Is Samsung's iOS App for Controling Samsung Washing Machines Accessible?

By david s, 15 January, 2017

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

Hello,

Our washing machine finally gave out after 15 years and now we’re shopping for a new one. Went to Lowes and they had quite a few to choose from. Top loaders and front loaders. Sadly, no more knobs or mechanical buttons you can use to start a cycle let alone select hot, cold, short or long cycle.

So it came down to Maytag, which makes distinct audio sounds for each cycle, temp, etc. Or the second option, a Samsung that has an IOS app available. You would need to purchase a wifi adapter and the Samsung washer will become part of Samsung Smart home.

So my question is, does anyone have a Samsung Washing Machine that they use with the IOS app? Is it accessable? Does it let you do all the things you would normally do when washing your clothes? I downloaded the app but there is no demo mode.

Thanks for any input or suggestions.

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Comments

By Shawn on Thursday, February 9, 2017 - 00:12

I have been using the smart home app for a few weeks now, you can change to about 5 or so of the cycles, but after that voiceover doesn't select other cycles lower in the list. So its not perfect but is useable.

By david s on Thursday, February 9, 2017 - 00:12

Hello,

Thanks for the reply. That’s kind of disappointing to hear. I thought Samsung, being as big and popular as they are, would make accessability a priority.

It’s interesting because on their website, it states they are big on accessability but they don’t mention anything about blind users.

Thanks again!

By Ekaj on Thursday, February 9, 2017 - 00:12

I'm not an iOS user, but I'm wondering if perhaps Samsung has a Mac app as well? If so how is the accessibility? Some of my neighbors are wondering the same thing. Sadly we recently had to bid our washer and dryer of about 11 years a fond farewell, and the machines that were purchased for my building are both Samsung. Long story short, they are not terribly accessible. They do play tones to indicate the various settings, but the tones are of the same pitch etc. Fortunately the buttons are all raised though, and there are no touch screens to speak of on these machines. I took a Braille label maker down and with help from 2 sighted tutors, labeled some things on the machines but still one of them or one of my neighbors has to help start the clothes once I put them all in the washer. I recently took a look at http://www.afb.org/tech , and while the news regarding access to various home appliances is good it could definitely be better. I suppose the reason Samsung machines were chosen as opposed to some other manufacturer's machines for my building, was that this company had a particularly good deal or something. Anyway, enough of my rambling. I'm just wondering if anybody knows of a Mac app for Samsung.

By Joe on Thursday, February 9, 2017 - 00:12

I'm not sure about the app but maybe you could write them and get some assistance? I would hope it would work especially if it's one of the ones that the lid is blowing off of it and causing issues.

By Simone Dal Maso on Thursday, February 9, 2017 - 00:12

I have a Samsung washer and the app is called smarthome.
I can say that accessibility is going down, every update is more difficult to use.
I'm really angry about this, because I bought a washer that costs about... 800€, and now I can't use it because Samsung decided to change buttons and controls.
I wrote about 2 months ago, the replied to me:
"ok,. we will improve accessibility".
But what happened? Accessibility is terrible now.

There is also a dedicated app for washer on the appstore, but it is for old models, now they decide to implement all in smarthome.

By david s on Thursday, February 9, 2017 - 00:12

Hello,

Thanks for the posts.

I don’t think a Mac app is available. When I looked at the requirements, it said IOS or Android. Perhaps a 3rd party makes one but I am not aware of any. A web portal would have been a nice back up for those without an IOS or Andy.

So far, there are three Samsung users in here. Perhaps the three of you can write to Samsung’s corporate office and ask that accessability be improved on the next IOS release.

The lady at Lowe’s plugged in the washers so I could try them out. She was fascinated as she never had a blind customer before and wanted to know if they were accessable as well. With the Samsung, it does beep but all the tones sound alike no matter what you select as someone posted above. I suppose you can put a Braille dot next to normal and cold. The On and start buttons are still mechanical so no dots required there. The IOS app, from what I’ve read here and elsewhere, is not that VO friendly. The Maytag on the other hand, does not have an app. It does however, have different tones for the different things you can select. For other things like steam before wash or linen and bedding optios, I couldn’t tell the difference or perhaps I’m not familiar enough with it yet.

In the end, we got the Maytag. While I am disappointed there is no IOS app, the upside is I know it’s accessable in its own way and I don’t have to worry if the next app update will be accessable or not.

