Review Insights · App Store
eBike Flow
Robert Bosch GmbH · 1,699 ratings · ★ 4.6
4.6
★★★★★
1,699 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 31 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
"bike"
15 negative reviews mention this · 48% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Ibis Flow. Too complicated. Fkng bike is locked and I don’t remember how to unlock it. Why does it not show how to unlock it. I should not have to do an internet search just to ride my bike." - Activeguy 2 go.
2
"bosch"
11 negative reviews mention this · 35% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Heart rate integration rarely works. I’ve had the app for about 6 months now. One key feature that is working only 10% of the time is the heart rate integration with Apple Watch. When it does not work, I can start a workout with my watch, and then after a few minutes the Flow …" - OrionHunter968
3
"update"
10 negative reviews mention this · 32% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Software update failed. I have had the Bosch kiosk for the 3 years and every time I do the software update it fails multiple times. Fix it now. Very frustrating as I have tried all of the recommended fixes and nothing works." - justcantstopit
4
"phone"
7 negative reviews mention this · 23% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Not Connected. Bike and phone different to connect. Frustrating. connection drops a lot. Spending a lot of time, trying to renew the connection and getting nowhere. One other thing I'd like to see is a power shut off at 80% written into the software. I h…" - Simple made complex
5
"connect"
7 negative reviews mention this · 23% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Poor connectivity. I have had more than five instances where I have lost the connection with bike and cannot unlock motor. Just rode down from top of Flagstaff Mountain, luckily didn’t need motor, but could not unlock bike…Tried every trick that had worked in…" - sugrbear84
6
"other"
7 negative reviews mention this · 23% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Not Connected. Bike and phone different to connect. Frustrating. connection drops a lot. Spending a lot of time, trying to renew the connection and getting nowhere. One other thing I'd like to see is a power shut off at 80% written into the software. I h…" - Simple made complex
7
"works"
7 negative reviews mention this · 23% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Heart rate integration rarely works. I’ve had the app for about 6 months now. One key feature that is working only 10% of the time is the heart rate integration with Apple Watch. When it does not work, I can start a workout with my watch, and then after a few minutes the Flow …" - OrionHunter968
8
"flow"
6 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Ibis Flow. Too complicated. Fkng bike is locked and I don’t remember how to unlock it. Why does it not show how to unlock it. I should not have to do an internet search just to ride my bike." - Activeguy 2 go.
9
"ride"
6 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Ibis Flow. Too complicated. Fkng bike is locked and I don’t remember how to unlock it. Why does it not show how to unlock it. I should not have to do an internet search just to ride my bike." - Activeguy 2 go.
10
"cannot"
6 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Poor connectivity. I have had more than five instances where I have lost the connection with bike and cannot unlock motor. Just rode down from top of Flagstaff Mountain, luckily didn’t need motor, but could not unlock bike…Tried every trick that had worked in…" - sugrbear84
11
"riding"
6 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Return your bike immediately. I spend more time trying to connect my phone to this bike, uninstalling and reinstalling the app and hoping to God I can actually ride this damn thing then I do actually riding. Do not use the safety feature. Do not make your phone connecti…" - mobileuserwhoexpectsbetter
12
"software"
5 negative reviews mention this · 16% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Not Connected. Bike and phone different to connect. Frustrating. connection drops a lot. Spending a lot of time, trying to renew the connection and getting nowhere. One other thing I'd like to see is a power shut off at 80% written into the software. I h…" - Simple made complex
📋 All 31 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").
Ibis Flow
Too complicated. Fkng bike is locked and I don’t remember how to unlock it. Why does it not show how to unlock it. I should not have to do an internet search just to ride my bike.
Poor connectivity
I have had more than five instances where I have lost the connection with bike and cannot unlock motor. Just rode down from top of Flagstaff Mountain, luckily didn’t need motor, but could not unlock bike…Tried every trick that had worked in the past , but did not have WiFi to delete app and reload from App Store…WILL YOU PLEASE DEBUG This APP!
Return your bike immediately
I spend more time trying to connect my phone to this bike, uninstalling and reinstalling the app and hoping to God I can actually ride this damn thing then I do actually riding. Do not use the safety feature. Do not make your phone connection required to ride this bike. Whoever wrote this software needs to be fired.
Navigation
Navigation function is useless. Requires cell service to function.
