{"id":18157,"date":"2026-05-22T00:27:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T00:27:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/05\/22\/iot-gadget-maker-acurite-shares-reasoning-for-killing-customers-favorite-app-ars-technica\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T00:27:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T00:27:53","slug":"iot-gadget-maker-acurite-shares-reasoning-for-killing-customers-favorite-app-ars-technica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/05\/22\/iot-gadget-maker-acurite-shares-reasoning-for-killing-customers-favorite-app-ars-technica\/","title":{"rendered":"IoT gadget maker AcuRite shares reasoning for killing customers\u2019 favorite app – Ars Technica"},"content":{"rendered":"

“The move to AcuRite NOW has not been as smooth as some customers expected …”
AcuRite must kill its customers\u2019 favorite companion app due to \u201cobsolete technology,\u201d VP of product development Jeff Bovee tells Ars Technica.
AcuRite, which makes smart weather-monitoring devices, announced this month that the My AcuRite iOS and Android app that has been around since 2016 won\u2019t be available after May 30. After that date, device owners must use AcuRite NOW, which AcuRite released in June 2025, to control their gadgets.
The announcement has frustrated long-time AcuRite users<\/a>, largely because the new app lacks some of its predecessors\u2019 capabilities. For example, AcuRite NOW doesn\u2019t allow renaming multiple temperature sensors, organizing on-screen sensors, or reporting temperatures as anything other than whole numbers (AcuRite says it\u2019s working on adding some of these features).
Speaking with Ars, Bovee provided insight into AcuRite\u2019s decision. He pointed to AcuRite NOW being built on a \u201cnewer cloud-connected platform\u201d that enables more flexibility. My AcuRite was \u201cprimarily a weather-station cloud dashboard,\u201d compared to AcuRite NOW, which \u201d is intended to be a broader, connected-device platform,\u201d per the executive.
Explaining further, he said:
[My AcuRite] provided app and web access to weather data, but the underlying technology was more limited in terms of long-term app development, modern cloud services, smart home integration, and support for newer connected devices.
AcuRite NOW, purportedly being built on a more modern connected-device architecture, provides a \u201cstronger foundation\u201d for feature improvements, per Bovee. The executive claimed that the new platform is better for mobile-first app development, cloud-based feature updates and services, \u201csuch as longer weather data history,\u201d as well as\u00a0user account management, device pairing, and notifications. For people with additional, third-party smart gadgets, AcuRite NOW also works with Tuya\u2019s SmartLife IoT ecosystem<\/a>.
The new app also charges a subscription fee to share data from AcuRite devices with the real-time weather service Weather Underground<\/a>\u2014something My AcuRite supported for free. Bovee claimed that AcuRite NOW provides better support for sharing data with Weather Underground. Although the financial benefits for AcuRite are what\u2019s most obvious.
Online complaints<\/a> suggest that AcuRite has customers who are content with My AcuRite\u2019s capabilities. However, maintaining the app long-term isn\u2019t sustainable for AcuRite, Bovee said.
\u201cThe technology behind My AcuRite is obsolete and can no longer be maintained,\u201d he said.
AcuRite is declining to maintain two apps in order to save money but also due to \u201clong-term supportability,\u201d the executive said.
\u201cEven if [My AcuRite] continues to function for many users, the underlying systems require ongoing maintenance, updates, hosting, monitoring, security support, and compatibility work as phones, operating systems, cloud services, and third-party integrations continue to change,\u201d Bovee said.
As AcuRite announced the end of its first app, it also removed the online dashboard that let users manage their devices through a web browser.
\u201cBecause the web dashboard, mobile app, cloud services, and device connections were all tied to the same older system, browser access cannot be maintained separately once the platform is retired,\u201d Bovee explained.
He said AcuRite is planning a new web-based dashboard for AcuRite NOW, but he couldn\u2019t confirm the release date.
Despite customer frustrations, Bovee hopes that the new app won\u2019t lead to long-time users abandoning their devices, since AcuRite went \u201cto great expense to bring those legacy weather stations along\u201d to the new platform.
\u201cWe know the move to\u00a0AcuRite\u00a0NOW has not been as smooth as some customers expected, and we understand the frustration that creates. We\u2019re not dismissing that feedback,\u201d Bovee said. \u201cWe\u2019re asking for patience as our team continues to fix issues, improve usability, and build out the new platform. Our goal is to earn back confidence by making\u00a0AcuRite\u00a0NOW the best user experience in home weather stations.\u201d
There\u2019s financial and technological reasoning in Bovee\u2019s statements, but releasing a new app to support new endeavors that many customers may not want is questionable. It\u2019s unfair for a customer who has already paid for a device marketed with specific software to suddenly have to pay to share data with Weather Underground, just so AcuRite can introduce new features the customer has never needed before.
Also troubling is AcuRite\u2019s decision to start forcing the new app (based on online discourse, AcuRite originally told customers it would close My AcuRite on May 15), before AcuRite NOW was on par with My AcuRite. Being forced onto a new app is more manageable if it\u2019s equal to, or, dare I say, an obvious improvement over, one that\u2019s worked for years.
On the other hand, connected device makers also struggle to find ways to get people to spend money more than once. Often, that means releasing more capable products, which could require a more advanced app, and forcing a subscription model<\/a>.
AcuRite\u2019s new app is the product of a challenge looming over smart gadget makers and their early adopters. Many of these companies are still grappling with how to maintain their businesses in the long term. And these devices\u2019 smart capabilities mean users are in the lurch when a vendor decides to change the way it does business\u2014like by forcing ads<\/a> onto products<\/a>, bricking older<\/a> devices<\/a>, suddenly charging a subscription fee<\/a>, killing offline functionality<\/a>, or releasing a maligned, incapable app. <\/a>
After years of carefree use, it\u2019s easy to overlook how quickly smart device manufacturers can change the rules<\/a> of how you use your property. But if the rules change in a way that feels abrupt and intolerable, it may also be a good time to start seeing what else is on the market.
I don\u2019t expect smart device makers to remain stagnant, but moving forward shouldn\u2019t mean leaving longtime customers behind.
Ars Technica has been separating the signal from the noise for over 25 years. With our unique combination of technical savvy and wide-ranging interest in the technological arts and sciences, Ars is the trusted source in a sea of information. After all, you don\u2019t need to know everything, only what\u2019s important.
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“The move to AcuRite NOW has not been as smooth as some customers expected …” AcuRite must kill its customers\u2019 favorite companion app due to \u201cobsolete technology,\u201d VP of product development Jeff Bovee tells Ars Technica.AcuRite, which makes smart weather-monitoring devices, announced this month that the My AcuRite iOS and Android app that has been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18158,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18157\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}