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Pet owners say smart pet feeder outage led to furry ones going unfed (arstechnica.com)
submitted 2 months ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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This feels like bad design

Smart pet-feeder company Petlibro suffered an outage on Tuesday, giving users a harsh reminder of the risks of relying on smart devices.

Petlibro makes pet feeders that connect to Wi-Fi and, for setup with Petlibro’s mobile companion app, Bluetooth. Users can set the feeders to automatically dispense food at scheduled times, which is handy for pet care when the owner is out of the home.

In a statement to The Verge, Petlibro CEO York Wu said this week’s outage was “related to how the Petlibro app communicates with devices through its online servers.”

Some user reports have also conflicted with Petlibro’s claims about offline functionality. As The Verge pointed out, various users online claimed that during the outage, their devices did not perform any scheduled feedings, performed some feedings but not others, or performed feedings late (examples here, here, here, here, and here).

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[–] 4 points 2 months ago

It's worth noting that I think both should exist.

No software dependence at all if possible, just a basic microcontroller and firmware.

Agreed, I just want a ZigBee endpoint as well.

As for the smart home stuff, I already have it in place, so it's no additional expense.

Control wise, your method would be fine for someone techie and motivated. It would annoy the hell out of some non techies, particularly if they had vision issues (think OAP). It would also close down the option of relatives helping out by monitoring it remotely.

As I said, different target audiences. Both have their places. I just wish the smart option did its job properly, rather than the half baked options we keep getting.

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