Turn Touch 4+

The device is pretty... that’s about it.

I want to love this - I received it as a present and was excited to put it to use. Unfortunately the system is flawed in multiple deal-breaking ways, only a couple of which can be blamed on Apple.

* Only works in-app with the phone on. That alone makes this nearly useless. The appeal of a device like this is being able to accomplish a task with a tap - instead it’s accomplished with an open-the-phone, open-the-app, THEN tap. That I assume is the fault of Apple’s ecosystem, but it’s a major problem nonetheless. A device like this needs SOME standalone functionality to be worthwhile - something which other less aesthetically-oriented devices have.

* Even then, a lot of it just doesn’t work. The volume triggers? Don’t work. The camera and video triggers? Don’t save. IFTTT? Just sends you to their website with no instructed means of adding a trigger. Maybe some things that I don’t own (Hue and Wemo) work, but if the most basic core OS functionality isn’t even there then I’m not hopeful.

* Minimalist beyond frustration. This is more of a “death by a thousand cuts” complaint where minor flaws accumulate to an overall feeling that the app is severely underdeveloped. No visual indicator whether you’re in photo or video mode - no HUD for volume adjustment (though to be fair that may just be because those buttons don’t work which isn’t exactly a good reason) - instructions are nonexistent - and their “support page” is just the site’s homepage with a bunch of pretty pictures, buttons to buy the products, and five useless FAQs.

* Lacking functionality. I can do HomeKit scenes but not HomeKit devices? No Workflow/Shortcuts triggers? IFTTT appears to simply not work? There’s just so much that it can’t do that it feels like a tease.

The idea is great and there’s a lot of potential, but there are critical flaws that I suspect can’t or won’t be fixed with a software or firmware upgrade. I’ll hope to update this review someday if they fix the major flaws, but until then, it’s just a pretty device that will be buried in my junk drawer.

Developer Response ,

Hi, thanks for trying out the app. I want to let you know that the remote does in fact work without the app being open. It works even when you walk in the door and haven't opened the app. The remote should find your device and connect to it immediately. If that isn't working, please email me so we can figure out what's wrong.

IFTTT should also work. When you go to their website you have to choose what you want the button to do. Choose Turn Touch for the trigger and then whatever action you want. This is a great remote for IFTTT.

Volume adjustments also work, I'm not sure why they aren't working for you. Try using the volume adjustment of the Music app. I'm going to push out a fix for the HUD when adjusting the volume using the Phone app.

But please, email me (samuel@turntouch.com) and let's get your bugs fixed! All of that functionality works flawlessly for me and hundreds of other users, so I'd love to get the app fixed up for you.

Hs not worked with hue in more than a year

Pretty (and a little pricy) product. I liked it when I first got it even with all its faults (disconnects, only one device setup, wonky UI) but for over a year now I have not been able to get it to run with Philips hue. Tried resetting everything, starting with a new hue hub, tried uninstalling and reinstalling on iPhone, iPad, and MacBook and even 3 different turn touch remotes. It’s obvious this was a side project that is not being supported, not a real product. It’s too bad as I’ve now got three of them sitting in my junk drawer. :(