(Even wireless interconnect has only become code-compliant relatively recently - e.g. in my jurisdiction, code has only allowed wireless interconnect since 2019.)
That being said, I'm actually not that worried about Nest getting killed.
Unless it will continue to work after Google discontinues the product[1], no way.
Related dead Google products:
- Nest Secure
- Google Home Max
If it's not about ads, Google will kill it.
1) literally open sourcing their software so that it can be installed on generic hardware
2) altering it so that it does not rely on cloud servers (having it able to use cloud servers is fine as long as local is also an option.
then I would still not let this anywhere near my home.
Cloud only, closed options for "smart" homes are anything but. They are a suckers bet designed to separate you from your money and generate e-waste.
Worst case: Google division needs revenue and decides to extract revenue after obtaining market share.
IMHO, the entire home IoT market desperately needs federal minimum mandates, strictly from a cyber security perspective.
- Cloud functionality optional
- Firmware user update-able
- Source released if vendor stops supportMost people don't even know Home Assistant exists.
Or, probably more relevant at this point, most contractors building houses.
I think (hope?) this growing wariness will deflate GASA attempts to turn proprietary home automation hubs into ongoing revenue streams. Then GASA will eventually give up on home automation when it doesn't deliver the growth metrics they want. Let's face it, none of GASA can ever be trusted as the central gatekeeper in any ecosystem they want to own for downstream monetization (whether that's ads, subscription or selling customer data).
By adopting the open Matter protocol, GASA has already given up making the inpoint and outpoint hardware proprietary (sensors, switches, plugs, etc). Instead, with Matter they're intentionally commoditizing that low-margin end of the business for Shenzen's-finest to fight over. BTW, the Matter protocol is net positive for the open ecosystem because it creates more inpoints and outpoints that are Home Assistant compatible. With the other commercial players now commoditized, GASA's goal is to just be the central cloud gatekeeper and they're content to fight each other over it. Except Home Assistant exists, is already big and is gaining even more momentum.
To be clear, I have no illusion that Home Assistant will somehow "Win" over GASA offerings. Open source platforms don't "beat" proprietary platforms in head-to-head consumer market battles, they outlive them as the only stable, sane choice still standing. I think GASA will fight each other to a standstill, preventing any one of them from gaining the dominance or lock-in they need for home automation to be a GASA-scale 'platform pillar'. Eventually they'll realize it's not strategically "core" enough, give up and move on - leaving Home Assistant as the free, open "still-works, always-worked" default central gateway.
The basic UX of casting video from an app on my phone is the way I want to control my screens, and every application you care about supports it. But only Chromecast devices are allowed to be the server. And Chromecast devices don't do the things I want them to. I want to attach a PC to my screen instead, but still be able to cast videos to it from all the apps that support Chromecast.
Unfortunately it's locked down with certificates and such, so it's impossible to create a Chomecast-compatible device without Google's blessing (or someone leaking the keys).
Is this because of piracy concerns? But almost all of these apps have in-browser versions that do work on regular PCs. And there is HDCP and whatnot. I don't care about being able to access the video stream itself, I just care about being able to customize the UX around it...
I bought a 4k projector a few months ago and bought Chromecast 4k thinking it is just a Chromecast for UHD, but the Google TV thing in it is something I don't like. The remote is also silly, because it is too symmetrical. It often happens that one grabs it upside down and wonder why it doesn't work. The remote doesn't support my soundbar, so the volume buttons do nothing instead of just doing software volume as before. If it could at least learn the codes.
Now I start to feel that the best experience for me would be to use a ChromeOS device (i.e. a Chromebox) and create an Android app that would appear in share menus for URLs and Chrome extension, that would open sent URLs. There could be a bit more goodies to that. ChromeOS supports Android apps, but also Linux apps and services so it can run emulators, Syncthing and different media servers. At the same time you can watch Netflix on full quality. The only thing it doesn't support is optical media. ChromeOS devices can be cheap and good enough, so the EoL dates (which they prolong quite often) are not scary.
ChromeOS so far is one of the things from Google which keeps getting better.
