Review Insights · App Store
Petlibro
Designlibro Inc · 7,170 ratings · ★ 4.6
4.6
★★★★★
7,170 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 72 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
"feeder"
20 negative reviews mention this · 28% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Constant software problems. I’ve been using this automatic cat feeder for a few months, and unfortunately the experience has become completely unreliable. The main issue is the app. It is impossible to turn on the camera and watch my pet in real time. The loading scre…" - LinaLiber
2
"subscription"
17 negative reviews mention this · 24% of all complaints
★★★★★ "No way to cancel trial subscription. Tries to scam you into paying for the annual subscription" - annikett
3
"petlibro"
15 negative reviews mention this · 21% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Terribly Made. You can’t log into the app from more than 1 device at a time. There is a login agreement you have to click every time you log in. The app is designed to help care for pets but requires the Petlibro server to run at all times, thereby makin…" - somethinlike
4
"every"
14 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Constant software problems. I’ve been using this automatic cat feeder for a few months, and unfortunately the experience has become completely unreliable. The main issue is the app. It is impossible to turn on the camera and watch my pet in real time. The loading scre…" - LinaLiber
5
"feeding"
13 negative reviews mention this · 18% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Subpar. The app works great, when it decides to work at all-which is less than 20% of the time. I can’t adjust my feeding schedule because the app constantly times out!! Even after updating, this problem persists. Please fix this ongoing issue." - ohjaro
6
"product"
12 negative reviews mention this · 17% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Getting more invasive. The app was fine at first. I’d get notifications that really mattered. Like wifi outage, low supply, obstructed chute, etc. Now they’re just spamming ads to the notifs. And the popups in the app have become similarly annoying. I bought you…" - SkahT
7
"schedule"
12 negative reviews mention this · 17% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Subpar. The app works great, when it decides to work at all-which is less than 20% of the time. I can’t adjust my feeding schedule because the app constantly times out!! Even after updating, this problem persists. Please fix this ongoing issue." - ohjaro
8
"device"
11 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Constant software problems. I’ve been using this automatic cat feeder for a few months, and unfortunately the experience has become completely unreliable. The main issue is the app. It is impossible to turn on the camera and watch my pet in real time. The loading scre…" - LinaLiber
9
"doesn"
11 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Terrible App. Don’t sign up for the free trial because you won’t be able to cancel. I was charged even though I have been trying to cancel for a week. The app doesn’t allow you to stop the subscription and when I go online, the subscription can’t be foun…" - ogbobbyy
10
"feed"
10 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Getting more invasive. The app was fine at first. I’d get notifications that really mattered. Like wifi outage, low supply, obstructed chute, etc. Now they’re just spamming ads to the notifs. And the popups in the app have become similarly annoying. I bought you…" - SkahT
11
"food"
10 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Constant software problems. I’ve been using this automatic cat feeder for a few months, and unfortunately the experience has become completely unreliable. The main issue is the app. It is impossible to turn on the camera and watch my pet in real time. The loading scre…" - LinaLiber
12
"work"
10 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Constant software problems. I’ve been using this automatic cat feeder for a few months, and unfortunately the experience has become completely unreliable. The main issue is the app. It is impossible to turn on the camera and watch my pet in real time. The loading scre…" - LinaLiber
📋 All 72 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").
No way to cancel trial subscription
Tries to scam you into paying for the annual subscription
Constant software problems
I’ve been using this automatic cat feeder for a few months, and unfortunately the experience has become completely unreliable.
The main issue is the app. It is impossible to turn on the camera and watch my pet in real time. The loading screen just spins for a long time and then ends with an error. Videos are either not saved to the memory card at all, or they appear to save but cannot be accessed-every attempt results in an error.
The memory card constantly shows as full, and there is no way to format it through the app because that also triggers an error. On top of that, the feeder stopped sending notifications when the food level is low, which defeats one of its main purposes.
I also installed backup batteries for power outages, but the feeder does not work on battery power. As a result, my cats have been left without food multiple times. That is unacceptable for a device that is supposed to provide reliability and peace of mind.
After about four months of use, most of the functionality simply stopped working. I cannot rely on this device or its app anymore. The software is poorly made, and it feels like no one is interested in fixing these issues.
The main issue is the app. It is impossible to turn on the camera and watch my pet in real time. The loading screen just spins for a long time and then ends with an error. Videos are either not saved to the memory card at all, or they appear to save but cannot be accessed-every attempt results in an error.
