Pretty solid feeling mod, comfortable to hold, various modes and options which all work fairly well. The app is somewhat innovative but since there's hardly any direction or help from Vandy, thought maybe I'd throw some tips here in case it helps people struggling with it.
First off, don't forget that Vandy ships the swell with most features turned off. When you turn the mod on, press and hold the up/down buttons at the same time until it brings up the menu. Select the gear icon and click the fire button. From here you can scroll through and select the various modes, wattage, voltage, bypass, temp control, app (the ability to connect to blutooth). Press the fire button once to activate the modes either turning them on/off. Then scroll down to the exit icon and back out of the menu. Now when you press the fire button 3x you can scroll through the various modes you've enabled.
As far as iphone, I don't have one so if there's other methods that work for that maybe iphone users can chime in. I only have an android. Going through the app setup can be a pain in the ass. When you download and install the vandyvape app and go to register, you'll need to put your email address, pick a password and follow the steps. It asks for a 'code' during the registration, that code is the 8-digit S/N printed under the barcode on the back of the product box (so hopefully you didn't toss it out). Not sure if it's listed elsewhere. Nowhere does Vandy say what 'code' exactly you're supposed to enter or where to find it. The process may or may not work as it should, sometimes it just doesn't work and you have to go back through the process. I went through it around 4-5x before it actually worked.
Now I had the software installed, linked up to the mod and all was working well. I checked all the features, remote settings worked, find my mod worked etc. Worked fine, for awhile. Then I noticed it would no longer work. Every page was a blank screen with a blue warning banner and chinese scribble (I assume was an error). The mod refused to pair with the phone, the phone saw it under blutooth devices. I reset the mod to factory defaults, I went into the mod and manually turned on the app function. Pairing failed. The fix ended up being to delete the VandyVape app from the phone, go back to the PlayStore and download it again (downloading the latest version). The mod's blutooth can be activated from within the app itself.
Here brings up another hurdle. When I downloaded the app all over again I knew my email but had forgotten my password. Simple enough, click 'forgot password' and it takes you to a screen within the app to enter your email you registered with. Then there's a data field box and the word 'code' (again with the code bullshit). It says send code, so you click it. Nothing appears to happen, but it still works. Check your email or if you're quick with a short delay a small box pops up for just a second or two before fading away that shows a 4 digit alphanumeric code. That's the code you need to enter into the code field and click the button to complete the action. Don't fool around though, you only have 15min before the code is no longer valid. So have your email open to check for the message they send you. 15min sounds like a lot but not if the app screws up and you have to re-enter your email. Also, don't keep clicking 'send' for the code, they mean 'send it to me' not 'send it to Vandy for verification'. Every time you click it a new email is sent and a new 4 digit code invalidating the last one you had.
I went ahead and updated my firmware from 2.0.2 to 2.0.5 while I was at it. Again the app hung after it said it was downloading the update it stuck on 'preparing' with a busy spinning icon that never went further. The mod screen said 'updating' and the mod wouldn't function. So to get past it, I pressed the android back button and backed out of the app altogether, clicked on it and reopened the app. Had to do this several times before it would continue on and started displaying the update status in %.
Luckily I had no issues once I got that far, some people have had it fail and the mod gets stuck on the update screen leaving it non functional. Some have said that removing the battery, then holding the up and fire button down at the same time while reinserting the battery can force a reset and that it worked for them. People have also had the mod get stuck midway while trying to update the UI and said the only way they got around it was to reinstall the firmware update for the mod again.
Far as I'm aware, there's no pc or mac download for firmware to do any sort of update from a laptop or pc. I believe the only option is through the app, which proves itself to be quirky and not very stable. There's also no walkthru or mention of what data to enter in what field, where, in any part of the owners manual or on the website. The app itself isn't very intuitive when it comes to informing you what info it wants or what steps to take next. When functioning the app works really well but the whole thing seems to be pretty messy. A big oversight from Vandy I think, not having it more clearly labeled in the app or lacking any sort of advice or step by step on their site for users to follow so they're not left trying to Columbo their way through. Hopefully the issues I've encountered and what ended up working for me to get the app functional and get updates successfully loaded will help others.
