zlacker

>>pictur+(OP)
This enshittifcation is endemic. Corporations cannot just release a good product and support it. The better the product is and the larger the customer base becomes, the higher the likelihood that some business planner is going to see dollar signs and try to squeeze the product for everything it’s worth. And every time this ruins the product. And we’re here with a proprietary phone OS and proprietary apps. Proprietary firmwares on proprietary hardware. And we are completely at the whim of these companies.

And the option is what, buy a Zigbee dongle and a raspberry pi run some code written by unpaid enthusiasts? 3D print a case for it and mount it on the wall, running updates and fixing it ever few months when some package update breaks it?

I like the concept of lights that run from an app. I don’t have any of the physical Hue switches for my system and it’s fine. But I do not want an app that abuses me, and I do not want to maintain some fragile project made from slapped together code. I want robust open hardware with open source software.

I’m convinced that we can achieve this, but it won’t be with the current model of business and engineering we have today.

>>Taylor+We
I agree with this.

I intentionally buy switches not bulbs or more complex gear. Then you plug your dirt cheap LED dumb bulb into the lamp and have it turn on and off with your voice. Much cheaper to replace when the bulb eventually burns too.

Its stupid simple, just make sure everything connects to your assistant of choice (Hey Google / Alexa / Siri - maybe?) OR just stay in one company's walled garden and you're fine. Personally I'm a fan of Wyze's hardware but don't use their apps or more complex cameras.

>>Flammy+Gf
> OR just stay in one company's walled garden and you're fine

Google wants to have a word with you about some of the products it's sold and quickly killed.

>>inetkn+1g
yeah i've been in the google/nest garden for years ... yes the dual apps are weird and that's probably because Google Home does too much already that they had to keep the Nest app but nothing has stopped working for me nor gotten any emails telling me they are sunsetting something.

>>twism+Kh
3rd party "Works with google home" stuff will often stop getting updated causing more and more functionality to break over time. Admittedly this is an issue you can avoid by entirely buying the products actually made by Google, or at least carefully selecting third parties, but a huge amount of smarthome stuff is going to be rendered non-functional because of this sort of thing.

I do think the 1st party Google Home stuff is supported well enough, and I don't think any of Google's competitors in the smarthome space are really offering anything that's obviously more compelling. I mostly recommend people either go with big brands or something that can be flashed with tasmota, pick your poison.