No — every machine we review works without one. An app adds notifications, logs and remote control, and almost always requires a 2.4 GHz network and an account.
The mechanism is mechanical. The app is a layer, and it has costs.
What it adds
Drawer-full alerts, weight and usage logs, remote cycles, and schedules you can change from elsewhere. Genuinely useful, and none of it is why you bought the machine.
What it costs
An account, a network dependency, and a company that may stop supporting the product. Several PetSafe machines have no app at all, which is a feature in this light.
The 2.4 GHz problem
PETKIT, Merax, Redkey and Thereye all specify 2.4 GHz. Modern routers present one combined network and pairing fails until you separate the bands — the most common setup problem in this category, and not the machine’s fault.
Data
A log of when your cat used a box is data about your household. Worth deciding on deliberately rather than by default.
This does not replace your device’s manual. Blade temperatures, locking mechanisms and cleaning procedures differ from model to model, and the manufacturer’s instructions take precedence over anything written here. Unplug a device before dismantling it, check a hot blade or an air nozzle against your own hand before it goes anywhere near an animal, and keep a mechanism that closes or rotates under supervision until you know how it behaves.
Last reviewed 2026-08-17