Review Insights · Google Play
Anova Culinary
Anova Applied Electronics, LLC · 27,786 ratings · ★ 3.2
3.2
★★★★★
27,786 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 84 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"device"
28 negative reviews mention this · 33% of all complaints
★★★★★ "old app, 5/5 stars. New app -1000/5 stars. way to try and nickle and dime your customers. ive owned your device for years. log in to try and cook something by using the normal app control settings BAM pay wall.... we dont want to pay for yo…" - xXFireFlyyXx
2
"subscription"
26 negative reviews mention this · 31% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Wish I could give 0 stars. buggy connection and expect to pay a subscription to use basic core functions. will never buy any anova products. STAY AWAY!" - Andrew Chang
3
"anova"
21 negative reviews mention this · 25% of all complaints
★★★★★ "App is incredibly inconsistent, full of unnecessary features, and is inferior to just using manual controls. I do appreciate they still support the 2014 model (my temp control button doesn't work, so I have to use the app), but that's the o…" - Brennen Misener
4
"connect"
21 negative reviews mention this · 25% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Wish I could give 0 stars. buggy connection and expect to pay a subscription to use basic core functions. will never buy any anova products. STAY AWAY!" - Andrew Chang
5
"cooker"
12 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "requires a subscription. cooker is junk, on my second one after the first one died. Get a different brand with no subscription." - John Chambers
6
"sous"
11 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "a subscription service to check on my sous vide LMAO be serious" - Darren David
7
"vide"
11 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "a subscription service to check on my sous vide LMAO be serious" - Darren David
8
"sous vide"
11 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "a subscription service to check on my sous vide LMAO be serious" - Darren David
9
"cook"
11 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "old app, 5/5 stars. New app -1000/5 stars. way to try and nickle and dime your customers. ive owned your device for years. log in to try and cook something by using the normal app control settings BAM pay wall.... we dont want to pay for yo…" - xXFireFlyyXx
10
"brand"
11 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Wi-Fi will not connect at all. Brand new unit." - Dread Pirate
11
"doesn"
10 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "App is incredibly inconsistent, full of unnecessary features, and is inferior to just using manual controls. I do appreciate they still support the 2014 model (my temp control button doesn't work, so I have to use the app), but that's the o…" - Brennen Misener
12
"bought"
10 negative reviews mention this · 12% of all complaints
★★★★★ "I've owned my cooker for a few years, today I tried using it and found out it requires a subscription to use the cooker. If you have recently bought the cooker return it and get another brand. While mine still works in theory I refuse to us…" - Jerry D
📋 All 84 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
Wish I could give 0 stars. buggy connection and expect to pay a subscription to use basic core functions. will never buy any anova products. STAY AWAY!
a subscription service to check on my sous vide LMAO be serious
old app, 5/5 stars. New app -1000/5 stars. way to try and nickle and dime your customers. ive owned your device for years. log in to try and cook something by using the normal app control settings BAM pay wall.... we dont want to pay for your cruddy "food library" just to use the controls we used to have access to. F corporate greed. I'm telling everyone to buy knock-off sous vide machines from here on out.
it's a decent app with limited functionality for my older Bluetooth device. Removing support for Bluetooth devices is disrespectful. You could easily support devices with simple Bluetooth functionality and no it require signing in or anything else to control a device that is offline.
As far as I can tell, this app doesn't graph temperature over time, a basic food safety feature. Last night I set my Anova to cook at 165F for 12 hrs, and this mornjng the temperature was 98F. What if the temperature had gone down to 100F for 6 hours and come back up to 165F? How would I know? How can I trust this device to not make me ill? I'm hesitant to post this because it's hard to believe anyone would make an app this dangerously useless, and I MUST be mistaken. Please show me a graph.
Wi-Fi will not connect at all. Brand new unit.
terrible update - can't research recipes anymore
I got a newer model and the app doesn't send any notifications. Lost a $40 piece of meat because it stopped working and didn't send a notification. They are removing functionality to charge for a subscription. They are disabling WiFi and Bluetooth from first gen for no reason other than greed. I will absolutely not recommend greedy, unethical Anova to anyone
requires a subscription. cooker is junk, on my second one after the first one died. Get a different brand with no subscription.
Wouldn't do anything without creating an account.
First thing that pops up is their subscription garbage. Auto 1 star.
I've owned my cooker for a few years, today I tried using it and found out it requires a subscription to use the cooker. If you have recently bought the cooker return it and get another brand. While mine still works in theory I refuse to use it/pay a subscription and will throw it away and buy one from a different company.
Bait and switch scam. Got the Anova with app control and recipes. Worked great for a couple years. Now the old version of the app doesn't let me open recipes anymore and the new is trying to charge me for access. This was part of the advertised features when I got my Anova, now they are trying to extort more money to continue using, years later. Hugely disappointed in this company. This will be my last purchase from this brand.
subscription required
Couldn't connect to the mini/lite till I connected it to my iPhone. Uninstalled about 4 times from my s21 ultra
The app does not always connect to the cooker via Bluetooth easily. I prefer using the cooker's buttons directly. Update: the button no longer works and the app is really difficult. I could not reconnect after changing phone.
