Vivint

Review by eFreeware

Most smart home apps ask you to bolt together devices from different brands and hope the pieces talk to each other. The Vivint app takes the opposite approach: it is the single control surface for a Vivint smart home system, with security, cameras, locks and energy management living under one roof. That is the distinctive part, and it is also the catch, because the app is built to work alongside Vivint hardware and a service subscription rather than on its own.

So the audience here is fairly specific. If your home already runs on a Vivint system, this is the app that ties the pieces together. If you are starting from nothing and looking for a free way to manage a mixed-brand setup, the app itself is free but it is not the product you would be buying into.

The app has been on Google Play since March 2014 and sits at a 4.3 average from more than 176,000 ratings, with over a million installs. Those numbers suggest a settled, widely used companion app rather than a new experiment, which is what you would expect for software tied to installed hardware.

Arming the system and automating the routine

The feature the developer leads with is control of the security system itself. You can arm or disarm from the app, and you can set up custom actions so that a single command triggers a sequence of smart home behavior rather than one device at a time. For a household that wants the lights, locks and thermostat to fall in line when everyone leaves, that is the core of the experience.

Remote control is the theme throughout. The app is pitched as letting you manage the whole system from anywhere, so the useful cases are the ones where you are not standing in the hallway: arming the system after you have already driven off, or adjusting the temperature before you get back. Arming, disarming and automation all sit in the same place, which keeps the app simple to use.

What I like about this arrangement is that it avoids the usual app-hopping. One login, one screen, one place to check whether the house is the way you left it. The trade-off is that the depth of what you can automate depends on which Vivint devices are installed, so the app is only as capable as the system behind it.

Cameras, doorbell and the front door

The doorbell is the most interesting piece of the camera story. The developer describes two-way talk and 180x180 HD video, which together mean you can see and speak with a visitor without being home, and then act on it: unlocking the door for a guest, changing the temperature or turning on Smart Deter. That chain, from seeing someone at the door to doing something about it, is where a connected home earns its keep.

Beyond the doorbell, the app shows live camera feeds and recordings. The developer promises 30-day DVR recording and Smart Clips, so events can be reviewed after the fact rather than only watched in the moment. Cameras and security are described as working together, which matters if you want footage to line up with what the system was doing at the time.

The notification layer pulls this together. The developer gives examples including a camera deterring a lurker, a garage door left open and a package delivered. Notifications are the part of a security app people either love or mute, and the examples here are the sort of events a household would genuinely want to know about as they happen.

Locks, garage and energy in the same place

Smart locks get straightforward treatment: you can check their status and lock or unlock with a swipe. Garage doors get their own status view and an alert when left open. That distinction is sensible, since a garage door is the thing people most often drive away from without thinking.

Energy management is the other half of the app. You can build custom schedules for lights and switch them off remotely, and adjust the thermostat from your phone. Thermostat control from the app lets you adjust the temperature while away, which is a reasonable way to cut costs if your schedule changes often.

Put together, these features cover the everyday loop of a connected house: check the locks, glance at the garage, turn the lights off, nudge the temperature. None of it is exotic, but having it in one app rather than four is the point.

What the app requires before it does anything

This is the section that matters most for anyone reading a review before installing. A Vivint system and a service subscription are both required. The app is free to download, carries no ads and offers no in-app purchases, but it is a controller for hardware and service you already pay for, not a product you buy on its own.

There is also a compatibility detail worth catching early. If your home uses the Vivint Go! Control Panel, the developer directs you to a separate app called Vivint Classic instead. Installing the wrong one is an easy mistake to make, which is why the warning is there.

The practical consequence is that the cost conversation here is not about the app at all. It is about the system and the subscription behind it, and the developer points anyone curious about a new system to a phone number for details. For existing customers that is a non-issue; for everyone else it is the first thing to settle.

Getting the most out of it day to day

The features that reward a little setup are the automation and the schedules. Custom actions are what turn a collection of devices into something that behaves as a unit, and light schedules do the same job for energy use. Setting those up once, rather than arming and adjusting device by device, is where the app starts to feel like less work than the alternative.

Notifications deserve a deliberate approach as well. Alerts cover several categories, from a garage door left open to a package arriving, which are the kinds of events a household would want pushed to a phone. Deciding which ones matter to you early keeps the app useful rather than noisy.

The camera side benefits from routine rather than setup. Live feeds answer the question of what is happening now, while the 30-day recording and Smart Clips cover what already happened. Knowing which one to reach for saves time when something actually needs checking.

Finally, keep the app current. The most recent update is described as bug fixes and stability improvements, which is the ordinary maintenance rhythm for software that has to stay in step with hardware. The developer also invites feedback and problem reports by email, which is the channel to use if something misbehaves.

A companion app that knows exactly whose home it is for

The Vivint app does one job well in principle: it gathers security, cameras, locks and energy controls into a single place for a Vivint-equipped home. The feature set is broad without being vague, covering arming and automation, doorbell video and two-way talk, live and recorded camera feeds, lock and garage status, and light and thermostat control.

The requirement is equally clear. A Vivint system and service subscription are needed, and homes on the older Go! Control Panel need a different app entirely. That narrows the audience considerably, but it also means the app is not pretending to be something it is not.

If you already run a Vivint system, this looks like the natural way to manage it from a phone, and the install and rating numbers suggest plenty of households have settled on it. If you are not on Vivint hardware, the app has nothing to control and the decision is really about the system, not the software.

What's new in version 26.9.400

Version 26.9.400: Bug fixes and stability improvements. If you have any questions, experience any problems, or have feedback on new features, please reach out to us at [email protected]