AcuRite Explains Why It Shut Down Customers’ Beloved App
▼ Summary
– AcuRite is discontinuing its My AcuRite app after May 30, 2026, due to “obsolete technology,” forcing users to switch to the newer AcuRite NOW app.
– Long-time users are frustrated because AcuRite NOW lacks key features, such as renaming multiple sensors and reporting non-whole temperatures, though AcuRite plans to add some.
– Jeff Bovee stated that My AcuRite was a limited weather-station dashboard, while AcuRite NOW is built on a modern cloud platform for broader connected-device support.
– AcuRite NOW offers benefits like mobile-first development, cloud updates, longer data history, and integration with Tuya’s SmartLife ecosystem.
– The new app charges a subscription fee for sharing data with Weather Underground, a feature previously free in My AcuRite.
The decision to shut down the My AcuRite app was unavoidable, according to the company’s vice president of product development, Jeff Bovee, who cited “obsolete technology” as the driving force behind the move.
AcuRite, a manufacturer of smart weather-monitoring devices, announced that the My AcuRite iOS and Android app, first launched in 2016, will be discontinued after May 30. After that cutoff, users must transition to the AcuRite NOW app, which debuted in June 2025, to manage their equipment.
The transition has sparked frustration among longtime customers. The primary complaint centers on missing features in the replacement app. For instance, AcuRite NOW does not allow users to rename multiple temperature sensors, arrange sensors on the screen, or display temperatures with decimals instead of whole numbers. AcuRite has acknowledged these shortcomings and stated it is actively working on restoring some of those functions.
In an interview, Bovee explained that the company chose to sunset the older app because it was built on a legacy platform that could not support modern demands. He described My AcuRite as “primarily a weather-station cloud dashboard,” whereas AcuRite NOW is designed as “a broader, connected-device platform.” The older app, he elaborated, “provided app and web access to weather data, but the underlying technology was more limited in terms of long-term app development, modern cloud services, smart home integration, and support for newer connected devices.”
The new platform, according to Bovee, offers a stronger foundation for future improvements. It is better suited for mobile-first development, cloud-based updates, and features like longer weather data history, improved user account management, device pairing, and notifications. Additionally, AcuRite NOW integrates with Tuya’s SmartLife IoT ecosystem, making it compatible with other third-party smart gadgets.
However, one notable change has drawn criticism: the new app requires a subscription fee to share data from AcuRite devices with the real-time weather service Weather Underground. The old app supported this feature at no cost. Bovee claimed that AcuRite NOW offers superior support for Weather Underground data sharing, though the financial incentive for the company is clear.
(Source: Ars Technica)