I have this smart lightbulb that I got for halloween last year because I thought it’d be cool to make the porch glow purple for trick or treaters. Now I have to replace it because the app that controls it has decided to try and blackmail me for camera and location access and the bulbs default state without the app is to flash on and off in a way seemingly deliberately designed to cause headaches.
Everything is a problem
Submitted 8 months ago by Mickey7@lemmy.world to [deleted]
https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/6d4f17f0-3a3a-4ccc-8558-843fcf2462c1.png
Comments
CheeseNoodle@lemmy.world 8 months ago
outhouseperilous@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 months ago
Phillip k dick (i think) wrote a story about this.
kieron115@startrek.website 8 months ago
What kind of bulb is it? There’s a chance that homebridge or something could control it through an API without needing the app.
Event_Horizon@lemmy.world 8 months ago
My sister bought me a smart desk light that insists on using an app and ‘doesn’t work’ without it.
Thing is, it will work as a normal desk light…if you’re willing to sit through 10 minutes of intense blinking while it tries to connect before finally giving up.
moseschrute@lemmy.ml 8 months ago
This is absolutely a problem, but credit where credit’s due, I’m really happy that the specification for Matter requires local control without calling out to the internet. Though Matter devices can still call out to the internet for additional features. I know Matter has it’s issues, but I believe it is slowly improving the smart home. But I fully understand people that want to reject the smart home altogether.
derpgon@programming.dev 8 months ago
My whole home automation is using Zigbee devices, they don’t even know what internet is, and it doesnt matter which brand it is as longs it is supported by Zigbee2MQTT. Matter is great, so is Thread.
moseschrute@lemmy.ml 8 months ago
Yeah! Where I can, I use matter over thread. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think that should provide the same benefits as zigbee? From what I remember, thread evolved from zigbee.
Unfortunately matter over thread simple doesn’t exist for some categories of devices. For light bulbs, only Nanoleaf offers matter over thread, and the quality is pretty terrible. Do they even make matter over thread air conditioners?
myotheraccount@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Try plugging in a fork. Those still do what they are supposed to do
Glitterbomb@lemmy.world 8 months ago
myotheraccount@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Ahhhhh! Nothing is sacred anymoooooore
kieron115@startrek.website 8 months ago
Obviously you just forgot to lick the tines!
MicrobiomeEnthusiast@lemmy.world 8 months ago
The internet has become more and more complex. I miss the early 2000s when I was a kid and everything was open and easy to use. No need to register ,no need to download this or that app. Everything was easy, even the laws.
Patches@ttrpg.network 8 months ago
The laws have always been a quagmire.
I mean you can’t even handle salmon suspiciously. Not since 1986
Juliebones@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
Omg yes preach !!! I feel it’s everything these days, coffee maker…app Vacuum…app Scale…app Electric shower nozzle…fucking app Everything needs a password and an account and my mind is crumbling because of it.
Patches@ttrpg.network 8 months ago
You know you can dumb shit, right?
It’s rarely a secret these days whether something has wifi, or Bluetooth.
Glitterbomb@lemmy.world 8 months ago
TVs seem to have been pretty much taken over by ‘smart’ features.
I don’t mean this as a dare or a gotcha, but genuinely asking if you know of a decently priced modern TV that’s ‘dumb’ please let me know so I can buy it.
lemmy_outta_here@lemmy.world 8 months ago
My poor tv is like, “connect to the internet? I need to call home! Help, i’ve been abducted by a luddite!”
Tv, you are never getting my wifi password.
wowAnotherPos@thelemmy.club 8 months ago
Piece of shit genocider
boonhet@sopuli.xyz 8 months ago
Lmao
kieron115@startrek.website 8 months ago
Through absolute chance (the TV i wanted was sold out on clearance so I got a different one on clearance) I ended up with an Android TV-powered sony bravia. It lets you go into the app permissions and disable the optical recognition whateverthefuck they call it software. The rest of the analytics can be blocked by some regex firewall/DNS rules. It’s the only smart TV OS that I would recommend
roserose56@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
I totally agree! I’m trying to avoid logins and download this and that, as possible as I can.
MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
I’m half on one side, half on the other.