I am considering purchasing the Samsung wifi washer and dryer. I found this post and I would like to know if anyone else has had experiences with the accessibility of the app lately. it is hard to find washer and dryer sets that are accessible. Has the app improved since 2017?

I am considering purchasing the Samsung wifi washer and dryer. I found this post and I would like to know if anyone else has had experiences with the accessibility of the app lately. it is hard to find washer and dryer sets that are accessible. Has the app improved since 2017?

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I am considering purchasing the Samsung wifi washer and dryer. I found this post and I would like to know if anyone else has had experiences with the accessibility of the app lately. it is hard to find washer and dryer sets that are accessible. Has the app improved since 2017?

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I'm impressed that you found a way to write to Samsung support. I've been searching around for a while now to figure out how to get feedback to their support team. If you could share that contact I would appreciate it.

I moved into a home last year that has a 2019 Samsung oven and microwave combination. I was hopeful that I could use the microwave with the iOS Smart Home app.

As it turns out, the oven is *partially* useable with the app. One problem is that the temperature can only be imcremented by one degree at a time by double tapping a button. Not fun mmoving the temperature from 300 to, say, 375!

As for the microwave, if a sighted person turns on the microwave I get a notification that my food will be done soon and another when the microwave is done. Unfortunately there are absolutely no controls for the microwave in the app. Thus I can't even make a cup of tea! Incredible for a multi-thousand dollar device.

Anyway, if you can send the tech support contact info I (and hopefully others) can give them some constructive feedback.

thanks.

--Pete

By Simone Dal Maso on Friday, July 9, 2021 - 00:12

In reply to by peter

Hello,
I searched on my past sent mail and I find an email address:

daapp at samsung.com
Replace the at word with the @ symbol.

I hope this email is still valid.

By Roxann Pollard on Friday, July 9, 2021 - 00:12

Hello Everyone. About a year ago, I also had to replace my washer and dryer. When looking at the Sangsung line up, I seen they had two versions, those that use an iOS app and those that do not. Since I couldn't demo the app in the store, I chose to go with the Sangsung washer and dryer that doesn't use an app at all. However, I couldn't be more please with my purchase. I do not remember what the WiFi panel version looked like, but on mine, there is a central flat panel, where everything is displayed. Then along the left-hand and righthand sides of the panel,. there are four rectangular buttons, which are divided with a horizontal groove. Along the bottom of the panel there are three additional buttons, which are divided by a vertical, raised dashThese buttons do not physically move, but beep when touched. . There is one large knob, which beeps when turned. There is no arrow, dot, bump or other demarcation symbol on the knob or the dial around it. There is a power and start button to the right that are more treditional in nature. The washer and dryer button layouts are identical.

To navigate each button, without activating it until you have located the button of choice, simply trail your finger along the outside edge of the buttons. You can feel the changes in the buttons but not activate it, until you have located the option you need.

You can create a My Cycle for each unit. For the washer, I created a cycle for heavy bedding. For the dryer, I created a long dry time, hot temperature cycle.

All I did was use a friend and created a cheat sheet. I just took some notes for what the buttons are and I used a clockface description for the knob, with the default being at 12:00. Then one click to the right is 1:00, etc.

It should be noted that, if you lose power, you do not lose your preset My Cycle settings. Also, if you don't know what choices you have made because you bumped a button accidentally, simply power down the system and start fresh.

If you would like a copy of my buttons list, I would be glad to share it. Most probably the labels might be slightly different than mine because of a newer model, but some slight adjustments in the notes should work for your model.

Despite everything going app controlled, with just a little assistance from a friend and I'm using a completely touch screen unit as if it had all our beloved knobs and buttons.

Let me know if I can help.

By DPinWI on Friday, July 9, 2021 - 00:12

We recently got a Maytag washer that has no touch screen. It has knobs for the water temperature, and wash options. I don't recall the model, but it was billed as "commercial grade." It was about 1000 US Dollars, so it was not cheap, but I like knowing I can use it without worrying about app accessibility.

By Roxann Pollard on Friday, July 9, 2021 - 00:12

Hello Brian. I purchased this front loader set in 2018. I'm sure the model has been updated; however, if you present these numbers to your rep, they should be able to find the updated version. I thought it was only a year ago but my checkbook showed differently. Didn't realize how long it's been. LOL

Samsung Washer Model Number: WF42H5000AW
Dryer Model Number: DV42H5000EW