Update: 2/2026 Still the absolute worst app. This is my third or fourth phone using this and every single time... just refuses to work properly. The unit's temp wheel is broken now so... kind of screwed. It connects but won't set the time. Sets the temp sometimes, mostly it fails though. Truly a terrible app.
they changed the app. this app is now worthless unless and forces you to pay for a monthly subscription. I don't want or need Bluetooth but like to see the cooking temperatures.
App now hides all features including CUSTOMER PROVIDED recipes behind a paywall. I already bought the device and now they want more money. I'll be recommending people NOT buy anova products from here on out
lousy app. just use the stick and a regular alarm.
congrats, the device you own requires an annual subscription to use.
Doesn't even connect properly.
pointless app if you aren't going to pay them $2 a month.
If Weber can provide a free app for customers, you could too.
Very limited and flaky. Wifi connection drops. App only allows time & temperature, not even delayed start. Uninstalled. Tried again to use it and it stops the heater giving @#$@ message "something went wrong". Unistalled again. updated ***** As bad as the previous version. loses connection with the unit. does not even show how long the heater was in operation. Can only set the timer. uninstalling
app suddenly lost connection to anova pro, tried to connect, says connected successfully then can't communicate with device.
completely non-functional. gets as far as "connected to device" and then times out repeatedly. support did not respond. cannot recommend either this app or the brand
can't connect to the device. shame . It used to be good but now it's getting worse and worse
been trying to use my sous vide since Christmas still have not received a confirmation email so I'm not even able to start my my cook. requiring a sign in to use a device's absolutely unacceptable. I bought this after my competitors unit failed, regretting that decision that other brand that starts with a J is a much higher quality product why TF do i have to sign in every damn time? save my log in
Doesn't connect
garbage brand new circulator not connecting
Frequently crashes and stops the cooking process. Unnecessary and infuriating to use
if I would have known it took an act of congress to get help, I never would've bought your product. All I want to do is make this machine COOK !!!
There is no point of this apps because it won't connect to the thermostat. Poor product!
too many ads. too many upsales
This app is terrible. Simple functionality like temp/time history and push notifications are locked behind a paywall. "Premium" subscription unlocks things like recipes / social media for my sous vide - wut? There are literally two variables - time and temp - and I can find recipes for free online. After purchasing a $150 device, I expect simple things like a history, notifications, and notes - this doesn't require your cloud, my phone has the few kilobytes necessary to spare on disk. Features you do actually have access to for free - time and temp setting, remote start / stop - look bad. Very little effort went into the UI design here. I'm giving this sous vide cooker as a gift and was thinking of getting one for myself. I may try another company at this point.
I have the anova precision cooker pro. That works for a certain amount of hours and overnight. It just changes its settings from where I left it. And I ruined a lot of meat.
Bad bad Anova. Unacceptable. Requiring users who ALREADY bought a device, to now pay for using the app. No one asked for the bloated features of the app. Simple bluetooth On/Off should not require a subscription. I will not be buying another ANOVA in the future and recommend everyone to get something else, lest you find yourself in this same predicament as well.
does not connect to device
The sous-vide device won’t connect to Wi-Fi. We’ve tried all possible solutions, including installing an older version of the app, reconfiguring the router, and installing the app on different phone models. What’s the result? For 200 euros, I bought a device that works with limited functionality. Moreover, even a brief power outage resets the settings and interrupts the program.
keeps losing connection and has the audacity to keep demanding a subscription
Seems like the connected feature of Anova has become a monetization opportunity. Having already paid for the hardware and being unable to use the connected feature, is a scummy move. The Anova brand is moving away from a consumer centric approach by putting a pay wall in place, stripping away value from users, taking away what we paid for. I will never purchase another Anova nor recommend it again.
app locks basic functionality behind subscription service for new products. charging monthly fee so I can use a device I purchased and use the basic functionality that's already built into it is all kinds of evil. I've been using anova products for years but as soon as my model with manual controls passes away I'm switching to anything else. just evil.
use to be good no subscription, easy to use. had full access but now went to log in had to create a new account then starts asking what subscription I want, didnt look like I had an option but hit back and took me out from that screen. now it wants me to reconnect my device but now all I get is an error and to try again later. still works manually without the app. but I use to use the app a lot, but i dont think its worth to subscribe to.
removal of key features makes it useless
Bluetooth has been disabled on old devices just to make people buy a new one. Google it, you'll find plenty of sources confirming it. I'd rather change brand than buy an anova again
this app is horrible. the Anova pro cooker is supposed to connect but even after many attempts where my router logged the connection it then fails out. I have now changed the settings on my router to conform to their requirements (no spaces. 2.4ghz. non hidden) and failed many times. besides the recipes of paid subscription this repeated failure makes this app less than worthless
Terrible user experience. It will not connect to the app at all. That renders it completely useless.
subscription fee for a kitchen appliance i bought outright is unacceptable. especially since when I bought it all use of the app were free. hiding previously available features behind a paywall ensures ill go to another brand next time
the app appears to be totally useless. when attempting to connect my precision cooker, it just can't find any wifi networks. can't imagine how much the authors of this piece of software hated the users
+ 34 more in the clipboard copy
Sentiment summary
55%
Positive (4-5★)
3%
Neutral (3★)
42%
Negative (1-2★)