I've lost trust ..."

cross-posted from: https://piefed.ca/c/technology@lemmy.world/p/902391/pet-owners-say-smart-pet-feeder-outage-led-to-furry-ones-going-unfed

This feels like bad design

Smart pet-feeder company Petlibro suffered an outage on Tuesday, giving users a harsh reminder of the risks of relying on smart devices.

Petlibro makes pet feeders that connect to Wi-Fi and, for setup with Petlibro’s mobile companion app, Bluetooth. Users can set the feeders to automatically dispense food at scheduled times, which is handy for pet care when the owner is out of the home.

In a statement to The Verge, Petlibro CEO York Wu said this week’s outage was “related to how the Petlibro app communicates with devices through its online servers.”

Some user reports have also conflicted with Petlibro’s claims about offline functionality. As The Verge pointed out, various users online claimed that during the outage, their devices did not perform any scheduled feedings, performed some feedings but not others, or performed feedings late (examples here, here, here, here, and here).

  • TrackinDaKraken@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    22 hours ago

    Why the hell does anyone need an app to feed a pet?

    Use this when you’re home:

    Use this when you’re gone for a couple of days:

    • MountingSuspicion@reddthat.comEnglish
      0·
      20 hours ago

      I don’t have an app for it, but I have a fully offline automatic feeder. For over a decade I didn’t and it was fine but then I had some nights where I ended up delayed on my return home and I felt bad because their bowl would be overturned even if I was only 30 minutes late. Now they have a predictable schedule regardless of if I make it home exactly on time or not and there’s an added bonus of having it for pet sitters so they never have to worry about getting the time wrong or forgetting. Mine plugs into the wall and has a battery backup so even if the power goes out it’s still going to work for quite some time.

      I definitely wouldn’t do free feeding like in your second picture for my pets, but I’m sure some could pace themselves.

        • MountingSuspicion@reddthat.comEnglish
          0·
          12 hours ago

          Wasn’t this exact one, as I’m pretty sure they’re all fly by night companies and I can’t find the one I have, but it’s basically this: https://www.chewy.com/nityers-food-dispenser-lcd-screen/dp/5012590

          Seems to be the same down to the battery backup. I’m sure you could get it cheaper through Amazon or Temu or some other company, I just try to avoid sharing amazon links.

          Sorry I couldn’t find mine exactly, but based off the appearance and info I’m pretty sure it’s the same.

    • Soulphite@reddthat.comEnglish
      0·
      21 hours ago

      The latter is potential for over feeding if your pet over eats. But yeah, don’t own a pet if you can’t take care of it without full automation… what’s the fuckin point?

      • vorpuni@tarte.nuage-libre.frFrançais
        0·
        21 hours ago

        Automated feeders are useful for consistency and avoiding screaming near feeding time in some cases. Also makes diets more enforceable for fat pets.