well since the app is required to setup the bridge it would follow that you would need to login with an account at initial setup…
If you block the bridge from connecting to the internet at the firewall and disable the app on your phone it should not be able to transmit any data to their servers. In fact it wont even be able to update. My guess is that they will force the app to use the cloud connection and remove its ability to access the local api of the hub. whether they remove the local API from the hub or not is to be seen.
I was lucky that when we started a more seriously “smart home” attempt that esphome was already around the corner:
So as of today like 98% of our devices are esphome nodes (full control & ownership) and a stunning of 100% of new devices are esphome compatible - otherwise it’s just not possible to have assurance that in 1, 5 or 10 years I can still use my own hardware (beside being able to update, change or fix things ).
It needs to be repeated again and again: If you only buy hardware (without having control over the software part) you are not really owning the thing and with it you don’t have things like the right to repair
Fun Fact: It was over 10 years ago when the Philips Hue bridge with it’s API actually gave @balloob the initial idea building a software known as Home Assistant.
Wow, this is truly disturbing. They always try to tell you that they do these things for “security” when really they want the revenue model that comes with selling your data to others, particularly the likes of Google.
I’ve been a loyal Hue customer for many years and that stops today. I actually have been working out a plan to deploy a bunch of their outdoor lights in a spring project that is now off the table (~$1,000 worth of Hue).
I’m curious about how to move Hue bulbs from the hub and into generic Zigbee, what’s the process and what do you give up by doing this? If I lose the cool effects it’s a real bummer as I use them all the time but it’s not the end of the world. What happens if I block the Hue hub from being able to access the Internet but leave things on there?
Perhaps we can use this topic to talk about how to change our use of Hue since we all know that writing to the company is not likely to do anything since we represent a fraction of the revenue they will get from the masses who put in a Hue hub and that is the extent of their automated home.
Same here: playing with philips hue made me look for an open, local only solution. And on zigbee, using a conbee2 it works flawlessly. I’ve also successfully converted a few friends to HA and open + no phone home is the one thing they all were asking for.
You should consider changing the slogan for HA >
Home Assistant: You don’t need an app for that, but we have one too if you want that
This would be a great time for someone to post a really simplified “How to” guide for first-time setup of Home Assistant and converting Hue Bulbs from the Hub hub to direct Zigbee control.
Make it non-nerdy, non-techie, and don’t assume the user has much understanding of HA.
If done right, would be a great first time experience for a lot of consumers concerned about privacy and the heavy-handed Hue policy and bring them into the HA arena with a nice soft landing.
I totally agree, I’ve done some research and it doesn’t seem very straightforward. I even took an old bulb that I had reset a long time ago because it cut out when it dimmed past 20% but kept it for other uses and after plugging it in my Aeotec Zigbee controller could not find it, so after looking around I did find a Python script that is supposed to be able to help but it’s for very particular Zigbee controllers and isn’t sure-fire.
In the meantime I’ve preemptively disabled the hubs MAC on my firewall so it cannot talk to the Internet so I can see what that does (and ordered some Inovelli bulbs to replace my standard Hue’s).
Very happy with their products, I like many others started my journey with Hue devices. Hub has been collecting dust in a closet since I started using Zigbee2MQTT a few years ago. Just did a count and I have 26 Hue bulbs / light strips / sensors set up. Started switching from smart bulbs to rather use dumb bulbs and smart dimmers / switches a few years ago to avoid bleeding money, this makes it even more unlikely I will buy more Hue in the future.
Might be a stupid question but: aren’t these kinds of practices illegal somehow - at least in some parts of the world?
I decide to buy a device because of the way it works when I buy it and the privacy policy in place might be part of my decision. If the manufacturer decides to force some new policies on me (with significant changes) AFTER I bought it, and it’s impossible to opt out of them, isn’t that a unilateral change of contract or something like that? Isn’t this like removing features from a product after I bought it? Isn’t this attackable under GDPR? Or some other regulation?
Just wondering…
Edit: for now: Hue Bridge blocked from the internet and SkyConnect order placed
There are laws about collecting information in many western countries (US, Canada, UK) where you must be able to opt out. The problem is while a lot of folks give you that required option that doesn’t mean they honor it and it’s hard to prove so like so many big tech companies, they just keep abusing it until they have to pay the price for it.
Will we loose the API when they change this? Or will this still work. Only with a account they can store it on their cloud?
What if you block internet access for the bridge and never update the mobile app. Then everything will still work. Because nothing is updated. Also disable bulb updates.
For me it’s OK when they store it somewhere. More important for me is that the API keeps working so the HA integration will still working.
Can the Hue hub and zigbee run in parallel, controlling the same lights? I’m thinking of switching to Skyconnect, but I don’t want to figure it out in the dark…
New Bulbs are automatically in pairing mode. Factory resetting a Hue bulb can be accomplished in 5 ways which are described below. After resetting the bulb will automatically connect.
When the bulb is still connected to the Hue bridge, you can simply factory reset the bulb by removing it from the bridge via the Hue app. Orphaned bulbs (configured to connect to a non-existing Zigbee network) can be adopted by a Hue bridge by entering the 6 character serial number in the Philips Hue app.
Install the Philips Hue Bluetooth app for Androidopen in new window or iOSopen in new window. You can use the app to trigger a factory reset on a paired light. (Note: The light will only be in bluetooth pairing mode for a couple of minutes after power-on)
Depending on how you removed it from the Hue bridge, you might need to factory reset it. The easiest way is to use a Hue Dimmer. Power toggle the bulb and then press both the top-most and bottom-most button of the dimmer at the same time, for about 10 seconds, in close proximity to the bulb (approximately 10 cm or so), until the LED in the dimmer turns green and the bulb flashes a few times.
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