Temperature alert notification via app

[KSM]

A few days ago I got my RT100 and went through the normal setup. 2 nights ago I did my first smoke (chicken thighs as everyone recommends for aq first smoke). The unit starts up and connects to my wifi network and my iPhone and the app right away and I get the set point and actual temps as well as temps from both robes displayed on my phone the entire cook time - no issues at all on that end. I did turn on the Temp. Alert Notification for both probes on my phone but never received an alert as I approached, hit and exceeded the temp. I looked on this forum and found several postings from a few years ago but nothing since. Is this an ongoing issue or has this problem been solved or is it something that I am not doing in the app (other than toggling on the notification button for each probe)?

 

[Waterboy]

It is a continuing issue, probably the worst in the industry. Notifications usually work OK except on busy holiday weekends. That said, make sure you have notifications turned on in your app setting on your phone.
Most people will tell you to get a third party probe (Thermoworks, Ink Bird etc…) , and I agree, but really recteq just needs to put some emphasis on their server game.

 

[KSM]

It is a continuing issue, probably the worst in the industry. Notifications usually work OK except on busy holiday weekends. That said, make sure you have notifications turned on in your app setting on your phone.
Most people will tell you to get a third party probe (Thermoworks, Ink Bird etc…) , and I agree, but really recteq just needs to put some emphasis on their server game.

Thanks waterboy…This is very disappointing to read as I was hoping that since the last post I saw on this a few years ago the issue was addressed. Doest speak much to the responsiveness of the company to customer issues. Maybe instead of dual-band wifi they would have invested in giving you bluetooth capability so as not to be tied to a limited server that fails during peak use perios (mine was on a non-holiday, Monday night). So all this hype on their vlogs about connecting “anywhere in the word” and all its capability is a bit of hype on some features. I do have other third part probes but this is disappointing right out of the gate when you spend this kind of money.

 

[Waterboy]

Thanks waterboy…This is very disappointing to read as I was hoping that since the last post I saw on this a few years ago the issue was addressed. Doest speak much to the responsiveness of the company to customer issues. Maybe instead of dual-band wifi they would have invested in giving you bluetooth capability so as not to be tied to a limited server that fails during peak use perios (mine was on a non-holiday, Monday night). So all this hype on their vlogs about connecting “anywhere in the word” and all its capability is a bit of hype on some features. I do have other third part probes but this is disappointing right out of the gate when you spend this kind of money.

They have worked on the app but for whatever reason not the servers. I guess technically you have control of your grill anywhere in the world (temp adjustment and on/off) just not reliable notifications in your own kitchen.

 

[SmokeOCD]

If everything worked, all in one, you’ll never get on the leaderboard of “most gadgets”.

 

[Gonefishin]

The range of Bluetooth is something like 30’, 2.r Ghz WiFi is something like 10 times that with 5 GHz somewhere in between.

oops

 

[SmokeOCD]

The Smoke is not WiFi, however it is 2.4Ghz - and has 300ft range to a paired receiver.

I'd be happy with 30ft Bluetooth connectivity to avoid the recteq server (there can't be more than one, right?).
I'd just leave a tablet or old phone in range for the remote application.

 

[rhouser]

I use a ThermoWorks Signals. Not inexpensive, but one and done. It does pretty much everything for monitoring a cook. It supports 4 probes.
v/r r

 

[ken g]

I will continue to repeat myself. The app and RT temp controls are essentially garbage. If you want to know whats going in that pit, you need an independent system. There are several out there that work flawlessly. I use a Fireboard system personally. One cook will show you what I am talking about. I use the app to turn on/off the grill and adjust temps, nothing more.

 

[Greg Jones]

I will continue to repeat myself. The app and RT temp controls are essentially garbage. If you want to know whats going in that pit, you need an independent system. There are several out there that work flawlessly. I use a Fireboard system personally. One cook will show you what I am talking about. I use the app to turn on/off the grill and adjust temps, nothing more.

FireBoard is the best tailed thermometer out there today. The ThermoWorks products are very, very close, gosh knows I own far too many of them, but ultimately I think they are missing out by not partnering with any grill manufacturers. FireBoard has at least two on board now. Made in the USA is also always a plus.

 

[RattleR]

Ooops, I didn’t mean to read @Greg Jones post.

 

[Maule Guy]

I popped for one of the combustion thermometers with the range extending booster. Bit pricey but works very well. The booster sits on my pellet bin and I have been 50' and farther from the grill with good connection.

I also have ThermoPro wireless rig. Sender is wired to probe and also sits on the pellet bin. Also pretty bullet proof.