I use Garmin 66i mounted on handlebar instead.
Garmin works no matter where I am or what the environment is.
I use Garmin 66i mounted on handlebar instead.
Garmin works no matter where I am or what the environment is.
Updates!!!!!!
Always a pain to get updates to complete. Fails almost every time!!! Come on Bosch!!!!!!!!
Stuck in upgrade. Try to delete app and it’s still stuck.
I’ve tried to delete app , at wits end. Cannot get to get thru the update.
Cannot log in
Impossible to log in, says can not authenticate , although using the last update
Elliott
Very frustrating that the app won’t update my gen 5!!,come on Bosch please just make it work
Poor connectivity
Sketchy connections. Finicky ability to pair with iPhone. Occasionally displays HR. Rarely displays nav/altitude while Strava displays all that. Updates focus on power tracking? Really? If I can make that hill, we got power. Would not buy again. Trek Rail 9.8 with Kiox 300.
Need to handle more than one bike per app
i am mostly interested in the bike locking feature. I have two bikes that the app will monitor/control: unfortunately I have to delete one bike to use the other. I’ve not seen a work-around.
I also worry that if my phone battery dies or I lose my phone, I will not be able to unlock the bike (until I get another phone). See updates at the end.
App needs to handle multiple bikes defined in the same account managed by multiple phones where any one phone can select the bike they are riding that day, and you can easily switch between and lock and unlock all bikes from any of the phones running the app on that account. Update: they sort of do this, but is worse than poorly implemented.
Since they’re not going to fix it, one solution is to have a mobile device dedicated to each bike, whose use is just for the bike and flow app, then the family member using the bike at the time takes the phone for the bike. One problem here is: you can’t use an old cheap iPhone, as they won’t run the latest iOS which is required by the app.
Update: so I bought a iPhone (a SIMMless SE for $100 that would run a version of iOS supported by Bosch) to dedicate to the second bike and made a dummy email and a second Bosch account. Not sure that was the right thing to do: I may have been able to use the same Bosch account with my regular email, as, even though the Bosch Flow app can only see one bike, the Bosch account can see two: so I had to unregistered it and register it with the dummy email. Update: you can register multiple bikes with the same account, but only use one bike per phone, and if you delete that bike, it deletes all serial number and such information from your account.
So: if you’re sharing multiple bikes with the family, you just need to buy one phone per bike to use the Bosch Flow app, and pass the bike’s phone to the person using the bike ATM.
… or Bosch could just fix the app
Update: It gets worse: forgot the password to the phone I bought just for that bike. Flow app on that phone is required to unlock. No other phone can be used to unlock.
Bike is now a brick
Bosch tells me I need to take the bike to the nearest Bosch dealer. That requires shipping it across the Pacific Ocean.
I did recover the phone and was able to unlock the bike, but also find that I can’t put the bike on another phone, even though the latest app update (along with firmware updates to both bikes) shows it knows I have multiple bikes: but I’ve not been able to select the other bike from either phone, even when selecting the “delete” option (which totally deletes ownership, not just from the current mobile device… so you’ve lost all the serial number and such information associated with the bike) and deleting the Bluetooth profile.
This app is too poorly designed to trust. Their project management should be fired and start from scratch.
While the lock feature sounds great, you run the risk of bricking your bike (or as Bosch support told me: you can still manually pedal the bike). Should your phone get lost/stolen, broken, or you forget the password: the Bosch motor is bricked.
Also note their email support takes a month to respond.
I also worry that if my phone battery dies or I lose my phone, I will not be able to unlock the bike (until I get another phone). See updates at the end.
App needs to handle multiple bikes defined in the same account managed by multiple phones where any one phone can select the bike they are riding that day, and you can easily switch between and lock and unlock all bikes from any of the phones running the app on that account. Update: they sort of do this, but is worse than poorly implemented.
Since they’re not going to fix it, one solution is to have a mobile device dedicated to each bike, whose use is just for the bike and flow app, then the family member using the bike at the time takes the phone for the bike. One problem here is: you can’t use an old cheap iPhone, as they won’t run the latest iOS which is required by the app.
