Apple WeatherKit RainMachine Weather Service (Preview)

Feb 22, 2023, by admin

Each RainMachine Premium Services subscriber will now get full access to a brand new RainMachine weather service powered by the Apple WeatherKit, a world-class global weather forecast that uses high-resolution weather models and machine learning and prediction algorithms to give you hyperlocal weather forecasts around the globe.

Install Apple WeatherKit RainMachine Weather Service (Preview)

Apple WeatherKit weather service can be used as a single weather service for the RainMachine device or as an addition to the current weather services already installed.

Learn more about RainMachine Weather Engine.

RainMachine Weather Engine map

RainMachine Monthly Stats for Premium Services subscribers

Jan 03, 2023, by admin

As a Premium Services subscriber, each month, we email you a report detailing the total amount of water programmed vs. used and also detaling the amount used per program and per each zone, so you can have a clear understanding of your water usage and make informed decisions.


Note: Beside the monthly email, the Premium Services monthly report is also available for premium subscribers at https://my.rainmachine.com


Water usage per Program

Using the RainMachine, you can set up multiple programs to run at different times of the day and for different durations. The monthly statistics report shows you exactly how much water each program used and helps you identify areas for improvement. If you notice that one of your programs is using more water than necessary, you can adjust it to use less. This will not only help you conserve water but also lower your monthly water bill.

Water usage per Zone

In addition to showing you the water usage per program, the monthly statistics report also provides you with a breakdown of the water usage per zone. This information is essential because it helps you identify which zones are using the most water and make adjustments accordingly. For example, if you have a large lawn area, it is likely that this zone will use more water than other zones in your garden. You can adjust the watering schedule for this zone to reduce its water usage.

Water skip reasons and important alerts

Another important piece of information in your monthly report is the reasons for watering skip and important alerts sent. This information helps you understand why your irrigation system may not be functioning properly, and can help you troubleshoot any issues quickly and easily. For example, if there is a problem with your water pressure, you may receive an alert indicating that there is a problem that needs to be addressed.

Total programmed vs. used yearly graph

Finally, the yearly graph in your monthly report provides a visual representation of the difference between programmed and used water for each month. This information can help you identify any trends in your irrigation usage and make adjustments accordingly. For example, if you notice that you are using more water in the summer months, you may need to adjust your watering schedule to conserve water during this time.

The monthly statistics provided for the RainMachine Premium Services subscriber are a valuable tool for understanding your irrigation usage and performance. By tracking your water usage and identifying areas of inefficiency, you can make informed decisions about your landscaping and irrigation needs, saving you both time and money.


Apple WeatherKit RainMachine Weather Service (Preview)

Coming soon to all Premium Services subscribers!

A message from RainMachine Team

Dear RainMachine user,

We are tremendously honored to have a large community of RainMachine gardeners who joined the movement towards water conservation through technology. Since the early days, this has been our mission all along.

Over the past 9 years, we have continuously improved RainMachine. For example, we recently enabled access to thousands of NOAA certified weather stations (in addition to tens of thousands of personal weather stations). Combined with forecasting data from geostationary, polar orbit and deep space NOAA satellites, RainMachine is fundamentally the best irrigation controller available on the market.

Unlike other controllers, RainMachine was designed from ground up for cloud-independent operation. RainMachine performs direct access to weather services, locally computing weather science and water schedules. RainMachine will remain fully controllable via open APIs and open-source SDKs as long as a third-party cloud connection is not required.

Regardless of our cloud status, your controller will continue getting weather updates and being able to connect using smartphones and desktops. This is not true for other controllers on the market because they are entirely cloud-dependent.

Why are we offering RainMachine Premium services and why cannot grandfather free cloud services?

Like many other companies, recent economic situations have made it extremely difficult for us to maintain the cost of services, such as cloud support, software updates, and most importantly, our dedicated support team.

In order to continue operations, we need your help!
We understand these are difficult times for our customers as well, and we hope that a $29.99/year ($2.49/month) subscription will help with the costs of operations.

As of June 8, 2022 we are no longer offering free remote access through our servers which will also affect recently introduced features like Shared Account access, IFTTT and some cloud dependent RainMachine Integrations like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. For Premium Services list of benefits and more info please see this page: https://www.rainmachine.com/premium/

Access “from anywhere” remains 100% free, but not as easy to configure. For “DIY” remote access instructions (Port Forwarding), please visit this page.

Thank you,
RainMachine Team

Introducing RainMachine Premium Services

May 20, 2022, by admin

We are tremendously honored to have a large community of RainMachine gardeners and growers who joined us in the movement towards smart water conservation through technology. Since the early days, this has been our mission all along. For the past 8 years, we tried our best to provide free updates and new features as well as remote access services to all our users simply because we believed in the importance of water conservation.