First off, don't forget that Vandy ships the swell with most features turned off. When you turn the mod on, press and hold the up/down buttons at the same time until it brings up the menu. Select the gear icon and click the fire button. From here you can scroll through and select the various modes, wattage, voltage, bypass, temp control, app (the ability to connect to blutooth). Press the fire button once to activate the modes either turning them on/off. Then scroll down to the exit icon and back out of the menu. Now when you press the fire button 3x you can scroll through the various modes you've enabled.
As far as iphone, I don't have one so if there's other methods that work for that maybe iphone users can chime in. I only have an android. Going through the app setup can be a pain in the ass. When you download and install the vandyvape app and go to register, you'll need to put your email address, pick a password and follow the steps. It asks for a 'code' during the registration, that code is the 8-digit S/N printed under the barcode on the back of the product box (so hopefully you didn't toss it out). Not sure if it's listed elsewhere. Nowhere does Vandy say what 'code' exactly you're supposed to enter or where to find it. The process may or may not work as it should, sometimes it just doesn't work and you have to go back through the process. I went through it around 4-5x before it actually worked.
Now I had the software installed, linked up to the mod and all was working well. I checked all the features, remote settings worked, find my mod worked etc. Worked fine, for awhile. Then I noticed it would no longer work. Every page was a blank screen with a blue warning banner and chinese scribble (I assume was an error). The mod refused to pair with the phone, the phone saw it under blutooth devices. I reset the mod to factory defaults, I went into the mod and manually turned on the app function. Pairing failed. The fix ended up being to delete the VandyVape app from the phone, go back to the PlayStore and download it again (downloading the latest version). The mod's blutooth can be activated from within the app itself.
Here brings up another hurdle. When I downloaded the app all over again I knew my email but had forgotten my password. Simple enough, click 'forgot password' and it takes you to a screen within the app to enter your email you registered with. Then there's a data field box and the word 'code' (again with the code bullshit). It says send code, so you click it. Nothing appears to happen, but it still works. Check your email or if you're quick with a short delay a small box pops up for just a second or two before fading away that shows a 4 digit alphanumeric code. That's the code you need to enter into the code field and click the button to complete the action. Don't fool around though, you only have 15min before the code is no longer valid. So have your email open to check for the message they send you. 15min sounds like a lot but not if the app screws up and you have to re-enter your email. Also, don't keep clicking 'send' for the code, they mean 'send it to me' not 'send it to Vandy for verification'. Every time you click it a new email is sent and a new 4 digit code invalidating the last one you had.
I went ahead and updated my firmware from 2.0.2 to 2.0.5 while I was at it. Again the app hung after it said it was downloading the update it stuck on 'preparing' with a busy spinning icon that never went further. The mod screen said 'updating' and the mod wouldn't function. So to get past it, I pressed the android back button and backed out of the app altogether, clicked on it and reopened the app. Had to do this several times before it would continue on and started displaying the update status in %.
Luckily I had no issues once I got that far, some people have had it fail and the mod gets stuck on the update screen leaving it non functional. Some have said that removing the battery, then holding the up and fire button down at the same time while reinserting the battery can force a reset and that it worked for them. People have also had the mod get stuck midway while trying to update the UI and said the only way they got around it was to reinstall the firmware update for the mod again.
Far as I'm aware, there's no pc or mac download for firmware to do any sort of update from a laptop or pc. I believe the only option is through the app, which proves itself to be quirky and not very stable. There's also no walkthru or mention of what data to enter in what field, where, in any part of the owners manual or on the website. The app itself isn't very intuitive when it comes to informing you what info it wants or what steps to take next. When functioning the app works really well but the whole thing seems to be pretty messy. A big oversight from Vandy I think, not having it more clearly labeled in the app or lacking any sort of advice or step by step on their site for users to follow so they're not left trying to Columbo their way through. Hopefully the issues I've encountered and what ended up working for me to get the app functional and get updates successfully loaded will help others.
