it completes the distance it has to turn. I have to manually back it up a bit, then I’m able to complete the remaining turn forward. I have a fairly large blind I’m using it for, which is maybe why it struggles. But if it turned at the same speed under scheduled changes as it does with manual changes then it shouldn’t have this issue. As manual changes work fine and never get stuck. I’ve created a bit of work around by scheduling 1 min apart changes to back it up a bit from the point it gets stuck, then schedule another a minute later to make it the full way forward again to the close point.

APP Required to set up and operate the blinds. Only works on a limited number of cellular phones and with newer versions of operating systems. I just bought a new cellphone but , although the APP installed, pages and steps were missing. I'm returning this device after two frustrating days of trying to make it work. MySmartBlinds chat person was only of limited help. The first thing he should have confirmed is if my smartphone was compatible. And I'm sure as heck not going to go out and buy a thousand dollar plus phone to run a $100 window blind!

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