And this is why "mandatory app to configure" is an instant dealbreaker for me for any piece of hardware. Don't buy crap like this. Force companies to be better.
This is quite literally one of my two grievances against Ubiquiti at the moment: its intense requirement for mobile apps for initial setup. Stop mandating apps that will eventually break or cease being supported. Give us an OOBE that can be run independent of some mobile app.
I don’t think I’ve ever _needed_ to use the Unifi mobile app. When I connect something to my network, it shows up in the Unifi controller web app ready to adopt.
> "Just don't connect it to the Internet," is sadly less viable option as time goes on. I feel compelled to quibble with your word choice here. Not connecting appliances to the Internet remains a viable option. It is simply one that is increasingly not common or not readily available.
I'm confused. This is what they said? "less viable option as time goes on" is pretty much "remains a viable option, increasingly not common" ?
This may just be me being idiosyncratic with vocabulary.
To me, "less viable" implies there some outside factor or internal failure preventing it from working. But non-internet appliances will continue to work just fine, if you can get one. I.e. it's a viable choice, just one with less and less availability.
You claimed they don’t like browser based flows — of which QR codes are the common low friction, smartphone friendly implementation/entrypoint. Ie, what normal people use regularly every day.
because apps can't use their own protocol:// and use QR codes within their native apps? sorry but this comment doesn't seem to make sense
The point he's making is that a QR-based flow that doesn't require downloading and installing an app, and instead uses the already-installed web browser, is even lower friction and can be used by ordinary folks just as well, if not better, thanks to having fewer friction points. Requiring an installed proprietary app to manage a physical device that would otherwise be manageable via a web interface is not a net improvement to the usability or accessibility of the product. Especially if it's something you set and forget, "normies" are not going to go back to that app for a very long time and likely will forget about it. Hard requiring app setup for a router is a play to sell usage and location data, it is not looking out for those that aren't "computer people".
I'm confused. This is what they said? "less viable option as time goes on" is pretty much "remains a viable option, increasingly not common" ?
This may just be me being idiosyncratic with vocabulary. To me, "less viable" implies there some outside factor or internal failure preventing it from working. But non-internet appliances will continue to work just fine, if you can get one . I.e. it's a viable choice, just one with less and less availability.
And this is why "mandatory app to configure" is an instant dealbreaker for me for any piece of hardware. Don't buy crap like this. Force companies to be better.
When buying fridge, washing machine, oven etc, when I moved, I told the sales person, I like quality, am not price sensitive, but any device that requires an app or has a camera/mic built in is out of question. Some didn't know how to handle that, being used to sell it as a "good thing".
The home appliance market is a scam fractal. It goes deeper than just ewaste.
Nobody wants to admit it, but they are more home decor and geewhiz BS than practical appliance for several decades now. You'll be perfectly fine buying cheap barebones models if you are repair savvy. Choosing colors and materials like black or white and stainless steel is "boring", but only if the surrounding space is already ugly.
I've had the same no name amazon special washer and dryer for almost 15 years now. Reviews were 3/5 stars at the time. People complained about belts slipping and hinges breaking. I just fixed them with parts on ebay. They still look and run like new.
This is quite literally one of my two grievances against Ubiquiti at the moment: its intense requirement for mobile apps for initial setup. Stop mandating apps that will eventually break or cease being supported. Give us an OOBE that can be run independent of some mobile app.
I was able to install there controller software on pretty much any PC (windows or linuix) and adopt and configure APs. No phone required. Not sure about other networking gear.
I was also able to set this up entirely with a web interface.
XFinity (Comcast) recently sent my parents a new router, and AFAICT there was no way to configure it from a LAN computer. It required a damn proprietary phone app, which I assume was bouncing commands through the internet.
don't rent your router
I was assured many times that it wasn't being charged to them as a recurring cost.
They've been having connection hiccups and blaming the old independent router/modem even though I suspect the problem is somewhere further on.
FUD existed before them. So did the word crypto, as a matter of fact. That's two things they ruined. While we're at it, I think them claiming the term Web 3.0 is very self-aggrandizing.
> FUD existed before them. So did the word crypto, as a matter of fact Yup. But as a broad signal, is the person getting uppity about FUD usually making a valid point or safe to ignore?
It depends on whether you or not you like the cut of their jib.
> “It suddenly stopped working, and no one knows why.” Based on the screenshots I’m going to hazard a guess that it’s because someone forgot to update, or just stopped paying for, the server license.
If these apps were entirely local nobody'd care. The insistence they go through a server is why they suck
So many things rely on date bound certificates now that local doesn't assure continued operation, see the recent Mac Office 2019 stories. I feel like there are so many of these ticking time bombs that expired cert based software failures are going to become a much more common issue.
Yep. For a router. I didn't say that I thought it was right, or fair, or just. I didn't say I liked it, or that I agree with it. In fact, I think it's a pretty ugly state of affairs when a person in an area of poor connectivity needs to climb the hill/go into town/otherwise make plans before they can get their shiny new router to work. I can accept that things are the way they are, or I can pretend that they're diffe…
You made the claim that companies require apps because it has lower friction for ordinary users. That claim is in error. The implication that there is nothing anyone can do to improve the existing state of affairs is also incorrect.
> You made the claim that companies require apps because it has lower friction for ordinary users.
I did not.
> That claim is in error.
My motivation to further discuss a hallucination is insignificant.