The line I draw is between safety and convenience. On the safety side, I want things to be very manual. I don’t want some app or external system managing whether or not the lights stay on, or whatever, on the convenience side, I 1000% want a way to manage things like the lighting from an app.
So anywhere that safety is a concern, like the kitchen, bathroom, a handful of other places… There’s zero “smart” anything. Everywhere else, yeah, I can turn off my lights from an app.
When I’m in my office/living room, where safety isn’t really a concern, I don’t have to get up to turn on the lights, I can yell at my Google home to do it for me, or use an app. If I want the lights to be some shade of turquoise, I use the app…
In the kitchen, as an example, no such control exists. You have to push the light switch, and you get basic bitch white light. You don’t get an option. You want the light off? Take your fingers and do the thing that makes the light switch go click and turn off the lights.
The decision to make anything smart relies on whether or not I’m going to be in danger if the lights go out and there’s no way to turn them on again because the Internet is down.
Glitterbomb@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I’ve seen some neat features included, but it’s never worth all the added bullshit they add in. Being able to tell if your oven is still on, or garage door is still open is great, but the app is never just that. It always comes with a truck load of bullshit noone asked for.
Pringles@sopuli.xyz 8 months ago
I want everything as dumb as possible. I will register whatever I buy with the manufacturer for warranty purposes, but other than that: dumb toaster, dumb fridge, dumb washing machine, dumb robot vacuum cleaner, dumb doorbell, dumb locks, etc…
If it doesn’t need internet to function, it’s not getting any.
Patches@ttrpg.network 8 months ago
I stopped registering shit. It doesn’t do anything for you. You’re entitled to the warranty with, or without, registering.
Last time I registered was for my dishwasher, all it did was get me on the mailing list to buy another dishwasher.
How many fuckin dishwashers do you think I need, mate?
Burninator05@lemmy.world 8 months ago
And if it does need internet to function…I’m going to try to not buy it.
Olhonestjim@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I want quality buttons and knobs that let me control all necessary functions manually from the device. Smart features are for convenience and tracking stats. Never should the device talk to any party but me.
dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I agree completely. But now I can’t get the image out of my head, of the maniac that has done the complete opposite of this. Like putting the sink disposal unit, door locks, and flush toilets, all on a publicly accessible “smart” network.
MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
Chaos.
ArmchairAce1944@discuss.online 8 months ago
I remember when games asked you to register and it was optional… and people joked that they never did because there was no benefit to them whatsoever.
Now it is obligatory. No wonder I prefer retrogaming.
roscoe@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 months ago
I recently renovated and said fuck no to all the smart home shit. Just the idea of having to troubleshoot the WiFi because my kitchen light won’t turn on drives me into a rage.
LordCrom@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Good call.
I took over for a previous manager who installed all smart lights controlled via Alexa. Every week…every fucking week…there would be a section not working, lights with disco colors, Alexa was offline so we could give the command to turn on lights…
When I took over, 1st task was to rip out all the smart shit and I put in regular LED bulbs controlled with the light switch. Works every time
Patches@ttrpg.network 8 months ago
The closest thing I have to “the world of tomorrow” are regular degular hand operated dimmer switches. They’re great. That’s all I need them for. Have one in every room.
Draegur@lemmy.zip 8 months ago
No waiting for firmware updates
basxto@discuss.tchncs.de 8 months ago
Wait, I just have to reboot my watch
morphballganon@mtgzone.com 8 months ago
Buy old stuff
Use open source
Downdate
etc
LodeMike@lemmy.today 8 months ago
It is incredibly difficult for me to describe just how powerful a Linux desktop experience can be. You can buy a cheap computer that suports emulation and put QubesOS on it. Bonus points to putting a GPU in it and playing on either Windows or Linux with that GPU.
echodot@feddit.uk 8 months ago
I don’t think Linux people entirely understand just how uninviting the prospect of messing around with an operating system is for the vast majority of the public.
As bad as Windows is, and it is it getting worse by the minute, it honestly does just work. I dual boot my computer, mostly into Linux everyday and even now I occasionally come across problems that don’t exist on the Windows side. The community need give up with this idea that Linux doesn’t have major usability issues.