Update: so I bought a iPhone (a SIMMless SE for $100 that would run a version of iOS supported by Bosch) to dedicate to the second bike and made a dummy email and a second Bosch account. Not sure that was the right thing to do: I may have been able to use the same Bosch account with my regular email, as, even though the Bosch Flow app can only see one bike, the Bosch account can see two: so I had to unregistered it and register it with the dummy email. Update: you can register multiple bikes with the same account, but only use one bike per phone, and if you delete that bike, it deletes all serial number and such information from your account.
So: if you’re sharing multiple bikes with the family, you just need to buy one phone per bike to use the Bosch Flow app, and pass the bike’s phone to the person using the bike ATM.
… or Bosch could just fix the app
Update: It gets worse: forgot the password to the phone I bought just for that bike. Flow app on that phone is required to unlock. No other phone can be used to unlock.
Bike is now a brick
Bosch tells me I need to take the bike to the nearest Bosch dealer. That requires shipping it across the Pacific Ocean.
I did recover the phone and was able to unlock the bike, but also find that I can’t put the bike on another phone, even though the latest app update (along with firmware updates to both bikes) shows it knows I have multiple bikes: but I’ve not been able to select the other bike from either phone, even when selecting the “delete” option (which totally deletes ownership, not just from the current mobile device… so you’ve lost all the serial number and such information associated with the bike) and deleting the Bluetooth profile.
This app is too poorly designed to trust. Their project management should be fired and start from scratch.
While the lock feature sounds great, you run the risk of bricking your bike (or as Bosch support told me: you can still manually pedal the bike). Should your phone get lost/stolen, broken, or you forget the password: the Bosch motor is bricked.
Also note their email support takes a month to respond.
latest update does not load
auto update of app throws an error when you try to install on bike
Single Big Problem
One fatal flaw to the app. You can only connect a single e bike to it. If you own more then one e-bike, this is a massive issue. Bosch, please address and fix.
App is OK, but What About my Other Bikes
I love Bosch motors, and now have three bikes with them.
I can only use this app with one bike!!!!! Why won’t you add the option for more bikes?! I thought you want to sell bikes and have people use this app?!
I can only use this app with one bike!!!!! Why won’t you add the option for more bikes?! I thought you want to sell bikes and have people use this app?!
Disconnecting
Then the last update of the engine. The route recording for one day is done by disconnecting, and at the end of the day, several route recordings are recorded in the program. I wish I hadn't updated.
I hate the updates
I do not want it to be so easy to enter full screen mode on my phone yet so hard to exit! Why do I have to stop to exit?? Yet I can too easily get into it while riding? It's so annoying! I want to disable ALL of this in the app! Thoughtless design. Undo. The old UI was significantly better. Just go back.
Also please add an option to remove/hide all the CO2 savings nonsense. For many people who own EVs and fully renewable grids, these metrics make zero sense and just waste space. Combating climate change doesn't involve artificial achievements/efforts, and this is grossly misleading.
Also please add an option to remove/hide all the CO2 savings nonsense. For many people who own EVs and fully renewable grids, these metrics make zero sense and just waste space. Combating climate change doesn't involve artificial achievements/efforts, and this is grossly misleading.
Does not allow multi users
My wife and I share a cargo bike. The App does not allow multiple users to share the same bike. We had to buy a Bosch Smartphone holder and are now switching between Kiosk and the holder based on the recommendation of our Bosch certified retailer. This is even more painful as we have the Bosch Alarm Module and we we would love to use just the phone holder and use multi phones to unlock the bike.
To be clear: we have one login/password, App is up to date, Bike Software is to up date.
If I try to connect the two phones following the instructions posted here on Sep 20 (Matt K 415 review), one phone works but the other loses the connection. What a pain!
@Bosch ebike Team: don’t answer reviews by saying « in principle, you can log in the same ebike flow app account ». You need to properly handle multi users and move from « in principle » to « we tested it in a new release ».
***
Update after reading the answer from the developer.
***
Despite multiple reviews complaining about the issue, you seem to point to the same answer which is not helping anyone. Let me try differently:
User A is the primary user and has successfully connected Phone A. User A can unlock/lock the bike seamlessly. Great.
User B, using the same credentials, successfully pairs Phone B to the App and the bike.
User A and B can both see riding activities in the App. Fine.
When User A is done using the bike after using Phone A to unlock/lock the bike, User B cannot unlock the bike using Phone B. The bike appears as “disconnected”.
