Review Insights · Google Play
Anova Culinary
Anova Applied Electronics, LLC · 27,796 ratings · ★ 3.2
3.2
★★★★★
27,796 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 80 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
"subscription"
25 negative reviews mention this · 31% of all complaints
★★★★★ "I bought the anova sous vide, it has been working fine and I have no complaints about the actual functionality of the device outside of requirements of app for function with that said I will say that this apps function is significantly disa…" - Beau Dorval
2
"device"
22 negative reviews mention this · 28% of all complaints
★★★★★ "I bought the anova sous vide, it has been working fine and I have no complaints about the actual functionality of the device outside of requirements of app for function with that said I will say that this apps function is significantly disa…" - Beau Dorval
3
"connect"
21 negative reviews mention this · 26% of all complaints
★★★★★ "doesn't connect to my phone." - Bradley Yencer
4
"anova"
18 negative reviews mention this · 23% of all complaints
★★★★★ "I bought the anova sous vide, it has been working fine and I have no complaints about the actual functionality of the device outside of requirements of app for function with that said I will say that this apps function is significantly disa…" - Beau Dorval
5
"sous"
13 negative reviews mention this · 16% of all complaints
★★★★★ "I bought the anova sous vide, it has been working fine and I have no complaints about the actual functionality of the device outside of requirements of app for function with that said I will say that this apps function is significantly disa…" - Beau Dorval
6
"vide"
13 negative reviews mention this · 16% of all complaints
★★★★★ "I bought the anova sous vide, it has been working fine and I have no complaints about the actual functionality of the device outside of requirements of app for function with that said I will say that this apps function is significantly disa…" - Beau Dorval
7
"sous vide"
13 negative reviews mention this · 16% of all complaints
★★★★★ "I bought the anova sous vide, it has been working fine and I have no complaints about the actual functionality of the device outside of requirements of app for function with that said I will say that this apps function is significantly disa…" - Beau Dorval
8
"cook"
11 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "App used to be cool, but now there's no cooking guides or recipes. Instead they want me to pay for a subscription to get basic cook information? I'll just use the internet, and remember this when it's time to buy a new one." - John Coffeecakes
9
"brand"
11 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Wi-Fi will not connect at all. Brand new unit." - Dread Pirate
10
"cooker"
11 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
11
"product"
10 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Do not waste your money or your time. Owned product since inception, it only keeps getting worse. The App is absolute garbage and should not be allowed in the store. Many better options out there." - Andre Sheleg
12
"doesn"
10 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "doesn't connect to my phone." - Bradley Yencer
📋 All 80 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").
Do not waste your money or your time. Owned product since inception, it only keeps getting worse. The App is absolute garbage and should not be allowed in the store. Many better options out there.
app made worse. you now need to login to use the app for some reason. I doubt I'll buy another product from them.
doesn't connect to my phone.
This app stops working without an Internet connection. They will be able to force people into a paid subscription at any time. Then on top of that the heater completely died after about 3 months. I bought this piece of junk for fermenting. Now I just use sprouting mats and Mason jars. You can check the surface temperature with a thermometer. A precise temperature is not as important as William Davis makes it out to be. I have been able to ferment everything at 75° temperature.
Doesn't stay connected to Bluetooth
doesnt consistently work or connect to product would be amazing if not be being unable to use it 40 to 50 % of the time update app doesnt work at all now rendering my sousvide useless thanks for ruining my dinner 😑
App used to be cool, but now there's no cooking guides or recipes. Instead they want me to pay for a subscription to get basic cook information? I'll just use the internet, and remember this when it's time to buy a new one.
Without a monthly subscription, you can only connect to one sous vide machine. This is an unnecessary limitation, especially because there's no reasonable way to figure this out until you buy it and find out you're stuck. The app is also designed to push you to subscribe. It's unclear why they feel it's necessary to require a subscription for basic functionality.
Nothing says "Greed" like putting standard features like push notifications behind a monthly subscription. A great device by a terrible company.
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
+ 30 more in the clipboard copy
Sentiment summary
54%
Positive (4-5★)
3%
Neutral (3★)
43%
Negative (1-2★)