TheGuyTM3@lemmy.ml 8 months ago
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication (a bit ironic when you consider this quote comes from Apple).
Steam is fun and all, minecraft is a great game, but goddamn, i have a 10kbps at home, and network is unstable where i live, why can’t i play my fcking
game“licence” which is not even online based, because the network decided to stop??I prefer from far a simple folder with assets and a .exe that i will put on my desktop with a shortcut.
What an application is supposed to be anyways.
5too@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Steam works fine for me offline, though I can’t speak to all the games - what are you running into with it?
I hear you on Minecraft, though…
basxto@discuss.tchncs.de 8 months ago
Steam has a “Go Offline…” options for pretty much that. Indeed it sucks that you have to do that before you go offline, but it sounds like a good idea with your setup and just switch to online occasionally to update.
Furthermore it depends heavily on the games, not on steam. Some steam games work without the steam client, though for some of those you have to fiddle around or execute different binary.
calcopiritus@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Simplicity is easy to pirate though.
If the product is a program that executes 100% of its functionality on your computer, it is impossible to make it pirate-proof. Even if all the functionality is client-side and the server is used only for authentication, it can be pirated.
The only way to make a program pirate-proof is if it runs on the server with a thin client.
That being said, some products execute on the client. Therefore if they want to prevent piracy, the only thing they can do is security through obscurity. That is, make it as complex as possible so the pirates take as much time as possible to reverse-engineer it.
Waraugh@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 months ago
I don’t think it’s ironic, it just doesn’t say the quiet part out loud. Everything just works if they control the entire ecosystem, so if you want ‘sophisticated’ let us control everything and it will all just work.
incogtino@lemmy.zip 8 months ago
Luanti is a credible replacement option for Minecraft single-player
echodot@feddit.uk 8 months ago
You don’t need a network connection for Minecraft single player. I’m not actually sure what they’re on about.
jaxxed@lemmy.ml 8 months ago
Enter your pazswird; enter the code from your authenticator
bhamlin@lemmy.world 8 months ago
hunter2
Patches@ttrpg.network 8 months ago
That’s an oldie but it checks out sir.
humorlessrepost@lemmy.world 8 months ago
For the outdated services I use that still require passwords, my password manager handles all that.
MisterOwl@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Yup.
Comcast “updated” their network yesterday and broke every fucking smart plug in my house. None of them will work anymore.
unclejeeves@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Did they disable the 2.4ghz band on your router?
MisterOwl@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Thought of that too, but yup it’s still active. A couple other devices are connected via 2.4 but none of my plugs or bulbs will connect. They worked just fine yesterday and now they’re all bricks.
Kolanaki@pawb.social 8 months ago
I really wanna ditch the smart TV I have and just get a display that only displays the picture of the devices I have plugged into its inputs and doesn’t get online, doesn’t receive updates or “improvements” and has inputs for everything:
3.5mm AUX audio
Composite
S-video
RGB
Hdmi
That optical audio jack made by (IIRC) Sony I can’t remember the name of right now. It’s what my stereo uses and it’s amazing. Used to be super common on TVs.
echodot@feddit.uk 8 months ago
I mean I have that. It’s called a smart TV that I never use the smart functions of, connected to the HDMI output of a PC. It’s great for watching stream content and I don’t have to worry about ads and stuff.
In actual fairness to the TV it isn’t too bad in that respect but the interface is just god awful and I hate having to type with a TV remote so I still use the PC.
ApatheticCactus@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I recently got really tired of my TV constantly nagging me to update the firmware for all the newest features. I just disconnected it from wifi instead. I do not use my TV for smart features, I use it as a display. I update the things plugged into it, because that’s their job. If i need to stream something, I will use a box. A box that can be replaced or easily updated or changed out.
A display has one job, to display whatever.
Kolanaki@pawb.social 8 months ago
I’d do that except that every few seconds, a big pop up that takes up 1/4 of the screen from top down tells me that the network is disconnected. 😬
myrrh@ttrpg.network 8 months ago
[deleted]Patches@ttrpg.network 8 months ago
If only eARC worked well. It’s support seems garbage.
I had nothing but problems with eARC. DRM errors. Sound cutting out.