The rising cost of operations due to various factors is making it impossible to continue to develop and support free services. Therefore, in order to provide future services and software enhancements, and priority support to the RainMachine community, starting June 8 2022 we are launching the RainMachine Premium Services.

Remote Access: Premium vs. Basic. What is the difference?

RainMachine will always work from while at home using RainMachine mobile or browser app, on your local network (Wi-Fi or LAN) or using Direct Access feature. However when trying to access RainMachine from remote sites (eg work, vacation, cellular networks) using Premium Services, users will be able to remotely access their devices simple, fast and secure.

Premium
$29.99/year


  • Local Network Access
  • Remote Access from Anywhere through RainMachine cloud servers
  • Weather Forecast Services*
  • PWS Network Access**
  • Mobile Notifications
  • Premium Support Channels
  • Unlimited Smart Integrations
  • New Features Updates
  • Shared Access
  • Advanced Watering Reports
  • Expert Advice
  • Discounted Hardware Repairs

Basic
Free


  • Local Network Access
  • Remote Access from Anywhere through personal internet router
  • Weather Forecast Services*
  • PWS Network Access**
  • Basic Mobile Notifications
  • General Support Channels
  • Local Smart Integrations
  • Bug Fixes Updates

30 Day Premium Trial

On June 8 2022 Premium Services day launch, we will offer a 30 Day Premium Services Trial to all our RainMachine users. After the Premium Services Trial ends, users can choose to subscribe to Premium Services for one year with a one time fee of $29.99 (that's as low as $2.49/month). Enhanced hardware and software Support as well as Remote Access from any location will be available to Premium subscribers for $29.99/year.

About RainMachine Remote Access

By default, the RainMachine app is able to discover your RainMachine only when present in your home Wi-Fi network, or when the RainMachine device is manually added through the Direct Access feature in order to be accessible from anywhere in the world, no cloud servers needed = cloud independent.



In order to access the device from another location outside your LAN, the Premium Services will allow you to access the RainMachine from anywhere in the world. This is one of the only optional cloud service that RainMachine is using to facilitate remote access. Furthermore, Premium Services users will have access to priority support as well as discounted repair services for out-of-warranty devices.

Always True to Data and Cloud Independent by design.

RainMachine is completely cloud independent, all irrigation, scheduling and weather features are built in the device. For supplemental features like Smart Home integrations, Remote Access, future enhancement updates we will introduce Premium Subscription for $29.99/year ($2.49/month).


RainMachine will always be true to weather data regardless of subscription status (Premium or Basic) because RainMachine was designed from the ground up to use free trusted and verified data sources such as NOAA (US) or Norwegian Weather Institute (EU and US). Furthermore, RainMachine will allow you to connect to thousands of Personal Weather Stations and use other weather services developed by us or the community.

Staying true to Open Source algorithms

At the core of our irrigation engine, we use the Penman-Monteith evapotranspiration formula with several verifiable & open-source algorithms. All our improvements and enhancements are published on-line, free for anybody to use.




Get Premium Services

In order to get RainMachine Premium Services make sure that the RainMachine mobile apps (iOS and Android) are updated to their May 2022 version from the Apple AppStore and Google Play, or access the new RainMachine Web app. You will be able to purchase RainMachine Premium Services for a 1-year period though Apple Subscription payment system (RainMachine iOS app) or using Shopify payment system (RainMachine Android and Web app).

Sign in using the RainMachine Remote Access email account used when purchase the Premium Services to get all the benefits.


Note: Basic Non-Premium users will still be able to remotely access their RainMachine by going to the extra step of modifying their router to allow Port Forwarding. Read the documentation of your Wi-Fi router manufacturer carefully as we cannot provide support for all types of routers.
Learn more...

2021 Winter update: More Weather Sources

Dec 03, 2021, by admin

This is a cumulative software release for RainMachine HD-12/16, RainMachine Pro-8/16, and RainMachine Mini-8.
For more info please visit this page.


New interface to install, update and manage Community Weather Services on mobile/web RainMachine apps. Instead of manually installing a new weather service from different sources, now RainMachine shows a list of verified weather services created by the community which makes it easier to install and update.