The memory card constantly shows as full, and there is no way to format it through the app because that also triggers an error. On top of that, the feeder stopped sending notifications when the food level is low, which defeats one of its main purposes.
I also installed backup batteries for power outages, but the feeder does not work on battery power. As a result, my cats have been left without food multiple times. That is unacceptable for a device that is supposed to provide reliability and peace of mind.
After about four months of use, most of the functionality simply stopped working. I cannot rely on this device or its app anymore. The software is poorly made, and it feels like no one is interested in fixing these issues.
MAJOR BUG WITH POLAR FEEDER
There is a major bug with the polar feeder that needs to be addressed as it’s caused my cat to miss several meals. I can not rely on this product.
Sometimes, the polar feeder thinks it’s open even if it’s actually closed. However, you cannot “close” it through the app because it will give you an error that “your pet is eating”
You guys NEED to add an override to the your pet is eating message or else this is totally unusable. I can see on camera she’s nowhere close to the feeder. Will update my review when fixed.
Sometimes, the polar feeder thinks it’s open even if it’s actually closed. However, you cannot “close” it through the app because it will give you an error that “your pet is eating”
You guys NEED to add an override to the your pet is eating message or else this is totally unusable. I can see on camera she’s nowhere close to the feeder. Will update my review when fixed.
Terribly Made
You can’t log into the app from more than 1 device at a time. There is a login agreement you have to click every time you log in. The app is designed to help care for pets but requires the Petlibro server to run at all times, thereby making your feeder worthless without their consent. There is no landscape mode for iOS. The actual features for Wet Cat Food Feeder are made in a non-sensical way. All around indicates the people hired to make this app are deeply incompetent and it needs a total redesign from the ground up. The login flow is bad, the device usage flow is bad, it’s DRM for your pets feeder. Insane.
Terrible App
Don’t sign up for the free trial because you won’t be able to cancel. I was charged even though I have been trying to cancel for a week. The app doesn’t allow you to stop the subscription and when I go online, the subscription can’t be found. Customer service bot automatically blames it on apple and says they can’t do anything about it. Still waiting to hear from a real person before I report them to my bank.
DO NOT RECOMMEND!!!
I have been trying to cancel my subscription for over a month now and they keep pulling out. I do not recommend them. Be careful!!!
Wifi drop down bad idea
They're making us choose a wifi network manually when resyncing devices which magically unsync and it's a terrible model
Pop ups and ads
The app is slowly losing functionality- instead of being able to feed my cats I need to click through pop ups for products I am not interested in. I am going to switch feeders for something that doesn’t have such an obnoxious, barely usable app.
Slow, ad-filled, feature restricted
The fact that wirecutter recommended a pet feeder from this brand makes me reconsider if I should trust wire cutter. The app is barely usable on older iPhones. It constantly shows me apps for other products of the brand.
App issues
The only notification I have set to receive is low water, but the app tells me several times a day that the device can’t connect to WiFi. There is a WiFi notification option and it’s turned off. Fix your app.
Frustrating Device
Not able to update WiFi without uninstalling and reinstalling, super frustrating.
WARNING DO NOT SIGN UP FOR A SUBSCRIPTION VIA THE APP
I signed up for a free trial to see what the subscription provided (spoiler alert, absolutely nothing of value). Now when I go to cancel it, their website says I don’t have a subscription and Stripe says I don’t have an account. If I can start a free trial in the app I should be able to cancel it in the app.
Scammy Ad
The app keeps opening an ad for their “Care & Care Plus” when I’m trying to setup a feeding schedule. The back button on the ad won’t work and I have to force close the app. Avoid this product.
Horrible
I bought this water fountain for my cat and it’s always offline. Can’t get it back online. Doesn’t work when offline. Thank god she has an alternate water bowl. I would never buy again.
App is non functional
Kinda dissatisfied to invest in Petlibro products and the app doesn’t work correctly and is extremely slow since last updates. Can’t even access camera on feeder at all. Nothing but spinning. Kinda pointless in buying products and the trash app system doesn’t work. Save money and go with a better brand. They don’t know how to make their app work correctly so your expensive products are useless and you can’t use what you paid for.
Trash App
There is no option to turn off the subscription notifications they shove down your throat. Don’t install. I am also going to leave a review warning purchasers at the place i bought it from. It’s not worth buying if you’re getting mentally abused by them shoving advertisements down your throat.
