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Philips Hue will soon force users to create an account

defcon.social

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

#161

Post by falsenapkin »

tivert wrote: post #122

> Philips Hue will soon force users to create a Hue account and sign in to continue to use the app and control the smart lights. The best security model to protect smart devices is to keep them disconnected from the internet, or at least keep this option available. Does this just apply to the phone app, or to the base station as well? IIRC, the base station has a REST API and there are 3rd party apps that can control…

That API is junk and I think requires auth now or something. I was messing with it some months ago and was surprised after a month the system changed.

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

#162

Post by beefman »

The door refused to open. It said, "Five cents, please."

He searched his pockets. No more coins; nothing. "I'll pay you tomorrow," he told the door. Again he tried the knob. Again it remained locked tight. "What I pay you," he informed it, "is in the nature of a gratuity; I don't have to pay you."

"I think otherwise," the door said. "Look in the purchase contract you signed when you bought this conapt." In his desk drawer he found the contract; since signing it he had found it necessary to refer to the document many times. Sure enough; payment to his door for opening and shutting constituted a mandatory fee. Not a tip.

"You discover I'm right," the door said. It sounded smug. From the drawer beside the sink Joe Chip got a stainless steel knife; with it he began systematically to unscrew the bolt assembly of his apt's money-gulping door.

"I'll sue you," the door said as the first screw fell out.

Joe Chip said, "I've never been sued by a door. But I guess I can live through it.

– Philip K. Dick, Ubik (1969)

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7444685-the-door-refused-to...

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

#164

Post by andyjohnson0 »

FredPret wrote: post #148

And next you'll have a subscription to indoor lighting. What can be turned into a subscription next! I can't wait to find out. Maybe I'll become a survivalist who builds his own lightbulbs, computers, etc. Once I figure the off-grid lifestyle out, maybe I can launch a paid newsletter about it...

You have already turned your lights on 80 times in the last 30 day period. To continue turning on your lights, please visit our website to upgrade to one of our premium packages with enhanced light-cycle options. In the meantime, your home lighting will stay in enhanced darkness mode for your comfourt and convenience. Thank you, and have a nice day.

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

#165

Post by hrpnk »

falsenapkin wrote: post #161
tivert wrote: post #122

> Philips Hue will soon force users to create a Hue account and sign in to continue to use the app and control the smart lights. The best security model to protect smart devices is to keep them disconnected from the internet, or at least keep this option available. Does this just apply to the phone app, or to the base station as well? IIRC, the base station has a REST API and there are 3rd party apps that can control…

That API is junk and I think requires auth now or something. I was messing with it some months ago and was surprised after a month the system changed.

https://developers.meethue.com/develop/get-started-2/ explains how to get the key to use the API. You just need to press the button on the bridge. Sth. broke for me so I wrote a loop and pressed the button frantically until one of the API calls worked:

  for i in `seq 1 10`; do http -v 192.168.xxx.xxx/api devicetype="my_hue_app#script"; sleep 1; done

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

#166

Post by SparkyMcUnicorn »

anabab wrote: post #147
grumblez wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fortunately all of their lights work over a standard Zigbee connection. No need for a Hue Hub or App at all. I was already transitioning my lights from using the Hue Hub/App to directly connecting via Zigbee/HomeAssistant before this was announced.

can you still set up direct connection between a switch and a light which would work even if the hub is down?

All zigbee devices require a coordinator. It can be a raspberry pi or any other hardware/software with the radio, but it does have to be powered up.

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

#167

Post by _ea1k »

neilv wrote: post #113

"What's the worst that could happen, if we let MBA-types take over engineering?" "Even your home's light bulbs will require an Internet-connected computer account that spies on you."

Don't forget highly locked down garage doors that are readily accessible by major merchants. And also pair easily with similarly locked down in garage cameras.

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

#168

Post by jm4 »

neilv wrote: post #113

"What's the worst that could happen, if we let MBA-types take over engineering?" "Even your home's light bulbs will require an Internet-connected computer account that spies on you."

I don't recall any of this short-sighted, anti-consumer nonsense when I earned my MBA. I do remember a focus on ethics and doing right by the consumer. There was a lot of corporate social responsibility stuff that I thought was going to be a drag and then it ended up being pretty informative. I suspect MBA-types often get a bad rap because pretty much everyone has had a shitty boss before and that person may have had an MBA. Maybe my program was an outlier, but there was nothing inherent to the curriculum that would encourage this kind of behavior. In other words, I don't think it's the MBA that makes them bad. They were already bad and then went and got an education.

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

#169

Post by j45 »

The cloud is always someone else's computer.

The cloud, and the internet always costs someone, somewhere, money that they ultimately wont' want to keep paying for free.

Since this means you will have to pay, it doesn't hurt to look at self hosting if you make it as far as using smart home tech that has a temporarily free cloud.

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

#170

Post by hellotheretoday »

altec3 wrote: post #157
bigstrat2003 wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't used anything but Hue, but I've been looking to get off them because they're so unreliable. Like clockwork, one or two bulbs go bad every year and will still be dimly lit even when "off", or worse still they will start flickering constantly when "off". It's kind of depressing if something with such poor quality is the most reliable option out there. :(

Caseta stuff isn't perfect for every use case, but I have had absolutely 0 problems with mine.

Seconded, my caseta stuff is the most reliable of all the smart home stuff I’ve used. It consistently just works 100% of the time after years
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