In short, two users can log in the App using the same credentials (on that we agree) but only one user can be locking/unlocking the bike.
Is that more helpful?
*** Update #2 after developer replied:
« To lend your eBike with Lock and Alarm activated, temporarily deactivate them in the Flow app: Settings » eBike settings » Lock & Alarm » »
For real? Think about this process with a car: « if you want multiple users to drive a car, just ask the last user to leave the car unlocked »
This is more a temporary and cumbersome workaround than a viable and safe multi users process.
Please please please, listen up to the feedback of users and address this issue. Thank you so much!
To be clear: we have one login/password, App is up to date, Bike Software is to up date.
If I try to connect the two phones following the instructions posted here on Sep 20 (Matt K 415 review), one phone works but the other loses the connection. What a pain!
@Bosch ebike Team: don’t answer reviews by saying « in principle, you can log in the same ebike flow app account ». You need to properly handle multi users and move from « in principle » to « we tested it in a new release ».
***
Update after reading the answer from the developer.
***
Despite multiple reviews complaining about the issue, you seem to point to the same answer which is not helping anyone. Let me try differently:
User A is the primary user and has successfully connected Phone A. User A can unlock/lock the bike seamlessly. Great.
User B, using the same credentials, successfully pairs Phone B to the App and the bike.
User A and B can both see riding activities in the App. Fine.
When User A is done using the bike after using Phone A to unlock/lock the bike, User B cannot unlock the bike using Phone B. The bike appears as “disconnected”.
In short, two users can log in the App using the same credentials (on that we agree) but only one user can be locking/unlocking the bike.
Is that more helpful?
*** Update #2 after developer replied:
« To lend your eBike with Lock and Alarm activated, temporarily deactivate them in the Flow app: Settings » eBike settings » Lock & Alarm » »
For real? Think about this process with a car: « if you want multiple users to drive a car, just ask the last user to leave the car unlocked »
This is more a temporary and cumbersome workaround than a viable and safe multi users process.
Please please please, listen up to the feedback of users and address this issue. Thank you so much!
Weak sauce
First couple hundred miles… sometimes the app records the ride, sometimes not. Customer service is non-responsive. Has to be a better app out there.
Only 1 issue but it’s a big one for me
Why is my assist limited to 19mph when the US limit is 20mph? I race emtb and it’s important. Please fix and I will rate the app a 5 star.
Doesn’t allow family to share a bike easily.
We purchased the Bosch Smart System because we expected we’d be able to use the alarm and phone integration features, but as far as we can tell it only works with one phone. Until this gets fixed the app has basically become useless for our family. Very frustrating!
Cannot pair ebike with app
I have a brand new Trek power fly 4 with Bosch Drive and controller. I follow the procedure to pair my bike with the Flow app and receive an error message...
"Your eBike is already connected to another Flow app account. To connect your Bike, the ownership profile of the eBike must be reset. To do this, send a request to the person who currently has the eBike connected to their account."
I contacted by local Trek dealer and was informed that all I need to do is click "request access" on the same error screen . I received an email shortly there after that said my request was being processed. That was two weeks ago and I've gone through the same process daily with no success. For me, the Flow app is useless because it can't even perform the first function.
"Your eBike is already connected to another Flow app account. To connect your Bike, the ownership profile of the eBike must be reset. To do this, send a request to the person who currently has the eBike connected to their account."
I contacted by local Trek dealer and was informed that all I need to do is click "request access" on the same error screen . I received an email shortly there after that said my request was being processed. That was two weeks ago and I've gone through the same process daily with no success. For me, the Flow app is useless because it can't even perform the first function.
Not Connected
Bike and phone different to connect. Frustrating. connection drops a lot. Spending a lot of time, trying to renew the connection and getting nowhere. One other thing I'd like to see is a power shut off at 80% written into the software. I have it now other devices that I bought the last couple of weeks.
Heart rate integration rarely works
I’ve had the app for about 6 months now. One key feature that is working only 10% of the time is the heart rate integration with Apple Watch. When it does not work, I can start a workout with my watch, and then after a few minutes the Flow app will read my heart rate. Otherwise, it does not work. My support ticket to Bosch has not been answered. Other features
seem to work good.
seem to work good.
Software update failed
I have had the Bosch kiosk for the 3 years and every time I do the software update it fails multiple times. Fix it now. Very frustrating as I have tried all of the recommended fixes and nothing works.
