The MeatStick 4+

Only 2 stars because the interface is very poor

As a thermometer, it seems to work - if you can figure out the interface. When the app opens, you get a confusing mostly empty screen. Is the thermometer on - I have no idea, it doesn’t say what is and what is not working. Is the extender on - again no idea. This app has the opportunity to be great, instead it fails to be intuitive, but succeeds at ambiguity. When you open an app, it should be very clear to simplest of simpletons what is or is not going on. Open this app, I have no idea what is going on, and I more tech savvy than most. Click around & it’s even more confusing as to whether the equipment is on or off. No current status indicators, such as “Thermometer: Off/On” or “Extender: Off/On”. Only a few unhelpful tiny icons & a graphic logo in the background. When you click on them it tries to add new equipment. I don’t want to add equipment easier than I can discover the status of my existing equipment. Bury that in another layer, bring my status to the top layer.

Won’t hold a charge after one use

I used it one time, cleaned it put it on the charger and put it in the cupboard about three days later, even though it’s advertised as keeping charged, I went to use it and it said it did not have enough power to be used. I put it on the charger again make sure that the batteries had full charge. Next time I wanted to use it, I hit the charger button in the morning. By afternoon, after having been on the charger most of the day, when I went to connect they told me it had less than 20% charge and needed to be in low power mode. If it actually hold a charge it was good for more than one use I probably would have given it five stars. UPDATE -got it to charge, and sometimes it works, definitely better if you got an opening on top of the stove and keep your phone within 3 feet of the stove. If you put it in a toaster oven it’s iffy if you actually put it in the oven even keeping your phone within 3 feet of the oven it disconnects and it will not reconnect. It is so rarely actually working, that I considered to never work

Developer Response ,

Hi there, Could you send a support request through the App? That'll give us some debug information about your situation. Make sure you are logged into your App account first. You can access that by going into the Menu -> Help -> E-mail us (on the upper right corner of the screen) > Email Support.
Our support team will look into it and help!

Requires Always On Precise Location

When the thermometer is connecting and functioning correctly the data is nice to have. But the excuses about the invasive permissions are disappointing. Be prepared to read some scripted responses regarding a lack of a creative fix blaming the iOS ecosystem. Update after update many of us disappointed customers see the same settings required while we wish it would work differently. Why not petition a dev support manager or somebody to help sort it out? Honestly if I wasn’t already invested I’d have gone a different route with monitoring my cook temps.
The updates to the app may bury some reviews but there are lots of reviews over the months stating the same core complaint.