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- Some Tado customers received a notification about a new subscription
- The message claimed that the Tado app will soon cost £1 per month
- Tado says it was part of a marketing study and no users have been charged
Some owners of Tado smart thermostats are feeling hot under the collar after the company ran a marketing study suggesting its app might soon require a subscription. A handful of users and potential customers shopping in the Tado web store recently saw a message saying that there would soon be a monthly fee to use the Tado app – though those who clicked a checkbox to confirm they understood were informed that it was only a test.
The pop-up message, which has been shared on Reddit and the company's support forums, says that app users will soon be charged £1 (about $1.20 / AU$2) per household per month "to continue offering you innovative features and top-notch service" and to offset increasing business costs.
According to the alert, the fee would come into force from 1 May, but using Tado devices through Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Apple HomeKit devices would still be free.
Tado App Monthly charge from r/tado
When TechRadar contacted Tado for a comment, a spokesperson said: "As is typical in the industry, Tado routinely does marketing studies and research, and looks at customer feedback every day. Those involved in this study about paid apps retained full access to the Tado App with no charge and the tests are now complete."
Free or fee?
So is Tado really going to start charging a fee? We don't know. It certainly looks like a possibility, but at this point it could go either way.
Tado does already have a subscription service called Auto Assist, which lets users fully automate their household heating and cooling and unlocks extra features. For example, rather than just sending a notification if a window is left open, Auto Assist will automatically adjust the heating to avoid wasting energy. It can also use geofencing to turn your heating off automatically when nobody is home, and switch it back on when the first person gets back.
Some Tado owners have said they don't mind the idea of paying a fee to use the app if it comes with Auto Assist rolled in as well to sweeten the deal.
Comment from r/tado
The problem is that other customers purchased Tado hardware in the belief that the basic app would remain subscription-free, and many users on the company's support forums and on Reddit are unhappy about both the idea, and the way Tado concealed the fact that it was conducting a marketing study until users clicked through.
We'll have to wait and see what the company decides to do with the information it's gathered, and whether it goes ahead with a subscription or keeps the free model with Auto Assist as an optional paid add-on.
Do you own a Tado smart thermostat, and would you be willing to pay to use the app to control it? Let us know in the comments.