Inconsistent
A very inconsistent and inconvenient app. Crashes often. Fails to connect to the bike often, which locks the rider out.
Altitude only works with location set at always tracking
The Kiox display will not track your altitude gain unless the app is set to always tracking. Seems very intrusive. Plus, in the US you can’t turn off the dynamic display where it’s constantly telling you if your are “going up hill”, “downhill” or “flat”.
I think pretty much everyone riding any type of peddle assist bike will know this. I have no idea why it’s even needed.
Called Bosch and was told you can’t turn it off in the us “yet”.
My last complaint is that you can’t customize what you see on the display. I want data during my ride. Miles traveled, altitude gained etc. none of the display options have this, unless you are stopped or when you turn off the bike.
I think pretty much everyone riding any type of peddle assist bike will know this. I have no idea why it’s even needed.
Called Bosch and was told you can’t turn it off in the us “yet”.
My last complaint is that you can’t customize what you see on the display. I want data during my ride. Miles traveled, altitude gained etc. none of the display options have this, unless you are stopped or when you turn off the bike.
Full location access
Is it still required to grant full access to my location services?
I remember when companies cares about making quality products. Now it’s all about data harvesting which I do not give into
I remember when companies cares about making quality products. Now it’s all about data harvesting which I do not give into
Fine as a Utility
The utility functions are good-software updates for the bike work fine and it tracks mileage intervals between services. Great.
As a ride tracking app, it’s a failure. The location tracking doesn’t work unless the app is allowed to use Location Services all the time. Serious question for the developers - what business is it of your app where I am when not riding the e-bike? Strava, Ride With GPS, and any other ride tracker you care to name works just fine when Location Services is set to While Using.
Beyond that, the actual tracking is terrible compared to other services. Schematic at best and downright erratic most of the time.
It’s really quite inconvenient to track rides with two devices, but that wouldn’t be necessary if this app met some rather basic standards.
As a ride tracking app, it’s a failure. The location tracking doesn’t work unless the app is allowed to use Location Services all the time. Serious question for the developers - what business is it of your app where I am when not riding the e-bike? Strava, Ride With GPS, and any other ride tracker you care to name works just fine when Location Services is set to While Using.
Beyond that, the actual tracking is terrible compared to other services. Schematic at best and downright erratic most of the time.
It’s really quite inconvenient to track rides with two devices, but that wouldn’t be necessary if this app met some rather basic standards.
Please Support Korean Language & Availability in South Korea
Hello, developers!
I really enjoy using FLOW, and I know many users in South Korea do as well. However, there are two major issues:
1. The app is not available in the South Korean App Store, so many users have to change their account region to the U.S. just to download it.
2. The lack of Korean language support makes it difficult for many people to fully utilize the app.
If you could make FLOW available in the South Korean App Store and add Korean language support, it would greatly improve the experience for many users in South Korea.
Thank you for your hard work, and I hope to see these improvements in a future update!
I really enjoy using FLOW, and I know many users in South Korea do as well. However, there are two major issues:
1. The app is not available in the South Korean App Store, so many users have to change their account region to the U.S. just to download it.
2. The lack of Korean language support makes it difficult for many people to fully utilize the app.
If you could make FLOW available in the South Korean App Store and add Korean language support, it would greatly improve the experience for many users in South Korea.
Thank you for your hard work, and I hope to see these improvements in a future update!
Please allow to share app with multiple users
The inability to share app login with multiple users for a shared family cargo bike makes navigation and other features completely useless. Please fix this!
Update removed Average Speed
I started my ride and thinking something had changed. A few minutes later, I look to see my average speed and find it is gone! What? Why? I scrolled through the screens but cannot find it. They moved the Range where the Average Speed used to be. Why? Where the range was, next to the battery, is now a stupid lozenge to show what mode you are in. Who cares? And really, the range could be there as well. There is enough room.
Please return the average speed.
Please return the average speed.
Allow multiple riders
Only one app/phone can be connected. This means electronic security can not be enabled for another rider as their app/phone can not connect without removing the original rider. This also limits the functionality of the display. Allow multiple riders.
Sentiment summary
91%
Positive (4-5★)
4%
Neutral (3★)
5%
Negative (1-2★)