ROBOTICS

The Neato D9 Robot Vacuum Is Probably the Worst Gadget I Have Ever Bought But I’m Keeping It Anyway

In spite of all its faults, it does what I want

Screenshot of My Neato app by author

I replaced our Roomba 880 with a Neato D9 this week. I vacillated between that and a more current Roomba, but based on opinions of people I respect, I divorced Roomba.

Instant Irritation

The vac comes with a thin setup guide that instructed me to download their app. Astonishingly, they have two IOS apps and I downloaded the one that mentioned HomeKit and Siri Shortcuts. Nope. Wrong app. The D8, 9, and 10 need the other app. My fault; I ignored the QR code that would have taken me to the correct app.

The My Neato app is one of the strangest I have ever experienced in terms of the user interface.

There is no consistency. Drilling into the app is like walking through a flea market: who knows what the next table will have? One internal panel slides left to dismiss. Another is dismissed with a large “Done” button at the bottom of the screen. Yet another goes away with a “Save” or “Cancel”. Others disappear with a large top left “<“. One requires a downward swipe! If they had needed more screens, who knows what would do what?