zlacker

I'm in the process of reverse engineering an appliance myself to allow it to be integrated with Home Assistant, one which requires an mobile app to operate remotely and is connected to the net all of the time, when it doesn't need to be.

I was gifted this particular appliance, but the solution is really to just not give companies like this your money. Unfortunately it's easier said than done, but looking for things with a local API or based on an open and configurable standard are a good start.

I'll add Haier and related companies to my ever growing blacklist because fuck them for this.

I vehemently support people doing what they want with the things they own so long as it's not "interfacing" with other people or their stuff; don't connect to or "abuse" their cloud systems, they can rightfully be upset about that, but removing their crappy smarts (and data collection) and replacing it with local-only is your own business and companies like this can get lost.

>>alias_+(OP)
which appliance?

>>alias_+(OP)
If some company sells stuff that requires a connection to their cloud then it is 100% fair game to reverse and utilize that cloud to get the product working the way you want.

They have no right to be upset about that. They sold you a requirement to connect to that cloud. If they don't want anyone connecting to their cloud, then don't sell cloud connected junk.

>>beeboo+ji
> They have no right to be upset about that.

Emotionally, ethically, morally, sure. Legally? We'll see how this shakes out, I guess.

But yeah - this is one of the reasons why nothing in my home is smart. I fully can't bring myself to trust any company to not eventually fuck me, either intentionally, or by going out of business and bricking some C&C server, or by selling themselves to some assholes.

>>pavel_+Ul
All my smarthome stuff is zigbee based, controlled by home assistant locally. It's nice. Agree on avoiding cloud garbage.

>>alias_+(OP)
On a related note, we bought an LG wall oven, and, after the cabinets to fit it were built, inside the oven door, we found a “by using this oven you agree to binding arbitration and worse” sticker. Of course, it was too late to switch out the model, and the distributor wouldn’t have accepted the return if we’d tried.

At what point will the courts decide that post purchase contracts are unenforceable?

>>hedora+9c1
> At what point will the courts decide that post purchase contracts are unenforceable?

I believe EU has already done that. That'd be a hidden term, I believe.

https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/unfair-treat...

>>beeboo+ji
I think the issue, particularly in the case of some of the companies that have been hostile to Home Assistant integrations, is that, according to them, the small number of users with reverse engineered access to their cloud, tend to abuse the API by creating a significant percentage of the traffic, presumably by accessing it "incorrectly".

I agree with you wholeheartedly that it should be fair game, but ultimately, if reverse engineered users are creating, say, 50% of traffic[0], because they're polling instead of using the proper push mechanism, these sorts of companies can and will get upset.

Frankly, as a backend software engineer myself, if any system I built with the purpose of being constantly accessed by a fleet of devices sold on the open market couldn't handle the relatively tiny numbers MyQ created a fuss[1] over, I'd be embarrassed.

[0] https://chamberlaingroup.com/press/a-message-about-our-decis... [1] https://www.home-assistant.io/blog/2023/11/06/removal-of-myq...