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Home Assistant blocked from integrating with Garage Door opener API

home-assistant.io

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Re: Home Assistant blocked from integrating with Garage Door opener API

#141

Post by mmcclure »

theshrike79 wrote: post #98
rft wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yepp, I have some IKEA buttons and they are just Zigbee devices. They also sell lamps etc., mostly Zigbee based from what I remember. For the Germans (maybe other countries as well): The Lidl smart home things are nearly all Zigbee based. So far no problems with them and they are, IMO, reasonably priced. I somehow trust Lidl more to not burn my house down than random Amazon sellers. They also sell a Zigbee gateway th…

Zigbee in general is great. If you want the more expensive stuff, Philips is the leader in that. And now that Matter support is slowly trickling in, they should all be fully interoperable. Currently it's touch and go if a Ikea bulb works well with the Hue hub for example.

It’s not the same as MyQ here, but Philips (specifically Hue) recently pulled a similar move around requiring accounts. Thankfully it’s not as big of a deal for the HA crowd because the lights can be controlled directly via zigbee, but it certainly caused a kerfuffle in their ecosystem.

Related thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37594377

Re: Home Assistant blocked from integrating with Garage Door opener API

#142

Post by ttcbj »

bitshiftfaced wrote: post #122
PurpleRamen wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - Home Assistant users are power users, thus more likely to actually use the devices in question; >50% traffic from 0.2% of the users is far too big of a discrepancy to just explain it away with powerusers. Customers too have to follow a fair level of usage. > designed to discourage effective use (while maximizing data collection). What valuable data can they collect, if nobody is using it?

I think they want you to install their app so that you have to open the app everytime you press the button. From there, you see ads to other products.

I use the myq app to open my garage door open regularly. The app is slow to open and generally annoying. For example, the whole interface is initially blocked, so you tap to open and it doesn't register the tap, still doesn't register the tap, then finally it does.

I was not aware of there being ads in it, but I just looked, and you are absolutely right, there is an ad at the top. It looks like its for their home security camera.

Based on my experience with the company, I would not purchase additional products from them. Not based on my desire to use home automation or homekit, just on the fact that the app is poor.

The garage door openers themselves, however, which have battery backup and which open quietly and with a gradual slowing near the finish, are pretty decent. Mainly I wish they had a better, faster app, as the garage door is the smart home thing I used most (followed by maybe Rachio).

Re: Home Assistant blocked from integrating with Garage Door opener API

#143

Post by Nextgrid »

rft wrote: post #53
j45 wrote: post #29

One extra step I’ve learned to follow is to verify if needed, could the hardware be permanently redirected to a local server, and worst case reflagged with a different firmware or it can be redirected to remain local. The latter is sometimes easier if it’s a Tuya based device, which a lot of these unknown devices are. https://github.com/make-all/tuya-local One of the main things these “smart” devices do is use your i…

> https://github.com/make-all/tuya-local Just a small warning: make sure to check whether your device needs to be added to the Tuya cloud to get a local API key. I was only able to get "my" lamp working locally after registering it via the app and creating a developer account. Another option can be flashing it with Tasmota: https://tasmota.github.io/docs/Tuya-Convert/

> Another option can be flashing it with Tasmota

ESPHome is also a good option and makes Home Assistant integration easier.

Re: Home Assistant blocked from integrating with Garage Door opener API

#145

Post by iAMkenough »

colinmorelli wrote: post #79
cassianoleal wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And of course, you can easily run a VPN/Tailscale/ZeroTier/whatever to achieve the same without the downsides.

I'm quite confident my parents and the many people like them in the world would not find running VPN/Tailscale/ZeroTier to be "easy." Nor would they have any idea how to troubleshoot when those services have issues. Nor would they want to play intermediary between Tailscale and myQ customer support to figure out which one is broken and fix it. Having options like this is great for powerusers, but the vast majority of…

Sounds like there's a market for intermediary tech support

Re: Home Assistant blocked from integrating with Garage Door opener API

#146

Post by _ea1k »

PurpleRamen wrote: post #37
TeMPOraL wrote: post #7

From company statement: > Our customers rely on us to make access simple without sacrificing quality and reliability. Unauthorized app integrations, stemming from only 0.2% of myQ users, previously accounted for more than half of the traffic to and from the myQ system, and at times constituted a substantial DDOS event that consumed high quantities of resources. Yeah, that sounds plausible, because: - Home Assistant u…

> - Home Assistant users are power users, thus more likely to actually use the devices in question; >50% traffic from 0.2% of the users is far too big of a discrepancy to just explain it away with powerusers. Customers too have to follow a fair level of usage. > designed to discourage effective use (while maximizing data collection). What valuable data can they collect, if nobody is using it?

They do not support opening your own garage door via IFTT, Alexa, or Google Assistant.

They do support allowing their paid partners (eg, Amazon) to open your garage door for deliveries. I think this last part is where they get "value".

Re: Home Assistant blocked from integrating with Garage Door opener API

#147

Post by firtoz »

lexh wrote: post #123
api wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that these require some kind of server. Get one that just talks to HA over your local network. Why in the hell does a garage door opener need a server? Oh, data collection. And subscriptions. Nothing for the user. I avoid any home automation thing that has any cloud backing that's not strictly optional. It's a strong anti-feature. In home stuff cloud means it won't work when the Internet is down, it sp…

Oh, data collection. And subscriptions. This makes sense (and myQ’s privacy policy is a nightmare: https://www.myq.com/privacy-notice ) but I’ve never understood how this particular bit of data is valuable to anyone. Any ideas?

Number of active car owners living in an area could be valuable for a few industries and governments

Re: Home Assistant blocked from integrating with Garage Door opener API

#149

Post by ca_tech »

lexh wrote: post #123
api wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that these require some kind of server. Get one that just talks to HA over your local network. Why in the hell does a garage door opener need a server? Oh, data collection. And subscriptions. Nothing for the user. I avoid any home automation thing that has any cloud backing that's not strictly optional. It's a strong anti-feature. In home stuff cloud means it won't work when the Internet is down, it sp…

Oh, data collection. And subscriptions. This makes sense (and myQ’s privacy policy is a nightmare: https://www.myq.com/privacy-notice ) but I’ve never understood how this particular bit of data is valuable to anyone. Any ideas?

I buy a garage door opener. That is the end of my transaction.

I buy a connected garage door opener. The provider knows my geolocation, my name, email address, socioeconomic status, even the phone I own. Inferences can be made on activity such as "they leave for work at 7am when garage door opens".

The collection of data doesn't need to be used specifically for reengaging me with Chamberlain. It is now an asset to the company that can be sold to others as outlined in their Information Sharing section. Which basically says "we share it with everyone".

Partners can be anyone from insurance companies to academic researchers. Remember that partners aren't limited to just one data set. They have the ability to ask multiple companies: "What data do you have for all occupants of houses in this geographic area?"

Re: Home Assistant blocked from integrating with Garage Door opener API

#150

Post by sanex »

sgu999 wrote: post #83
LeifCarrotson wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Two reasons: 1. My wife can check that we didn't forget to close it instead of driving 20 minutes back home to quell her nerves. 2. We can let a friend or neighbor into the garage (or into the house if we use the smart lock on the door inside the garage) when we're not home. Without giving permanent access to a key or PIN code.

> 1. My wife can check that we didn't forget to close it instead of driving 20 minutes back home to quell her nerves. Seems like a bit of an ill-adaptation. I used to want a smart door lock for exactly this reason, but instead I learned to be mindful when I close my dumb door...

Let me know how you feel after you're married.
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