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Philips Hue will soon force users to create an account

defcon.social

241–250 of 338 posts

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

#241

Mitigation: If using Zigbee bulbs, 1. get rid of the Philips app (not the bulbs). 2. Replace the Philips Hue bridge (hub) with a RasPi or NUC computer. 3. Connect a Zigbee/Z-Wave combo USB radio dongle. 4. Load Home Assistant OS. This solution not only replaces the Philips locked system, but it can replace (or take over) Amazon, Google, Apple, Ikea and more, simultaneously . About 2551 more. Home Assistant is not per…

> 3. Connect a Zigbee/Z-Wave combo USB radio dongle.

Can you recommend a dongle?

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

#242
post #210

Most (almost all?) Philips Hue devices are standard Zigbee devices. Chuck out your Philips gateway and replace it with a Raspberry Pi, Home Assistant and a Zigbee stick. Yeah, it's a bit more work, but if you're reading Hacker News you probably already know how to do this anyways, and honestly, Home Assistant is pretty damn good at staying hands-off. (I only update it every few months, it's on a battery backup in my…

Just using zigbee2mqtt is also an option, as a more lightweight alternative to Home Assistant (for zigbee devices only).

It may require a bit more tinkering though, you either need to use it via its web dashboard, or write a simple program in anything that has a mqtt client library (which is basically everything), if you want to link it with things like zigbee remotes or some external triggers, etc.

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

#244

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.

All except their new wifi connected ones... called Wiz.. watch out for those, much more affordable but really crappy app/setup situation.

Also the wiz bulbs have one feature that most others don't have: they get their last state back after a power outage. If there's one thing you don't want, it's a full bright room after a brownout in the middle of the night!

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

#245
I was late to Hue.. I have 4 bulbs in my house I bought within the last year.

I never even knew about their app, I've been using Wiz instead. My Phillips lights came with instructions to use Wiz and I didn't even know there was an official Hue app until I saw this today.

But I have a Wiz account..

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

#246
post #237

The older I get the more I de-value "smart" things. I love dumb things. Lightbulb must be dumb. Incandescent lightbulbs were a direct evolution of candles and gas lamps leveraging on simple physical laws and principles. They were not very effective turning most of the energy into heat and LED light bulbs must have been great. But they bring electronics and multiply complexity. I already cannot just simply get a light…

I tend to agree but there are use cases where the smart bulbs have been great for us.

1. Next to our bed we have reading lamp sconces. The sconces we picked out do not have light switches (oops). It turned out to be a blessing in disguise as now the reading lamps automatically switch on in the evening before we come upstairs to bed, then turn off as part of the “good night” scene (which also alarms the security system, etc). If the alarm goes off, the lights automatically switch on to max.

2. Our front porch and rear lights automatically turn on and off with the sunset/sunrise. They also turn onto a flashing red/blue if the alarm is triggered (kind of corny but hey anything to scare off would be intruders)

3. Our kids have smart bulbs in their room lamps. We are able to switch them to a low red colored light as a night light automatically when it’s their bedtime.

Most of my lights are “dumb”. The few use cases for smart bulbs are nice though. I use the Nanoleaf essentials through Apple HomeKit so I don’t feel like I’m exposing my personal details to some third party.

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

#247
post #147

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?

Yes! This is called binding in zigbee parlance. I have a couple of ikea bulbs and switches and, if memory serves me, you can bind up to 10 bulbs to a single switch.

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

#248

Mitigation: If using Zigbee bulbs, 1. get rid of the Philips app (not the bulbs). 2. Replace the Philips Hue bridge (hub) with a RasPi or NUC computer. 3. Connect a Zigbee/Z-Wave combo USB radio dongle. 4. Load Home Assistant OS. This solution not only replaces the Philips locked system, but it can replace (or take over) Amazon, Google, Apple, Ikea and more, simultaneously . About 2551 more. Home Assistant is not per…

> 3. Connect a Zigbee/Z-Wave combo USB radio dongle. Can you recommend a dongle?

Yes.

I have a Nortek HUSBZB-1 model; got at the end of 2021. Never had to do anything to it. About 44USD now.

I chose it through reading community posts and such. One specific recommendation I took to heart was to put it on a USB port extending cable, so it is away from the electronics.

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

#249
post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All except their new wifi connected ones... called Wiz.. watch out for those, much more affordable but really crappy app/setup situation.

Also the wiz bulbs have one feature that most others don't have: they get their last state back after a power outage. If there's one thing you don't want, it's a full bright room after a brownout in the middle of the night!

All Hue lights have this option. You can select different power-on behaviours. "Power loss recovery" is the setting you are describing. It stays off if it was off, and turns back on if it was on.

The default is "Warm white, full brightness", probably mostly to avoid confused people sending back bulbs because they flipped the switch ON and the bulb remained dark. Since traditionally that meant a failed bulb.

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

#250

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...

>What can be turned into a subscription next! I can't wait to find out.

On a whim, I googled and found this "Smart" toilet[1]

[1] https://www.kohler.com/en/products/toilets/shop-toilets/numi...

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