I can no longer recommend Roborock due to the map editor

I can no longer recommend Roborock due to the map editor

S5 Max. The next time somebody asks for a recommendation of a robotic vacuum I won't be recommending a Roborock, at least not without letting them know that setting it up and configuring rooms is going to be a nightmare.

I wanted to add a room that is normally off-limits to the vacuum to my house map today. I ended up having to search for the solution which was both not intuitive and unnecessarily complicated. The only way it appears to be possible is to wipe out any custom room splits and start over from scratch. This is in spite of the fact that the new room has clearly been detected and mapped as seen in the "before" screenshot. It's just the software is refusing to allow me to select the new gray area as a room to either combine with an existing one, or add a new room altogether. When a new room is "discovered" I should have the option to add it as a new room or combine it with an existing one. I should not be required to redo everything from scratch.

When I "re-split" the rooms, I have lost all the splits I had created, and along with them, the cleaning schedules I had set up for them. As can be seen in the "after" screenshot, 8 separate areas I had defined have been combined into a single area. Three of those are actually rooms with doors and everything. It arbitrarily decided that the hallway through a doorway would be recognized as a room separate from the open floorplan of the main section, but then decided that it needed to be split in 2 and one of those sections should be combined with a bathroom.

So now I get to manually re-divide things, a process that is complicated by the clunky UI:

  • it's possible to select multiple rooms before picking divide, but that's not an allowed operation, so I get a very low-contrast error message, and the same save/cancel control I would get if I was performing a valid division. If a division is currently invalid, it should not be possible for the user to select divide, and they certainly shouldn't be given the option to "save"
  • The cancel action target area is too small and too difficult to select
  • The divider line is placed according to, it appears, the largest vertical span of the room, regardless of what portion of the map is showing. It should be placed with both ends visible in the current zoom level
  • The endpoints of the divider are too difficult to select and results in panning of the map when you intended to move the divider line
  • It is necessary to perform a lot of zooming to place dividers due to the fact that when the end of the line is being moved your finger is blocking the view of where you are trying to place the divider.
  • The resplit action blocks parts of the map and is too easy to accidentally select. It should be moved to the bottom with the other actions, or, preferably, into a sub-menu
  • When I have reached the "room limit" I am still able to pick the divide action and am not informed I have reached the limit until after I've taken the time to position the line precisely and attempt to save. If the limit is reached, it should not be possible to select the divide action. The limit should also be displayed so that the user knows how many rooms they are allowed.
  • Messages are displayed in a light gray color that is very difficult to read on the default colors used for the rooms. Color should be high contrast with background.


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