Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Unfortunately we have become experts on automatic, timed pet feeders. Like most of us who the made the choice of an automatic feeder, we wanted to remove ourselves from the food situation. We have three kitties and two of them are relentless when it comes to food. As soon as we step into the kitchen, BAMM - there they were. For years we used the PetSafe automatic, timed feeders - one for each kitty. The problem with the feeders in which you set the time, some clocks run faster than others and so the food drops are not in sync. One feeder could drop 15 secs before the others. No matter how many times I adjusted the clocks, I could not get the feeders to sync. Now this wouldn’t be a big deal - except our piggy Purple kitty would inhale as much food he could when the first feeder would drop food and then go to the next one that dropped food. So we really, really wanted a feeders that dropped food at the same time. The other problem with the PetSafe feeders was the design - mainly all the edges. Our kitties were able to chomp down on the edges to move the feeders in such a way that it would drop food stored in the conveyor. Once our Blue kitty was able to figure that out - he would not leave it alone. So between the timing issues and Blue not leaving the feeders alone - we eventually had no choice but to put our 3 $100+ feeders away. Meaning - we were back in the feeding process of our kitties. To save our sanity, we decided to review the automatic, timed WiFi feeders and compared this one with the PetSafe WiFi feeder. There is about $80 difference between the two. The PetSafe one does have several features the Petlibro one doesn’t - Alexa enabled, certain smartphone notifications, amazon dash replenishment - but these were things that didn’t justify us paying $80 more. So we ordered three of these feeders. The feeders were delivered timely. A+ on the packaging of these feeders. We downloaded the APP and set up of the feeders was a breeze. I do agree with some other reviewers who say that the APP is not 100% intuitive - most likely because the Smart Life APP is not specifically for this feeder but for all the Smart devices in your home. The feeders were immediately found - we did not have to make any changes to our WiFi speed. Entered the PW for one feeder and then the other two appeared. In order for both of us to program, we had to set up a “Home” account. Next, we created a “Group” for all the feeders so you only have to make changes to the Group - instead of each feeder separately. It is like a waterfall when they drop at the same time! Music to my ears! Also, because of the sleek design, Blue cannot chomp his teeth into the feeder or move it. This has been a battle - perhaps I finally won??? Purple kitty steals Blue’s food; Blue swipes GG’s. So we still have to “babysit” when they eat. But at least we know that they will be fed while we are out. The Meal Log is a nice tool - plus, we plan to install an ARLO in the kitchen when we are away for few days - just to make sure. Some issues: *** Although programmed, one day the 12:00 pm meal did not drop for one of our feeders. This happened before we created a GROUP - so hopefully this won’t happen again. *** APP is not intuitive and User Manual does not explain all the features that APP provides. For example, we just figured out that the numbers above the FEED button represent the number of portions you want to drop when you manually FEED. Before figuring this out, we were hitting the FEED button and nothing would happen. UPDATE: 5.24.21 - 1) So Blue has been able to get the top off the feeders so we have had to use blue painters tape to keep them secured. Blue = 2; human = 0. And for some reason, the schedule under the Group kitty feeders has disappeared twice. I think they would still drop food because the feeding schedule for each individuals feeder was still there. Who do you contact about this? The APP (Smart Life) or the Petlibro? I do hope Petlibro will develop their own APP and not rely on this 3rd party app. 7.6.21 - UPDATE - So far so good. The only thing I truly recommend is watching the meal log if you are going to be out for a few days. We were away for a 36 hours and one of feeders did not go off as scheduled. We could manually feed, but it would not drop as programmed. And I do recommend putting a camera where the feeder(s) are so you can monitor. Also, GROUP schedule kept disappearing, but the individual schedules are still present. We kept the GROUP so we could manually feed all at once. I did contact the company about the disappearing GROUP schedule and was advised to reset the feeders. This is not a feeder issue; it is an APP issue. So needless to say, we were not impressed with the response. I am no longer having to wake up to feed the kitties in the AM and they have stopped ambushing us every time we walk into the kitchen. Still pleased with the purchase!