I assume there must be some Windows program + side-loadable app that's high-quality, low-latency and actually looks like the laptop screen connected via HDMI. Would appreciate any recommendations...
There are solutions to this, but all proprietary with limited support across different devices.
* If it's content on my local server I use Kodi local.
* If it's streaming content I use a Kodi plug-in for the streaming service.
* If it's YouTube I use the SmartTube app (which is fantastic and actually makes YouTube usable again). It's easy to just go to History in SmartTube and pick up wherever I was on laptop/desktop.
There's Open Screen Protocol doing just that. https://github.com/w3c/openscreenprotocol
Worth mentioning, Netflix+YouTube's DIAL protocol (2013) also wasn't bad. I haven't given it much of a look but Matter Cast protocol is out there. It seems far more limited, and only can run specific apps on specific devices? Glowing review recently but seems like junk to me; platform agnostic actually seems to mean devices hosting only specific apps. https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/10/24153556/fire-tv-amazon-m...
The expectation being if you're casting local content/screens, then it's probably Miracast.
The open ecosystem around smart home has matured a lot in the last couple of years and Home Assistant now has millions of active users. There are also a wide variety of inexpensive sensors, switches, plugs, etc which come pre-installed with open source firmware like Tasmota and EspHome (example: https://www.athom.tech/tasmota). You won't find them at Best Buy or local stores but they're plentiful on Amazon, EBay and, of course, AliExpress.
To the extent companies like Google, Amazon, Apple and Samsung choose to support open, local-first standards I'll consider their devices as input and output nodes, however, I'll never let them be the central controller. There are now enough savvy open-only, local-first users that many of the Shenzen-based device makers have realized it's a profitable market segment and have given up trying to enforce their cloud-based apps. So we now have plenty of alternatives to the companies who only want users to be subscribers or eyeballs for ads.
https://www.cnet.com/reviews/western-digital-wd-tv-media-pla...
Used to attach to a local NAS. Swiftly knee-caped to do "streaming only" and thus became utterly dependent on third-party services.
I'd recommend the OSMC Vero as the only good replacement for it:
I was all-in on the smarthome fad a few years ago, but so many things kept breaking that it just wasn't worth the complexity anymore. I went back to a mostly-dumb home setup again and things just work now, lol.
Unfortunately there's not much incentive for them to do that.
Still, better than nothing. Hoping that Google actually stays committed this time.
I wish to add that the entire home automation landscape is a total clusterf**. It's an indecipherable mess of competing and overlapping standards, protocols, ecosystems amid a sea of players constantly joining and leaving the market, introducing and sunsetting their products. It's extremely difficult to find one solution that solves all your home automation and security needs. Then DIY'ers start adding things like Homeassistant into the mix to "tie it all together", which really is not practical for the average consumer.
Right now I have probably 8 to 10 different apps on my phone for remote controlling thermostats, security systems, and doorbell cams.
More importantly, I refuse to let myself get into the mindest that a thermostat is something I need to control from an app, or that I need video from my front door. Once I let myself expect those things, I'm at the mercy of shitty products, integration, and surveillance.
When I bought the speakers, they worked flawlessly. Then Google updated Home so that you need to use the feature in app (so you can't stream YouTube audio without paying for YouTube). Then they updated it to make it more invasive. Then, after an update about a year ago, Google Home would consistently lose my devices, forget them, and in one instance it bricked one and I still haven't been able to reconnect it.
I don't trust Google for this. I have bought no-name Chinese brands with sideloading APKs that have been 100 times more reliable and enjoyable to use than Google.
Smart TVs (including Google TV) are the single biggest security and privacy train wreck in most households. This is only going to make that a lot worse, which is the whole idea.
The game is pretty rigged and it all sucks. I have one home device (the little puck) setup to work with a chromecast audio in the same room for playing music. But they discontinued chromecast audio devices, which I think were pretty great.
Edit: yes, seemingly. Good, now I can get rid of my Honeywell/Resideo thermostats that came with the house.
If you ever had a Nest (one that learns how long it takes to heat up a room and preemptively shuts down heating) you'll never want a dumb one afterwards.