this post was submitted on 31 Oct 2025
111 points (99.1% liked)

homeassistant

18517 readers
25 users here now

Home Assistant is open source home automation that puts local control and privacy first.
Powered by a worldwide community of tinkerers and DIY enthusiasts.

Home Assistant can be self-installed on ProxMox, Raspberry Pi, or even purchased pre-installed: Home Assistant: Installation

Discussion of Home-Assistant adjacent topics is absolutely fine, within reason.
If you're not sure, DM @GreatAlbatross@feddit.uk

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Google announced the end of support for early Nest Thermostats in a support document earlier this year that largely flew under the radar. As of October 25, first and second generation units released in 2011 and 2012, respectively, will be unpaired and removed from the Google Nest or Google Home app.

Users will no longer be able to control their thermostats remotely via their smartphone, receive notifications, or change settings from a mobile device. End-of-support also disables third-party assistants and other cloud-based features including multi-device Eco mode and Nest Protect connectivity.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] ayyy@sh.itjust.works 41 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I bought it before it was Google. They bought it out from under me and then, predictably, discontinued it while it was still working fine.

[–] Zachariah@lemmy.world 19 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I did, too. It was actively developed until those shitheads bought Nest. Then the only “upgrade” was to add clicking noises when changing the temperature that don’t respect the OS keyboard clicks setting.

Just think how much bandwidth and computing and human resources they’re saving money on. Oh, wait, it’s hardly anything to change the temperature and they’re a billion dollar company. But how will they sell more if they don’t fuck over the early adopters?

Belkin is pulling the same stunt with their Wemo switches and plugs.

We understand this is a letdown, especially if you’ve relied on Wemo in your daily routine. Reliability and trust have always been central to Belkin, and we recognize that this transition may not reflect the experience you’ve come to expect from us. We are genuinely sorry for the disruption.

Bullshit! If you cared you’d support your enthusiast customers. Again, we’re talking about very little resources and a very large company. Just leave these lies out of your announcement email.

If they were genuinely sorry but still committed to pulling the plugs on the backend, they would ad least do this:

When these companies want to cease updates and shutdown their servers, they should be required to:

  1. Provide a path to install open source or third party firmware
  2. Fully document the communication with the the device requires to function
  3. Allow pointing the device at an open source or third party server
[–] AbidanYre@lemmy.world 10 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I have to wonder if permanently losing the enthusiast/early adopter demographic is going to cause more damage in the long run than the cost of keeping those servers running.

Google is big enough it doesn't matter, but Belkin could be shooting themselves in the foot.

[–] Zachariah@lemmy.world 8 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Well, I’m the family IT person, and I’ll never recommend Belkin ever again. I’m asked throughout the year on tech buying decisions. There are plenty of other options out there.

[–] lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Belkin was the go-to brand for iPod accessories in the 2000s. I had more than a few Belkin accessories for my 5th gen Video.

Now that I think about it, I still have a wireless remote control with the iPod attachment hanging around somewhere, but I don't remember if it was Belkin or something else... 🤔

Edit: Fuck me, apparently any records of it online have dropped off the face of the earth. I'll dig it out when I get home, I know where it is.

[–] lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I have to wonder if permanently losing the enthusiast/early adopter demographic is going to cause more damage in the long run than the cost of keeping those servers running.

They don't care, because that was never the point. The point was collecting your data and selling it. The 1g/2g units clearly didn't collect enough data. They make way more money doing that.

[–] webhead@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

Yeah I had those wemo switches in my old house and their servers were unreliable as fuck all the time (app was straight garbage). I'm not even surprised they finally pulled the plug. They're on my shit list forever now.

It costs more but I went hue and couldn't be happier. Spent too many years complaining about how it was expensive but God damn if they don't just work and Phillips I trust far more to not just shut shit down (and even if they did, I can still make them work since it's not proprietary).