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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

#301

Post by lotsofpulp »

moepstar wrote: post #194
lotsofpulp wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good to know! I have been using Logitech circle view with HomeKit secure video with no problems other than needing to make sure wifi strength is plentiful. Ideally, there would be a wired HomeKit secure video option, but I have yet to see it.

Depends on how DIY you want to go - i got a Dahua VTO-something doorbell that is powered by PoE that in turn is bridged into HomeKit/HKSV via Scrypted - works pretty darn well :) Scrypted supports quite a few cameras, doorbells etc...

Thanks, I did not know about Scrypted!

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

#303

Post by wolrah »

WaitWaitWha wrote: post #216

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…

This is 100% the correct answer. If you ever see a home automation or related device that you find interesting your immediate next step should be to enter "Home Assistant " in to your favorite search engine and see what's up.

If the device can not be connected to Home Assistant, or if doing so requires connecting Home Assistant to the vendor's cloud rather than directly connecting to the local device, you should look elsewhere.

Sometimes, especially if the device is based on one of the common ESP chips, there may be options for alternative firmware which solves this problem but whether the alternative firmware supports the features you want or can be easily installed with the hardware and skills you possess will vary situationally.

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I'm not an Apple user for the most part, but AFAIK HomeKit requires that a device be locally controllable so that's a good starting point when looking at a lot of competing products. If it supports HomeKit there's a decent chance HA will be able to interface with it directly.

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

#304

Post by ta8645 »

regularjack wrote: post #297
ta8645 wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How is this even legal is beyond me. It's the same argument as people who say Google should be allowed to censor whoever they want. "They're a private company, they can do whatever they want. Nobody is forcing you to use their services." Clearly, in many areas of life, politics and the legal system needs to be realigned with the modern technological landscape. But so far, it seems most such efforts are pushing thin…

It's not comparable because you paid for bulbs, swithches, bridges etc. You don't pay for Google, at least not in the example you gave.

It's the same argument. Nobody forced you to pay for the bulbs, switches, bridges etc.

For the record, I don't agree with it -- just saying.

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

#305

Post by karaterobot »

wpm wrote: post #284
karaterobot wrote: post #131

I'm surprised they didn't already require this, but I think it's probably safe to say it was a likely and foreseeable outcome in any case. That, combined with a dearth of use cases that made sense (for my life) is what's kept me from using these products. About the only reason I could think of to buy smart lightbulbs would be to suddenly turn all the lights in the house red, and yell "torpedoes in the water, brace fo…

Oh wow, that is unbelievably close to one of my HomeKit scenes I have setup. If I ask Siri to “rig for silent running”, all my RGB bulbs go to all Red, all my other ones turn off, and my HomePods play a clip of the robot voice of the submarine from the game “Subnautica” saying “rigged for silent running”. All done via a Shortcut.

I just want to acknowledge that this is cool.

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

#308

Post by kesslern »

standardUser wrote: post #306

I have a lot of Hue lights, but I hate the app and hate it even more with this change. Are there alternative apps that work well with the proprietary hardware?

You can connect Hue lights to a generic Zigbee connector and control them with Home Assistant.

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

#309

Post by imoverclocked »

I’m really really tired of privacy erosion in software and services. Matter seems cool because you can choose a privacy aware home controller but then all the extra bits offered by individual vendors still come into play.

Does anyone run multiple networks with all of their smart devices disconnected from the internet via firewall/air gap/etc? Does anything function close to what an average consumer should expect in that scenario?

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