Shelly Smart Control

I’ve seen some negative reviews. And I get it. The app may have or may have had issues. But don’t let that deter you. Shelly is very smart home friendly. They offer local control via the onboard device web server, MQTT, API, Matter, etc. I’m not even using the app at all. It’s NOT required to use the device.

I’m writing this because I have a serious concern with the direction of the Shelly app and, more importantly, b I currently have Shelly relays that I purchased but cannot reliably use or troubleshoot. The current app experience is extremely frustrating. One of the things Steve Jobs and Apple understood exceptionally well was that sophisticated technology does not have to expose all of its complexity to the user. The current Shelly app feels like the opposite: it presents an enormous amount of information, features, subscription options, and promotions while making basic tasks—installing, discovering, controlling, and troubleshooting devices—more difficult than they should be. I would encourage the Shelly team to look at companies such as ecobee and Ring. They certainly promote additional products and services, but those promotions generally do not interfere with the primary reason I opened the app. I also want to provide some context for why I’m taking the time to write this. At one point, I seriously considered applying to join the Shelly team. Whether I would have been hired is irrelevant; I considered it because I genuinely believed Shelly was building excellent products for a unique and underserved market. I still believe the company is capable of that, which makes my current experience particularly disappointing. My primary concerns are: 1. Monetization is getting in the way of the core user experience. There are too many subscription prompts, advertisements, and promotions competing for attention. I purchased Shelly hardware, and my first expectation of the app is that it will help me install, operate, diagnose, and maintain that hardware. AI may be useful, and I’m certainly not opposed to AI features. But when I am already frustrated because a device is not working, that is the worst possible time to make a marketing campaign part of the troubleshooting experience. A better approach would be to let customers experience the value first. If Shelly AI can actually diagnose my problem, let me see that. Demonstrate why it is valuable, and then explain why I might want to subscribe. That creates value before asking the customer for more money. 2. Device discovery and troubleshooting have become unnecessarily difficult. This is my biggest practical concern. I currently have devices that are accessible on my network and from which I can retrieve local IP addresses, yet the Shelly app does not show them as online or provide me with a clear path toward resolving the problem. I have followed the available troubleshooting guidance. I have searched for solutions. I have even resorted to Reddit and social media discussions trying to solve these issues. I still have not resolved them. I know there is a Shelly sales engineer in Florida who has been very helpful to people on social media, and I could attempt to contact him directly. But that should not be necessary to make purchased hardware operational. When a customer has working network connectivity to a device but the manufacturer’s application cannot reliably discover, identify, control, or diagnose that device, the application needs to provide substantially better diagnostic information. Tell me why discovery failed. Tell me what the app can see. Tell me what network, cloud, authentication, firmware, or local communication condition is preventing the device from appearing correctly. Give an installer or technically capable customer something actionable. Simply telling me that something cannot be found does not help me solve the problem. 3. I am concerned that Shelly is losing sight of what made its products compelling. I have used Shelly devices for some time and have generally found them reliable. Shelly also made an important move by offering UL-certified products, which opened the brand to customers in the United States who may be unwilling to install non-UL-listed electrical devices in their homes or businesses. That mattered to me personally. I am not willing to introduce unnecessary property, electrical, or insurance risk by installing devices that do not have the appropriate certifications. Shelly therefore occupied an unusually attractive position: capable devices, a broad ecosystem, products for applications that are underserved by larger consumer brands, and increasingly appropriate certifications for the U.S. market. That is why I find the current direction so concerning. I do not object to Shelly making money. A healthy company needs revenue and profit to continue developing and supporting its products. What concerns me is when the pursuit of additional revenue begins to interfere with the value of the product customers have already purchased. Right now, I have Shelly hardware that I cannot reliably use, an app that has not helped me resolve the problem, and an interface repeatedly presenting additional services while I am trying to make the products I already paid for work. That combination damages trust. I am now actively considering alternatives, which is disappointing because Shelly previously would have been one of my first choices for this type of device. I’m providing this feedback because I believe Shelly is capable of doing much better. The hardware and the market opportunity are there. But the user experience—particularly installation, device discovery, troubleshooting, and the balance between supporting existing customers and promoting additional paid services—needs serious attention. If someone at Shelly would genuinely like to discuss these concerns, troubleshoot the problems I am experiencing, or hear more detailed feedback about the current user experience, I would be happy to have that conversation. Mike M.