Philips Hue will soon force users to create an account • Hacker News Board

Re: Philips Hue will soon force users to create an account

#41

Post by mirekrusin » Thu, Sep 21, 2023, 9:13 AM UTC

jorvi wrote: post #22

zeisch wrote: post #10

Time and time again It takes just one MBA trying to boost numbers to turn a good product into a data collection nightmare. Honestly is there any IoT brand that we can trust long-term? Maybe IKEA stuff?

There is a somewhat strangely named German brand that sells private IoT door / security cams. Forgot the name, sadly. They’re quite expensive though. My guess is they might sell private lightbulbs. For home audio, Sonos is great. Their voice assistant is completely locally processed.

Are you joking about Sonos? They force you to have account with them to use speakers and you have to enable location sharing on your app to connect (!!). They know more about people than their parents do.

Re: Philips Hue will soon force users to create an account

#42

Post by thaumasiotes » Thu, Sep 21, 2023, 9:13 AM UTC

amelius wrote: post #33

We need a no-tether law. If you buy a product you should be able to use it even if you completely break all ties with the original vendor. Otherwise it's a service and not a product.

Aren't services exempt from sales tax? Passing that law might be a challenge.

Re: Philips Hue will soon force users to create an account

#43

Post by imp0cat » Thu, Sep 21, 2023, 9:13 AM UTC

zeisch wrote: post #10

Time and time again It takes just one MBA trying to boost numbers to turn a good product into a data collection nightmare. Honestly is there any IoT brand that we can trust long-term? Maybe IKEA stuff?

Unfortunately the IKEA bulbs and switches are of much lower quality than Philips. From my experience, they don't dim quite as smoothly. :(

Re: Philips Hue will soon force users to create an account

#44

Post by kosmotaur » Thu, Sep 21, 2023, 9:14 AM UTC

skunkworker wrote: post #6

This is a disappointing if not unexpected update. I currently have a hue bridge for some hue ambiance bulbs but also have control through HA. There have been some needed bulb updates (improving the stability of last color temp and state on power on) but I will soon fully transition over to HA with a zigbee adapter because of stuff like this.

what's HA?

Re: Philips Hue will soon force users to create an account

#45

Post by scopeh » Thu, Sep 21, 2023, 9:14 AM UTC

ffs, who is thinking of this shit. personally i don't own any and now i certainly won't. Smart homes are a great example of a good idea with a shitty implementation.

Re: Philips Hue will soon force users to create an account

#46

Post by amelius » Thu, Sep 21, 2023, 9:14 AM UTC

vidarh wrote: post #23

baal80spam wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh come on - don't you want for all your bulbs to be turned on already _before_ you get back home? It's a gamechanger!

What is a game changer is to be able to just turn off everything in the house when I leave, and know the iron will be off, along with all the lights. It's not critically important, but the many individually small conveniences add up.

Convenience will destroy the world.

Re: Philips Hue will soon force users to create an account

#47

Post by chuchana » Thu, Sep 21, 2023, 9:14 AM UTC

acadapter wrote: post #27

andersrs wrote: post #3

#internetofshit

Internet of Trash would be a better name (same IoT abbrev.)

How about the Internet of Turds? It keeps both the initials and the flavour.

Re: Philips Hue will soon force users to create an account

#48

Post by cassianoleal » Thu, Sep 21, 2023, 9:16 AM UTC

zeisch wrote: post #10

Time and time again It takes just one MBA trying to boost numbers to turn a good product into a data collection nightmare. Honestly is there any IoT brand that we can trust long-term? Maybe IKEA stuff?

Shelly [0] seems trustworthy enough. In any case, if they ever go full-on enshittified, as long as you don't update the firmware you should be able to keep using your stuff.

Anything you can flash Tasmota [1] on should be good to go as well. I believe that includes all or most Shelly devices as well.

IKEA so far seems like a decent bet as well.

[0] https://shellystore.co.uk/ [1] https://tasmota.github.io/docs/

Re: Philips Hue will soon force users to create an account

#49

Post by jusssi » Thu, Sep 21, 2023, 9:18 AM UTC

rpodraza wrote: post #32

Does anyone know if they can force users to do so in EU? It sounds like it's gonna make the product unusable if not registered, therefore revoking my previous rights to use a product without an account.

It seems to me that they're about to force the users to hand out personally identifiable information that is not strictly necessary for the product to work (as evidenced by the fact that it did work without for several years). So there should be an opt-out.

Re: Philips Hue will soon force users to create an account

#50

Post by MrDresden » Thu, Sep 21, 2023, 9:20 AM UTC

Since I don't see it mentioned here I would like to suggest z-wave (protocol) and the accompanying ecosystem as an alternative.

I have multiple lights, power plugs and sensors operating on z-wave being controlled by Home Assistant. None of these require me to log into a third party app or service.