First thing I do when I get a smart appliance is scan it with nmap. This has revealed some interesting Easter eggs, like my Davis instruments air quality sensors having a local REST API.
Doing the usual scan against my GE washer and dryer shows that port 53 is listening. What could that be for? Is there a way I can at least query their status locally or something?
When I got the washer and dryer I was excited about the smart home features because getting an alert when my laundry is done or starting the washer remotely so the clothes are done when I get home are genuinely useful features. However, last time I checked the app none of that was available, so I just have these Trojan horses in my home spying on me with no benefit in exchange. Their app wanted my freaking mailing address when I signed up for their mandatory account, so the features mentioned above are the least they could offer in exchange for my digital soul. But I digress.
My fridge is in a similar situation. It commits the additional cardinal sin of ONLY being controllable via the app, with no on-board temp or filter status indicators whatsoever.
No one needs “smart” appliances. I know it’s fun to get a message telling you your water filter needs replacing, but come on…
The fact people trust these devices to not push a replacemnt before it is actually necessary in the name of profit baffles me.
Dumb filters already push for replacements early.
Exactly
Listen man I want smart everything. I want a fridge that tells me if I left the door open and when I last replaced the filter and if the OJ is out and then automatically asks if it should add more OJ to the grocery list.
And this can all be accomplished with modern technology without sending my data to an outside entity. It should be, even if it isn’t. So much of the sci-fi future we used to dream of can be a reality today, we just have to mold it into being.
This is absolutely the most annoying part. I would be all in on smart whatevers if they worked like they should (ie respecting privacy by design). As it is, I will only buy appliances with no internet capabilities because I don’t want to spend time securing them.
I have 2 automations for my washing machine, which start when I put it in remote start mode:
My HA smartified washer & dryer save us more than an hour every week because we are informed immediately when their cycles are complete. My refrigerator temperature monitor has alerted us more than once that the door wasn’t completely closed saving us hundreds in spoiled food costs. It would do the same if the compressor fails.
Everyone has different needs and sometimes those needs include smart appliance features.
No.
In that vein of thinking, nobody needs appliances.
However we are in the home assistant group so I think people are interested in linking things in their house together and controlling them centrally (if “central” does not mean the manufacturer) in an effort to make them smarter.