Clean reminder
PLEASE GET RID OF THE CLEAN REMINDERS IT MESSES UP THE SET SCHEDULE EVERY TIME
Wasteful company
NOTHING WORKS EVER!
Feeders unreliable. App is infuriating
Feeders have a bug where they randomly dispenser endlessly until clogged. Who’s completely defeats the purpose of a rationing feeder. We have 6 of them and they all have the same problems.
The iOS aPP has taken to expiring your login after about 3 taps and 15 seconds. Basically unusable.
The iOS aPP has taken to expiring your login after about 3 taps and 15 seconds. Basically unusable.
CANT FEED MY PETS
The scheduled feeding does not run while the network on the app is down! Why is this a thing?!?! My home network is fine but the PetLibro app has had network issues for several days now.
Disconnect between product and app quality.
The products are great, however the app suffers from catastrophic disconnect issues that brick the use of their product. And repeated upsell prompts for an expensive subscription service that pops up upon pressing any button outside of the 4 free ones plague the app. Their products are being severely hurt by their app’s insufficiencies and bad business model. And before saying “just use the lite version of the app”, it was abandoned.
Petlibro’s app engineers need help to fix this and stop forcing them into whatever subscription model bs they are getting forced to make. I don’t need to know how often others are feeding their cats. But I would like to be able to use their rather expensive product that I bought and not fear the app breaks it while I’m away for any period of time…
Petlibro’s app engineers need help to fix this and stop forcing them into whatever subscription model bs they are getting forced to make. I don’t need to know how often others are feeding their cats. But I would like to be able to use their rather expensive product that I bought and not fear the app breaks it while I’m away for any period of time…
Can’t Stay Logged In
If the app won’t stay signed in, low food and water notifications aren’t very useful.
You will never be able to unsubscribe
If you grow tired of your subscription, be prepared for an extremely frustrating and involved process in order to cancel your subscription. There is no option within the app, and you can’t delete your account until your subscription, which automatically renews, is over. I’ve never experienced such a frustrating process.
Feeder won’t connect
Garbage product. Returning immediately for refund
Worked well for 10 months
11 months after purchasing, the app has suddenly become very glitchy and the device keeps saying it is offline (it isn’t, all other WiFi based devices are working well). Customer service is useless (AI based). Don’t buy this!!
App designed to get money, not to help your pets
This company makes a good product, and designed it entirely to get you to subscribe to its multiple paid subscription services. I HATE this. If you care about pets, then don’t lock this entirely free software behind a paywall then send daily messages inviting me to be a better pet owner by paying you to open full use of your app. Good product, garbage greedy business model.
Constant connectivity issues no matter what I do….
4 feeders are almost 2ft apart and that takes up some valuable space, relocated the main router within 5ft, but they all still have trouble either connecting to the internet sometimes or the app won’t recognize that they’re online.
HIGHLY DISAPPOINTED especially since we spent hundreds of dollars!
4 months of nightmares
HIGHLY DISAPPOINTED especially since we spent hundreds of dollars!
4 months of nightmares
App logs out after every use
Let us stay logged in. Latest update logs me out every time I open it.
Please do better
WiFi connectivity issues that will not resolve. Lasted for about a year. Happened with my previous PETLIBRO dispenser. Really disappointed.
Logs you out after 40 seconds of use
I have been waiting for over a month now for this bug to be fixed but have lost hope. I can’t do anything on the app because after about 30-40 seconds on it, I get a message that the session has expired and it logs me out. Since I’m not logged I don’t get any notifications. It’s funny that they keep releasing new products when they can’t get their old ones to function properly.
Hardware is nice, the app is terrible.
I recently got the Petlibro polar feeder. The feeder itself does what it says, it keeps two of the three dishes cold until shortly before feeding, and can open the door and feed when you tell it to.
What I want the feeder to do is to take a full tray of three dishes, and every 12 hours open up one of those dishes for the cats to eat from until they are done. Then, 36 hours later, I will come back and set up the tray again with the next three meals.
There seems to be no way to program the device to do this. First off, it only allows one ‘schedule’ to be active at a time. It does allow you to ‘repeat’ that schedule, but it only allows the schedule to repeat every 24 hours. And then, it doesn’t rotate the tray to the next dish, it just opens up to the same dish. So, right here, it’s useless for the purpose. At the very least, I should be able to set it up to open up to a different dish each day for three days, so I can fill it on day 0, then come back after day 3 and refill the feeder. It doesn’t even do that.