The benefits of the Combustion is that it has no wires to deal with inside the grill, and the probe has multiple measuring points. The ThermaPro probes measure the meat temp at the tip of the probe and if you miss the middle the reading is off, whereas the Combustion probe can be inserted past the middle ( as long as it doesn't pass all the way through meat) and will report the lowest temp along the probe.

The surface temp reading is a bit questionable as it depends on how far from the meat surface the yellow part w/ the surface detector sits.

All in all the Combustion performs as promised, but the ThermaPro is a workhorse and way less expensive.

 

[Jim6820]

All in all the Combustion performs as promised, but the ThermaPro is a workhorse and way less expensive.

I agree; and I also have both. For very long cooks, or when I know I’ll have to be away from the property during a cook, I go with the TW Signals. Lately, I’m beginning to use the Combustion Inc. predictive thermometers more often. The predictive feature is spot on and very useful when I need to adjust cook times to meet desired serving time.

 

[Greg Jones]

CPT latest development Just tagging this on to a recent thread, but if Bill Nye were to invent a grill thermometer, the CPT would be it! Even if you don’t have want/need of this technology, this is some pretty advanced high-tech technology (play on words intended) for a thermometer! Link is to a CPT page on Reddit.

 

[tickerguy]

Ok, here's the scoop after going down the rabbit hole with a packet sniffer and what's going on for those of you with Android.

Bottom line: Recteq is stupid and this is trivially fixable for now, although they need to have someone competent go through and fix their app; I can't without source to it, and of course its not published, and besides that their back end cloud system has to properly interact with firebase and I don't know if it does. They did not put into the app manifest a request for "no optimization" and as a result the app will install and set up without it. Note that Google's Play Store policies are that you must not ask for "not optimized" unless you actually need it and they're a bit of a prick about that too, for good reason: You're supposed to use firebase for notifications which can wake a deep-sleeping device, which is why you get SMS messages and such even though the phone is in doze. Doze is a good thing as it wildly improves battery time. Best guess is that the app is not requesting priority firebase events -- it must register to get them specifically -- and/or their cloud back end is not sending them tagged that way. Thus if your phone is in doze it will not wake the process and you don't get the notify.

Anyway, the fix (for the time being, until and unless Recteq hires someone competent to fix it properly) is this:
Go to Settings -> Apps and select the "Recteq" app.
Click "App battery usage."
Select Unrestricted (the default, and how it installs, is "Optimized")
Back up one and turn off the option to "Pause app activity if unused" so Android doesn't revoke this if you don't use the grill for a couple of weeks (it WILL do so otherwise!)

That should take care of it. It may have some impact on battery life to do this, but I am now getting notifications as expected. (Yes, I write code for Android devices..... )

 

[Jim6820]

Ok, here's the scoop after going down the rabbit hole with a packet sniffer and what's going on for those of you with Android.

Bottom line: Recteq is stupid and this is trivially fixable for now, although they need to have someone competent go through and fix their app; I can't without source to it, and of course its not published, and besides that their back end cloud system has to properly interact with firebase and I don't know if it does. They did not put into the app manifest a request for "no optimization" and as a result the app will install and set up without it. Note that Google's Play Store policies are that you must not ask for "not optimized" unless you actually need it and they're a bit of a prick about that too, for good reason: You're supposed to use firebase for notifications which can wake a deep-sleeping device, which is why you get SMS messages and such even though the phone is in doze. Doze is a good thing as it wildly improves battery time. Best guess is that the app is not requesting priority firebase events -- it must register to get them specifically -- and/or their cloud back end is not sending them tagged that way. Thus if your phone is in doze it will not wake the process and you don't get the notify.

Anyway, the fix (for the time being, until and unless Recteq hires someone competent to fix it properly) is this:
Go to Settings -> Apps and select the "Recteq" app.
Click "App battery usage."
Select Unrestricted (the default, and how it installs, is "Optimized")
Back up one and turn off the option to "Pause app activity if unused" so Android doesn't revoke this if you don't use the grill for a couple of weeks (it WILL do so otherwise!)

That should take care of it. It may have some impact on battery life to do this, but I am now getting notifications as expected. (Yes, I write code for Android devices..... )

Great trouble-shooting, explanation and work-around; even a non-techie like me is able to understand most of what you are saying (with a few ”if you-say-so areas). If RT monitors this forum (which they should) they should immediately reach out to you and offer you a contract to fix their app—but, they probably won’t as the bean-counters wouldn’t approve spending money on such a “trivial” thing.

 

[SmokeOCD]

And he should immediately decline the offer because everything that ever goes wrong with it is his from that point forward. I imagine he comes here to decompress a bit from writing programs for people who don't appreciate it, not looking for another place for people to complain about his work.