Gocycle app v9.1 incomplete

[Paul Wrighton]

I'm hoping this will help other gocycle owners.

If you follow the instructions to "upgrade" to the v9.1 of the app you are going to find you have lost the dashboard and will not be putting your phone on the bars anytime soon.

Somehow there is absolutely no mention I can find of it anywhere on the web, the gocycle support is notably silent.

I wasted more than an hour trying to resolve something that's actually just broken. Thanks gocycle, you could have warned us!

 

[jamesporritt]

You get what you pay for.

 

[Paul Wrighton]

Sort of my point, given gocycle is pretty much the most expensive ebike out there! I'd hoped for better with an app update

 

[jamesporritt]

What functionality has changed?

 

[Paul Wrighton]

The major change is that the complete absence of any heads up display. It used to show your speed, gear, power level, trip distance etc etc. but now there is no such display, so all you get is the odometer, power mode, lights far as I recollect that's it.

My dealership say they released it unfinished.

But they could at least have told us the score.

Anyone with the old app,I'd advise you against upgrading!

 

[EvAndyB]

As others have said the new app is really bad... do not install it.

The latest firmware upgrade that came with it is also giving us (two GoCycle G4i+, one on Google Pixel 6 Pro, the other on iPhone 14 pro) a huge pile of trouble.
Since the firmware upgrade we cannot turn the lights on/off from the gocycle grip any-more, only from the app. Twistgrip now just works the front driving light. Other lights (headlight and rear light) default to what claims to be auto but they just seem to be ON all the time. You can turn them off in the app (if you can connect) but they do not remember so they go back to the old default (auto-always-on) the next time you power-on.
Most of the time the new app fails to connect. Sometimes it claim to connect but des not... and then all the phone controls just do nothing. Other time you find the connect button is just completely unresponsive and you have to force-close the app and power-cycle the gocycle and then try again. And if you leave the gocycle and return then the still-open app does not work any more and you have to force-close it and try again and then just sometimes it will connect.
All very frustrating, especially since the lighting control in the new firmware forces you to use the app.

Rapidly losing patience with this. The previous app was really quite bad before but the new v9 is making the whole gocycle experience bad enough that if I had just bought it I would return the whole package :-(

Missing features from v9: no dashboard, no trip data, no longer able to see power delivery graphs for standard modes. Oh, and I swear that power-assistance calibration is now completely messed up... I now find motor-assist kicking in when I would not expect it. Even if I set a custom mode to not assist until 300W of pedal power the motor continually cuts in and out on minimum assist all the time where it used to remain off. I used to be able to ride miles without motor and only have it come on for the steep hills but lately the only way I can get the motor to remain off in normal riding is "demand" (ie. twistgrip only) mode.

It's been many weeks now and all the app reviews are terrible but no fixes and complete silence from Gocycle.

 

[guerney]

This is horrendous, also dangerous. Will Gocycle pay damages if after it gets dark, you can't switch on the headlight and rear light because your phone has run out of battery, and you get crushed by a lorry?

If the app works better with new Gocycles, perhaps it's a hint you haven't spent through the nose enough?

Reminds me of when Kobo killed my previously excellent eReader with a firmware update, and when Sonos killed their old speakers via firmware, becase they wanted users to buy new speakers. My Xiaomi security camera wouldn't start working until a firmware update, after which it became a brick. I regard any ebike which relies on an app to function, with absolute mistrust.

Bluetooth connections with devices from phones can be flaky. It's the same story with bluetooth printers even the expensive ones. It's best to close the app (not just send to background or minimise), turn bluetooth off, turn the phone off, turn the bike/device off... then turn on the bike/device, turn on the phone, turn on bluetooth, then load the app and attempt to connect.

 

[EvAndyB]

I know what you mean... the way the modern world "works". I see it all over with other cheap devices.
But this is a current (1 year old) latest (and highest spec, £6000 G4i+ ) Gocycle.

The hardware engineering is impressive. They just have no clue how to do software/firmware... or actually much more likely they have no clue how to quality-control software being done by others.
It is so common that hardware companies can't do software and vice-versa.
They need to bring it in-house but presumably have no clue how.

It would not be so bad if it did not depend so much on the app. Up until latest version you could at least set one semi-permanent assistance level and then just ignore the app. Now you have to use it every time.

 

[Nealh]

One good reason not to buy any app applied EAPC , digital connections and updates are unreliable .

 

[guerney]

I prefer old phones. I hate the new ones. Newer phones disable "Unnecessary" network functions of apps to save battery life, enable a thinner profile, lower weight and production cost etc... therefore unless an app is kept on top at all times (depending on the phone's chipset, even that might not work to keep data connection alive - it's best to keep it plugged into a charger via USB too, and the screen switched on at all times), the app waits for network connection after having been sent behind another app such as email or Friendface or Snapfart, and it may not resume proper functioning when back on top, because it requires data communication with a remote server, not just communication with the device via bluetooth. I'd never buy an ebike which relies on an app in order to function. I won't buy a DJI Osmo 3/4 action camera for the same reason - unless DJI's action cameras are irresistibly compelling because of marvellously epic low light performance for night cycle riding, I'll stick with my GoPro Hero 7 Black, which works as an action camera without requiring online activation. Once they disable the remote activation server, DJI Osmo action cameras are trash. Same as happened with my Kobo eReader. Haven't stabbed through it's battery to give it a Viking funeral yet.

I know what you mean... the way the modern world "works". I see it all over with other cheap devices.
But this is a current (1 year old) latest (and highest spec, £6000 G4i+ ) Gocycle.

Is it an app for future GoCycles? Perhaps release of the new version of the app is on time, and the G5j++²² it's designed for, is running behind schedule? A year is a long time in marketing. Keep your wallet handy.