Introducing Verified Community Weather Services


  • Introducing Install/Update/Uninstall for each verified Community Weather Service
  • Each individual weather service comes with its own parameters
  • Get weather data from a station closer to your location
  • Redesigned Weather screen
  • Split the Weather services in 2 categories: RainMachine and Community

Mobile app NOAA Alerts

Introducing NOAA Alerts and Advisories

  • Weather Alerts and Advisories from NOAA shows important weather events happening in your area, like Excessive Rainfall and Winter Weather Forecasts, River Flooding, Thunderstorm/Tornado Outlook, Hurricanes, Fire Weather Outlooks, UV Alerts, Drought
  • The alert is sent instantly via mobile push notifications
  • On the RainMachine web app the alert is listed under the NOAA weather service settings
  • The RainMachine NOAA weather service now allows users to select NOAA verified weather stations in vicinity and receive observed data

CWOP (Citizen Weather Observer Program) as weather service

A new weather service for CWOP (Citizen Weather Observer Program) to receive observed data from weather stations all over the world. Available as community weather service called: Weather Stations


Screenshot showing some of citizen weather stations available around the world.


The Citizen Weather Observer Program (CWOP) is a public-private partnership with three goals:
1) to collect weather data contributed by citizens;
2) to make these data available for weather services and homeland security;
3) to provide feedback to the data contributors so they have the tools to check and improve their data quality.


Other improvements for the RainMachine Web app


Firmware


2021 Spring update: RainMachine Firmware fixes and improvements

Feb 08, 2021, by admin

This is a cumulative software release(1) for RainMachine HD-12/16, RainMachine Pro-8/16, and RainMachine Mini-8. It contains improvements and fixes for Met.no data service (European Weather Service API) as well as web interface improvements. See below for details.


Common firmware improvements and fixes

Weather Services

Met.no
 - Update for the latest Met.no API as the previous version used by RainMachine is no longer accessible.
Netatmo
 - Fixed issues with automatic re-login after the expiration of the previous login.
 - Allow the possibility to specify modules for other base stations if the user has multiple base stations.
 - Allow the possibility to select modules from devices being shared by other users.
NOAA
 - Better caching of day data for cases where further reports have missing data.
WUnderground
 - Report observed RAIN for today instead of just for the previous day.

Programs

- Improved Program feature "Finish by Sunrise/Sunset". We have identified the cause that in certain cases can cause the Finish Before Sunrise programs not to run. To prevent this from happening we are now restricting the program to start to be on the same day. If previously the programs could theoretically start way past midnight (for programs with long duration) this is now limited to midnight to prevent the same program from starting on the same day twice leading to confusion.

Wi-Fi

- Improved Wi-Fi behavior on multi-point access points disconnects.

Smart Integrations

- Apple HomeKit support on all current devices (RainMachine Touch HD-12/16 and RainMachine Pro-8/16).
- Powerful new IFTTT additions, you can now send weather information from various IFTTT weather services and stations to your RainMachine, change programs start time and date, and many new triggers for program stopped with reason, rain delay, weather updates, leak detection.

RainMachine Touch HD-12/16 related

- Wi-Fi reconnect improvements.
  - A separate experimental mode Wi-Fi reconnect algorithm has been added.
- Expanded the list of Wi-Fi adapters that can be used on RainMachine Touch HD-12/16 devices.
  - Added support for TP-Link Archer T2U Plus Wi-Fi adapter.

Mobile Apps refresh (Android, iOS)

Several incremental updates for the RainMachine mobile apps were done for the iOS and Android clients, updates available at the Apple AppStore and Google Play. Notable changes for the RainMachine iOS app are in the User Interface such as 'dark mode' and the ability to change the landing screen.
- Introducing RainMachine iOS "Dark Mode" layout theme that automatically applies if your Apple mobile device is set to Dark Theme mode. Open Apple iPhone/iPad "Settings > Display & Brightness > Dark".
- Select the landing screen of the RainMachine iOS app, either DASHBOARD or ZONES. Open Apple iPhone/iPad "Settings - scroll all the way down to RainMachine app - scroll down to "Landing Screen" and choose the preferred screen.
- Device names are listed in alphabetical order on the DEVICES screen.
- Find and access to the RainMachine Smart Integrations. Open "RainMachine mobile app > Settings > Smart Integrations" and learn how to integrate IoT services with RainMachine.
- Many "under the hood" fixes that improve the user experience, like fixes for the Setup process, mobile Notifications, fast loading DASHBOARD graphs, ZONES images, Watering History.

RainMachine Web app interface

- Fix issue with chart graphs being cramped on the left side that sometimes happen after a refresh.
- Improved NetAtmo Weather Service configuration UI.
- Added dark mode with the possibility to switch between light mode and dark mode from "Settings > System Settings > Web Theme". 
- Other improvements.

 

Currently, in development

- Flowmeter visualization charts.
- Ability to push flow meter data to RainMachine.
- Ability to install and update community-developed weather services.


(1) The RainMachine firmware update will be released in stages. The final roll-out will be available in up to three weeks.

For more info please visit this page.