Not one problem since swapping to optical.
echodot@feddit.uk 8 months ago
I had fun with eARC a while ago, my TV definitely supports it because it was on the box but what it doesn’t say is the fact that only one of the HDMI port supports it and it doesn’t tell you which one. At go online into a random forum to find out, It’s port 3 by the way, because that makes perfect sense.
VindictiveJudge@lemmy.world 8 months ago
The standard optical audio jack was developed by Toshiba.
1995ToyotaCorolla@lemmy.world 8 months ago
TOSLINK might be what you’re thinking of. And yes, it rules! I have a surround system that uses it and it sounds amazing
felixwhynot@lemmy.world 8 months ago
This is why I like hardware synthesizers
uuldika@lemmy.ml 8 months ago
everything is still a problem, it’s just a self-inflicted problem! 😁
Draegur@lemmy.zip 8 months ago
Everything being my fault means I’m still in control!
(This is actually not always true and is instead a rather toxic derangement)
windpunch@feddit.org 8 months ago
This is one of the reasons why I still only use wired headphones.
BoxOfFeet@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I helped my dad install a new dumb thermostat last winter. We just had to drill a couple of new holes to mount it, and moved the wires over. Boom,there was heat again. I thought about how much of a pain in the ass it was to get my Ecobee working, and how refreshing it was to just have something work immediately.
It’s a very similar feeling to playing my GameBoy Color again after messing around with retro gaming linux handhelds. You just turn it on and play, then just turn it off. No boot sequences, no emulator settings to tweak. No SD card corruption that ruins your game library. Just on and off.
oyzmo@lemmy.world 8 months ago
car
ReverendIrreverence@lemmy.world 8 months ago
After trying to get my new automated kitty litter box working with a POS app that can’t sync with the poop machine and the PM can’t connect to my 5 GHz wireless network (only 2.4 GHz) nor does it have any way to enter the password for said network I have resorted to deleting the app and just pushing two physical buttons in sequence on the PM twice daily to clean the litter area.
Flocklesscrow@lemmy.zip 8 months ago
Return to Analog!
kadup@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Join us over at /c/singlepurpose ;)
some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 8 months ago
What fantasy world are you living in? How could my glass hold water if I didn’t sign up for a service that sends me spam? How could my table hold a book if I didn’t sign up for the monthly subscription that prevents it from ejecting books into the air? Even my cat came with a ToS that said that by petting her, I give her access to my bank account and first born child. Hasn’t it always been this way?
phoenixz@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
I rented a car, a Mercedes B class or something
Everytime I started it, it would ask me to sign up for some bullshit Mercedes service Half the features of the car were disabled due to requiring subscriptions
I will NEVER buy that car nor rent it ever again
lemmyknow@lemmy.today 8 months ago
I bought a fan the other day, cause it warm. Cheap as I could find. Plug the thing onto the wall, can’t figure out how to get it working. Read the manual: I need an app. I download the app, logged in with Facebook (had to create a Facebook account, for I had none. It was the only option), filled a form with my information, agreed to the Terms of Services and Privacy Policy. Gave it location access, to connect to the fan. It needed a few other permissions, which I had to give it. Now I can turn the fan on and off, from my phone (the fan has none). I can set a direction, turn the spinning on or off. Set the RGB light colours. I can even give it an image, and it’ll display on the fan as it spins (probably why they demand entire system file access). I can even turn it on and off from the Quick Settings Tile. And make some changes from there as well. All in all, I must say, this fan is defin
Skullgrid@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Shit either has no buttons, with an capacitive touch surface, or if it has buttons, it’s never immediate response, you have to press it for an extended amount of time.
it’s fucking infuriating.
BakerBagel@midwest.social 8 months ago
It used to be that when i got a new video game for Christmas, i could just put it into the GameCube/PS2 and play it. No need to wait for everyone to alwo try and download the 40gb update that morning.
Sc00ter@lemmy.zip 8 months ago
I went to a coffee shop yesterday thag tried to tell me they only accepted orders through their app. I almost walked out, until the finally poured my coffee, but continued to give me shit about it, “ok but next time you have to use the app”
“Yea no. There will be no next time.”
Lushed_Lungfish@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
Did you know that Ryobi has an app that lets you register tools you’ve bought?