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Hacking my “smart” toothbrush

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Re: Hacking my “smart” toothbrush

#41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what is this "as documented" of which you speak? /s toothbrushes come with documentation???

Brush for 2 minutes. No more, no less. One is not enough. Three is too much. Four is right out.

good brushing is technique independent of time

if you brush for 2 minutes but don't get enough passes over each square mm of surface area, you have done a bad job of brushing

instead of watching the clock, imagine each of those surface areas and make sure you hit them

plus gums, tongue, roof of mouth, etc.

Re: Hacking my “smart” toothbrush

#42
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It works happily with a brush head without NFC. That was the first thing I tried with my new toothbrush.

It works /right now/. Revisit this comment in 3-5 years and see if the behavior of new brushes and brush heads has changed for the worse...

It can’t be far off that they ship a BLE or Wifi enabled Sonicare that reports your best brushing habits to the app that then posts it on Facebook for philipPoints you compete with your friends on… oh shit… what have I done!?

Anyhow, blocking unofficial heads is just an OTA firmware update away.

Re: Hacking my “smart” toothbrush

#44
post #4

Great article, the most interesting part of which is that you can lock your self out of your toothbrush head after three wrong password attempts. I didn't dig into the data sheet for the NFC chip very deeply, but I imagine that it's just the default that the chip ships with. Or maybe Philips really wants that $25 for a new toothbrush head. :-) EDIT: nope, not the default. From the data sheet, last sentence: "To preve…

Welcome Time Travellers! This is 2023 where you can find yourself locked out of your toothbrush after too many failed password attempts.

Re: Hacking my “smart” toothbrush

#45
post #4

Great article, the most interesting part of which is that you can lock your self out of your toothbrush head after three wrong password attempts. I didn't dig into the data sheet for the NFC chip very deeply, but I imagine that it's just the default that the chip ships with. Or maybe Philips really wants that $25 for a new toothbrush head. :-) EDIT: nope, not the default. From the data sheet, last sentence: "To preve…

Welcome Time Travellers! This is 2023 where you can find yourself locked out of your toothbrush after too many failed password attempts.

I hope that this is a warning to time travelers from the past and not a friendly welcome to time travelers from the future that are looking back on simpler times.

Re: Hacking my “smart” toothbrush

#46

dumbest waste of materials. for what? just to waste more battery when i travel with it without a charger?

For reminding you to buy a new head.

Complaining about RFID wasting battery in a mechanical device is either misinformed or intentionally reaching for bogus arguments.

Re: Hacking my “smart” toothbrush

#47

I have one, but it never occurred to me to want to hack it. "But how do you know when it's time to change the brush?" Well, how about when it starts getting soft?

I swap toothbrush heads 4-5 times a day (a couple times per brushing session) and one of my major issues until now was that I didn't know how long I had used any individual toothbrush head and when to replace them (I didn't start using all of them at the same time). With per-head usage tracking this is much easier... I wasn't expecting it, but I'm glad Phlips is considering and supporting my use case.

Re: Hacking my “smart” toothbrush

#48
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about when the blue part goes away, as documented? :-) I've used a Sonicare for, what, ten years or more? And I don't think I've ever seen an indication that the NFC is communicating anything to me. That's not to say that it isn't, but if I'm going to ignore something[0] and replace the head when I damned well please, I just ignore the blue part of the bristles. I could probably adjust my behavior to ignore whate…

Probably depends on which body you are using. In mine it both flashes a tiny LED and does an extra little buzz-buzz buzz-buzz signal with the ultrasonics when you turn it on (or off, can't recall which) when the head has 'expired'. Continues to work fine, though. You might be interested in this YouTube video from Applied Science with electron micrographs of 'new' and 'worn' toothbrush bristles - there is a very marke…

Mine was doing that, but after a few weeks it stopped the special vibe. It only blinks now.

Re: Hacking my “smart” toothbrush

#49
post #47

I have one, but it never occurred to me to want to hack it. "But how do you know when it's time to change the brush?" Well, how about when it starts getting soft?

I swap toothbrush heads 4-5 times a day (a couple times per brushing session) and one of my major issues until now was that I didn't know how long I had used any individual toothbrush head and when to replace them (I didn't start using all of them at the same time). With per-head usage tracking this is much easier... I wasn't expecting it, but I'm glad Phlips is considering and supporting my use case.

wtf?

Re: Hacking my “smart” toothbrush

#50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It works /right now/. Revisit this comment in 3-5 years and see if the behavior of new brushes and brush heads has changed for the worse...

It can’t be far off that they ship a BLE or Wifi enabled Sonicare that reports your best brushing habits to the app that then posts it on Facebook for philipPoints you compete with your friends on… oh shit… what have I done!? Anyhow, blocking unofficial heads is just an OTA firmware update away.

Umm this has been a thing for ages.

Although the points don't go to Facebook - you get "rewards" for them. Eg:

> Pair one or more brushes to our iOS or Android app, then you’re all set. quip’s Bluetooth® Smart Motor will automatically store your routine, no phone needed! To check your brushing stats and the points you’ve earned, tap the app.

> Earn bonuses for never missing a beat! Redeem points for rewards you’ll love

https://www.getquip.com/store/products/smart-electric-toothb...

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