this post was submitted on 22 May 2024
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With Sonos shitting the bed with its app update and now the prospect of Alexa being destroyed by fees and AI, my smart home infrastructure is falling apart. So disappointing.
This is why I went with HomeKit devices. I do not understand why people trust Amazon or Google, their business models are not pro-consumer.
If Apple pulled at one of the maneuvers these two have, there would be a flood of articles condemning them. No one expects Amazon or Google to respect you.
It's hilarious you think Apple is in any way pro-consumer. Apple is all about their walled gardens, but they're a trap. Their entire business model is designed to use various underhanded means to entice you into their ecosystem and at every step make it increasingly difficult to escape it all so that they can keep extracting money from you. Google and Microsoft aren't much better but they are better ironically because they're not as good at disguising their bait and traps as Apple is.
I mean yeah. The only reason anyone is surprised when apple pulls shit like this is because they're aggressively anti-consumer in their pricing and hardware design (parts pairing, poor reparability, etc.). People assume because they're so flagrantly anti-consumer with their hardware, they can afford to not be so anti-consumer with their software. This is wrong, of course. They're a publicly traded company, they'll milk their users for every cent they can.
Yes. I understand the people who don't use Apple products think they are smarter than those who do. Your list of common tropes is tiresome.
The reality is quite far from what you imagine. People who actually understand technology, people who are in the tech industry use Apple products at a higher rather than those who are not.
Instead of Apples well thought out walled garden, fools happily pay extra to play in Google/Amazon/Microsofts chain linked dirt pit. It's hilarious what lengths people go to pretend that is a better experience; that rusty chain link with barbed wire is superior to walls
You will learn eventually
It's why I've avoided anything smarthome tied to any particular vendor.
My endpoint devices are almost entirely Zwave or Zigbee/Matter based. I started out with a SmartThings hub but migrated it all to Home Assistant last year. HA has honestly had easier integrations than SmartThings did and supports almost anything under the sun.
I don't have to worry about suddenly losing control of my devices and the only 'subscription' associated with it all is $15/year for a domain name to make setting up remote access easier. This approach requires a little more research, but it opens up the ability to mix and match devices however you'd like. Absolutely zero regrets.
Are you using microphones or is it entirely app based? And if so what microphones are you using?
I'm not currently, but I do know that HA has made specific pushes to improve voice-control over the past year. Should be numerous blog posts on their website about it.
Everyone learns for a first time, often through a negative experience. You should take the opportunity to promote FOSS alternatives rather than semi-gloat about your foresight.