Connecting your device
One app for your feeders and your smart fountains. What to install, how to pair, what the lights mean, and what to do when it will not connect.
Which devices use the app?
Not everything we sell is a smart device, and that is deliberate. If you do not want an app, there is a model for you.
| Device | App | What the app gives you |
|---|---|---|
| ChromeFeeder | Tuya Smart | Feeding schedule, portion sizes, manual feed, low-food alerts |
| FeedMate Pro | Tuya Smart | Everything above, plus the 1080p camera with night vision and voice recording |
| Titan feeder | Tuya Smart | Everything above, on the 15 L hopper |
| HydroBuddy | Tuya Smart | Water level, UV cycle schedule, drinking habits, low-water alerts |
| AquaPaw | Tuya Smart | Battery level, water level, motion sensor settings, notifications |
| FlowMate Pro | No app | Plug it in and it runs. The water window turns red when it needs a refill. |
| FurVac | No app | It is a vacuum. There is nothing to connect. |
Before you start pairing
Most failed pairings are decided before you press a single button in the app. Run through this first and the rest usually takes two minutes.
On your phone
- Install Tuya Smart from the App Store or Google Play.
- Create an account and pick the correct country. This is hard to change afterwards.
- Allow the permissions the app asks for. Without location and local network access it cannot find the device.
- Turn Bluetooth on as well as Wi-Fi.
- Stay within a metre of the device while pairing.
- Have your Wi-Fi password to hand. It is case-sensitive — type it, do not guess it.
On your router
- Use WPA2 or WPA3 security. Devices will not join a WEP network.
- Turn off MAC address filtering and client isolation (sometimes called AP isolation) while you pair.
- Connect to your main router, not to a Wi-Fi repeater or extender. Repeaters are the single most common cause of a pairing that gets to 90% and stops.
- Both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz work, so you do not need to split your network.
Your device connects using the older Wi-Fi standards, which every modern router still supports alongside the newer ones. You do not need to change anything — unless your router has been set to a newer-standards-only mode, which is rare.
Pairing an automatic feeder
Power it on and wait a minute
Plug in the USB-C cable and give it about sixty seconds to boot. The Wi-Fi light goes solid blue while it starts up.
Check the light is flashing red
Roughly twice every five seconds. That means the feeder is waiting to be set up. If it is not flashing red, hold the reset button until it is.
Add it in the app
Open Tuya Smart, tap Add Device or the +. Your phone should find the feeder over Bluetooth within a few seconds. If it does not appear by itself, choose Add Manually and pick the pet feeder category.
Enter your Wi-Fi password
Your network name fills in automatically. Type the password carefully and tap next. The light flashes green while it connects, then goes solid green.
Set your schedule
Then put the app away. The schedule is stored inside the feeder, so it keeps running with or without Wi-Fi, and with or without your phone.
More about portions, kibble size and what happens in a power cut is in the feeder guide.
Pairing a HydroBuddy or an AquaPaw
The FlowMate Pro does not pair
It has no app and no Wi-Fi. If you are trying to add a FlowMate Pro to Tuya Smart, that is why it will not appear. Plug it in and it runs.
Set the fountain up first
Rinse the tank, fit the filter, fill it and let the pump run. Pair it once it is working, not while it is still in pieces.
Keep your phone right next to it
This is the step people skip and then blame the fountain. Within a metre, Bluetooth on.
Add Device in Tuya Smart
The fountain appears in the list. Confirm, then enter your Wi-Fi password.
If it fails, reset and start clean
Do not retry a half-finished attempt — it usually fails the same way. Reset the fountain first, then begin again.
Filters, cleaning and the pump are covered in the fountain guide.
What the Wi-Fi light means
The light on your feeder tells you exactly where it is in the process. It is the fastest way to work out what is going wrong.
| Light | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Solid blue | Booting up | Wait about a minute. |
| Flashing red | Waiting to be set up | This is the moment to pair it in the app. |
| Solid red | It has a network saved and is trying to reach it — and failing | Wrong password or the network changed. Remove it from the app and pair again. |
| Flashing green | Connecting right now | Nothing. Give it a moment. |
| Solid green | Connected | Done. You can switch this light off in the app settings if it bothers you at night. |
| No light at all | Running on batteries only | Normal. The indicators switch off on battery power to save it. Plug it in to see them again. |
The four things that actually go wrong
You are on a repeater
Wi-Fi extenders and mesh nodes often refuse the pairing handshake. Move next to your main router, pair there, and then put the device back where it belongs.
The password has a typo
Case-sensitive, and a capital I next to a lowercase l is a genuinely hard thing to see. Type it into a notes app first to check it, then copy it across.
The light was not flashing red
If the device already has a network saved, the app never sees it. Reset it until the light flashes red, then pair.
Permissions were declined
Without location and local network permission, Tuya Smart cannot discover anything. Check them in your phone settings and try again.
Still stuck after all four?
Message us with a photo of the light and the name of your router, and we will walk you through it while you have the device in front of you. It is usually done in one conversation.
Questions about the app
Which app do I need?
Tuya Smart, free on iOS and Android. One app for all three feeders, the HydroBuddy and the AquaPaw. The FlowMate Pro and the FurVac have no app at all.
If you have an older manual that mentions a different app name, ignore it — Tuya Smart is the one we support.
Does it work on my Wi-Fi?
Yes, on both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. You do not need to split your network or create a separate 2.4 GHz band, which is a common headache with other smart devices.
Do I need Bluetooth on?
Yes, during pairing. That is how your phone finds the device in the first place. Once it is connected to your Wi-Fi you can turn Bluetooth off again.
My feeder will not appear in the app
Check the Wi-Fi light first. It has to be flashing red — that means the device is waiting to be set up. If it is solid red or solid green, it thinks it is already configured. Reset it and start over.
Pairing gets to 90% and then fails
Almost always the Wi-Fi password, which is case-sensitive, or a router setting. Work through the router checklist above before trying again. And start a fresh attempt rather than retrying a half-finished one.
The device says offline in the app
The feeder keeps feeding regardless — the schedule lives inside it. To get the connection back, check that your router is up, then unplug the device for ten seconds. If it stays offline after a reboot, remove it from the app and pair it again.
Can my partner control the feeder too?
Yes. Share the device from your account instead of sharing your password. Both of you keep your own login, and you can revoke access later.
I changed my Wi-Fi or my router
The device stores the old network, so it will go offline. Remove it from the app and pair it again with the new network. Your feeding schedule is stored in the device itself, so it survives.
Do I need an account?
Yes, and pick the right country when you create it. An account registered in the wrong region cannot always see devices paired in another one, and that is an awkward thing to discover later.
Talk to us
Pairing trouble? Send a photo of the Wi-Fi light and tell us which router you have. That is usually enough for us to spot it.
