Due to the increased costs associated with maintaining the Skydrop Cloud, including the hyper-local weather data, it has become necessary for Skydrop to implement a monthly service fee. Beginning in the first part of June 2019, you will see some changes to Skydrop Web and Skydrop Mobile. These changes will include a limit to the functionality to manage and monitor your Skydrop Controller. You will still be able to see very basic information about your controller but changing the watering restrictions, watering schedule, adjusting zones and running zones manually will be disabled. Within Skydrop Mobile, you will see an option to upgrade to Skydrop Plus. Skydrop Plus includes not only the functionality to manage your controller, but also advanced reporting, more precise weather data, enhanced notifications, and more.
The Skydrop Plus subscription will cost $1.99/month (USD) and will be billed through the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. If when prompted to upgrade to Skydrop Plus, you see a higher price, please ensure you have the latest version of Skydrop Mobile.
We understand this cost is unexpected after purchasing your Skydrop controller. We hope you agree that this cost is small relative to the savings and benefits that Skydrop provides through the Smart Watering algorithm as well as the ease of use of an app-enabled sprinkler controller.
We know you may have questions. We’ve tried to anticipate most of them in the below FAQ, but if you have additional questions, feel free to reach out to our customer support team at support@skydrop.com. We are grateful for your patience as we work through this transition. We will respond to you as quickly as possible.
Thanks,
The Skydrop Team
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: Do I need Skydrop Plus to manage my controller?
A: Yes and No. If you have a Skydrop Halo, you can adjust your controller directly on the controller with the jog-dial and screen. Skydrop Arc can also be managed locally through Direct Connect Mode and the Skydrop Mobile app. However, several advanced features are only available through Skydrop Web or Skydrop Mobile.
Q: Why is Skydrop now needing to charge a monthly fee?
A: As with all businesses, conditions, priorities, and market forces change. As Skydrop has grown, we have been faced with an increased expense in obtaining quality weather data. Our initial weather partner, WeatherUnderground, was acquired by IBM/Weather.com. The less expensive WeatherUnderground data feed was discontinued for a significantly more expensive Weather.com data feed. As a result, we switched to a different provider that was less expensive than Weather.com but more expensive than we can manage without the minimal subscription fee.
Q: What services will this new revenue go towards?
A: The new subscription revenue will primarily go towards maintaining the Skydrop Cloud and paying for weather data. However, it will also go towards supplementing development and engineering costs. It will not go towards sales, marketing, or management costs.
Q: When will the changes take effect?
A: We will start the rollout of the subscription requirements in the first week of June 2019.
Q: What if I want to return my controller rather than pay the subscription?
A: Please contact the distributor from whom you purchased your controller. Skydrop will not accept returns or issue refunds directly.
Q: I don’t use Skydrop Mobile and so can’t access the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. How can I subscribe?
A: Please contact our support team (844-SKYDROP). They can take your payment information over the phone and setup a recurring charge on your credit card.
