Can someone explain laundry app?

I’m having trouble understanding/finding any info on the “notify me when” laundry app. I put a multi on the dryer, start it on a 15 minute quick cycle (for a test), and let it go. The multi shows “active” for about a minute, then goes to inactive. About 25 mins later (10 mins after the 15 minute cycle), the lights blinked to notify the laundry is done.

How/when does it check for vibrations? What is the purpose of the optional time thresholds? Is there a better way or app do accomplish this?

If anyone can shed light, I’d appreciate it.

I took a look at the code today and at a high level:

When the multi sensor detects vibration it sets the washer/dryer as “running”, when that vibration stops the app has logic to recheck for vibrations in the number of minutes you set for the ‘Time to fill tub’. If when it rechecks and the duration since the washer started running is greater than the ‘Minimum cycle time’ you get a notification.

That said, what do you have set for the ‘Time to fill tub’? It sounds like that value might be too high for your dryer. From what I can tell if you use the default value of 5 min, you should be notified 5 minutes after the dryer actually finishes. However the fact that it’s only registering vibrations for the first 1 min doesn’t seem right and would prevent the app from working correctly.

My issue appears to be neither my washer and dryer vibrate enough to trigger the multi sensor, it only registers active when I open/close their doors.

I’m having the same issues. Neither vibrates even close to enough to trigger anything. Our machines are actually in our basement and I’m wondering if there is a sensor that exists that detects audible noise. The same, exact, concept would likely work great for me with sustained sound instead of sustained vibration.

The app is useless. Nice idea but not functional with today’s washers. If you want this app to work, you need to purchase a 1950 washer that shakes your home when it runs. I suggest using an energy meter for better results.

I gave up on this ages ago. You’re better served to get these devices:

There are then a few SmartApps out there to trigger notifications based on wattage draw. They work great for me.

Yup, just got mine yesterday. Any good tips on setting this up?

Use this Device Type:

SmartApp:

I have a SmartApp that I wrote that is what I use but most people are using the one I linked above.

The only caveat I’ve noticed is that the device type seems to report readings multiple times in certain situations resulting in a notification for each reading, meaning you might get 2 notifications at the same instant. The reason for the notification is still accurate and good, but if this sort of thing bothers you (or your wife) you might want to mitigate it in some way. It doesn’t bother us enough for me to look into it.