The ThinQ app enables a few other capabilities, though their value is probably limited to superfans.
For instance, you can opt to start your laundry remotely, a capability I found puzzling until another editor noted it would be helpful to start a load that would finish just before arriving home, so you don’t have wet clothes moldering all day (some editors are brighter than others). You can also use ThinQ Rewards, a program which purportedly rewards gift cards in exchange for your engagement, a curious arrangement for the act of doing one’s own laundry (aren’t clean clothes reward enough?).
More usefully, you can download presets or customized wash-cycle settings and access them by turning the settings dial on the machine to “Downloaded.” But you can only add one preset at a time, and since the machine’s display doesn’t have a label for it, you could easily forget what you’ve downloaded (heaven forfend if you accidentally run your unmentionables through a denim cycle).
It’s possible to link your washer or dryer with other LG devices in the app so they’re all in one interface, and then use preset or custom Smart Routines so the devices trigger automatically. (One included preset is Goodbye Dust, which tells LG air conditioners and air purifiers to turn on when air quality drops below a threshold.) But generally speaking, third-party apps like Alexa and Apple Home do the same thing and work better. LG would do well to stay in its lane and let the other companies handle the heavy smart-home lifting.
This article was edited by Ingrid Skjong and Catherine Kast.