Also, when you enable a schedule, it wants you to confirm that the dish you want is in the expected place. I think it expects you to be standing right over it at the moment with the lid open - certainly it doesn’t seem to allow you to confirm anything if you aren’t right next to the device. Frustratingly, it also doesn’t tell you why it won’t let you confirm anything, it just stubbornly sits there with the checkbox greyed out and doesn’t do anything when you repeatedly stab at it.
So again - if I want to feed the cats every 12 hours without me present, it just doesn’t want to do that. It makes no sense that I have to keep setting up a new schedule for the next dish, and then be present to confirm that the dish is in the right place.
Hopefully, Petlibro will address these issues in a software update, and I can have a device that functions much more like what I paid for. As it stands, it’s just not worth the money.
What I want the feeder to do is to take a full tray of three dishes, and every 12 hours open up one of those dishes for the cats to eat from until they are done. Then, 36 hours later, I will come back and set up the tray again with the next three meals.
There seems to be no way to program the device to do this. First off, it only allows one ‘schedule’ to be active at a time. It does allow you to ‘repeat’ that schedule, but it only allows the schedule to repeat every 24 hours. And then, it doesn’t rotate the tray to the next dish, it just opens up to the same dish. So, right here, it’s useless for the purpose. At the very least, I should be able to set it up to open up to a different dish each day for three days, so I can fill it on day 0, then come back after day 3 and refill the feeder. It doesn’t even do that.
Also, when you enable a schedule, it wants you to confirm that the dish you want is in the expected place. I think it expects you to be standing right over it at the moment with the lid open - certainly it doesn’t seem to allow you to confirm anything if you aren’t right next to the device. Frustratingly, it also doesn’t tell you why it won’t let you confirm anything, it just stubbornly sits there with the checkbox greyed out and doesn’t do anything when you repeatedly stab at it.
So again - if I want to feed the cats every 12 hours without me present, it just doesn’t want to do that. It makes no sense that I have to keep setting up a new schedule for the next dish, and then be present to confirm that the dish is in the right place.
Hopefully, Petlibro will address these issues in a software update, and I can have a device that functions much more like what I paid for. As it stands, it’s just not worth the money.
No connection
This new app let me contact the water but not my canary feeder with camera. I did all the steps and I ended up using old app. So I have two apps now
Bluetooth model
Do not waste your money on the Bluetooth model of this fountain. I’ve had nothing but trouble with it. The non-Bluetooth model is simple easy to clean with no hassle.
Unusable App
It constantly logs you out when doing anything, requiring you too enter all the info again and try like 4 times to complete any task. Great hardware, unusable software. PETLIBRO FIX THIS NOW!
Unreliable App
I have the PetLibro Polar Wet Food Feeder, and it will not communicate with this app. I’ve tried resetting the feeder, powercycling, uninstalling the app and reconnect, but it is stuck at “device network is abnormal or offline” after 6 months of normal use. The app and online instructions don’t offer any more insight on why the connection might be “abnormal” so i’m stuck trying different things to solve this issue. And my wifi is 2.4GHz!!
Garbage
I NEVER review apps but I had to for this. This is a cheap Chinese horribly optimized app that never works. The only way I can get this app to even function without a network error (my router is RIGHT next to it) is TO UNINSTALL the app and relogin. Incredible. If I don’t decide to yeet this piece of garbage into the sun I will return for another brand. Save your money and stay away from this brand
Constant useless notifications and full screen popovers you cannot remove
I contacted them and they said they removed them, but they’re back. I don’t need to notified that I’ve been using this app for 3 weeks. Just infuriating how obnoxious this app is. No way to turn off useless notifications
Worst app ever
Worst app ad firmware in the entire world. My devise kept beeping in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. Nothing can be resolved in the app. I’ve reconfigured the device to the application at least 30 times and nothing worked. “Button unlocked” will forever play in my worst dreams.
Doesn’t work unless you pay
The app behaves terribly on both mobile platforms, the video recording is abysmal when using local but apparently works if you pay for a subscription. The local videos aren’t saved in regular files but uses an old antiquated asf format rather than writing mp4 files. On top of that the export through the app constantly fails and it makes the process difficult as you have to navigate a clunky UI to get to the video you want, if it even lets you export it.
Constantly times out then feed multiple times
Constantly times out when I try to feed and then all the requests gets accepted at once resulting in multiple feeds of the same request. Really frustrating and annoying.
Upsells
The upsells for a subscription on a freaking cat feeder are insane. Get a grip guys!
Buggy, Glitchy, Annoying and Frustrating to Use
I almost regret buying this overhyped brand. I thought I was paying for quality but clearly I was wrong. This app is clunky and not intuitive to use, impossible to load SD video logs (frequently unable to load and blames it on network issue when my internet is strong and completely fine). Plus always ads for upgrading. Super annoying.
Trash app, misses freed times!
Latest update causing tons of pets to miss meals. Will switch your set time to a random day months later. Very common issue, check Reddit.
Also they got rid of 1 min feeding increments. Changed to 15 minimum… do they even own cats? My food motivated one finishes all 3 meals (days worth of calories) in 15 minutes. I need 2-3 minimum feeding times for her.
Trash product now. Customer support is terrible. They also farm and sell your data like any sketchy Chinese company.
Garbage!
Also they got rid of 1 min feeding increments. Changed to 15 minimum… do they even own cats? My food motivated one finishes all 3 meals (days worth of calories) in 15 minutes. I need 2-3 minimum feeding times for her.
Trash product now. Customer support is terrible. They also farm and sell your data like any sketchy Chinese company.
Garbage!
Annoying ads, cleaning reminder that will prevent schedule from running
This app has progressively gotten worse. From the addition of ads to the new cleaning reminder. The new reminder is annoying for those of us that clean the machine daily. In addition to be annoying, it can prevent the feeding schedule from running if you haven’t cleared the reminder. We’ve turned the notifications off in the app and this is still an issue.
Horrible, slow, extremely buggy
The app is incredibly slow, extremely buggy, and has horrendous user experience throughout.
Doing any simple task is a huge pain because the product and dev team behind this app is severely incompetent.
- every button has a loading spinner that blocks the UI thread
- feeding schedules randomly stop working
- manual feeding is very difficult and slow
- button to rotate the bowl is now gone
- UX to set the meal schedule is slow and horribly designed
Doing any simple task is a huge pain because the product and dev team behind this app is severely incompetent.
- every button has a loading spinner that blocks the UI thread
- feeding schedules randomly stop working
- manual feeding is very difficult and slow
- button to rotate the bowl is now gone
- UX to set the meal schedule is slow and horribly designed
Annoying ads
The ads on this app make me want to return this feeder and go with the older one of a different brand i used for years.
Bad App, Worst Customer Service AI
This app is borderline unusable and actively prevents basic functionality. I cannot manage or edit my pet’s feeding schedule because the app insists there is a “device error.” It then instructs me to troubleshoot the cooling system and manually press a button to resume device operations. That button does not exist. The only option provided is to contact customer service - which turns out to be a completely useless AI chatbot that repeats the same useless instructions in a loop. It claims the issue will be “escalated,” but no human has ever reached out. No follow-up. A device that is only half functional, controlled by an app that locks users out of essential features and provides zero real support when it breaks. Maybe flagging this issue publically will get someone to help. Customer service is not a priority for this company or app thus far.
SO SLOW
Always lag, opening it, then opening which feeder you want takes way too long. Half the time the feed now doesn’t even work. Why is your app so jenky!
Flaky, bad UX
UX around video streaming is really bad. Hard to find videos that are interesting, hard to seek to the spot you want to seek to. Also, just buggy. Video streaming won’t start, or stops midway through.
Be wary of subscription
I purchased 2 feeders for my cats about a month ago. My one cat was sick, so i waited until she was better to start adjusting the feeding schedule to how much they eat each day. I went in this morning to add a scheduled feeding. It would not allow me to add a pet for the schedule without popping up the options for subscribing. So it said a 7 day free trial, so i selected that just so i can get the schedule set and get to work and planned to cancel the subscription before i was charged for the 1 year plan. A couple minutes later, i get a notification from paypal that i have a $137 charge and that it had paid for the whole year. And i can’t find a cancel and refund option, so i guess i’m just out $137 that i don’t have right now.
+ 22 more in the clipboard copy
Sentiment summary
89%
Positive (4-5★)
2%
Neutral (3★)
10%
Negative (1-2★)