Belkin ends support for Wemo devices, many will become e-waste come January

[Daniel Sims]

Facepalm: Owners of Wemo remote heaters, air purifiers, coffee makers, baby monitors, and other devices should begin shopping for replacements as soon as possible. Support for all of the company's non-Apple HomeKit devices will end in January, rendering them inoperable for customers who don't use Apple devices.

All Wemo smart home devices that do not support Apple HomeKit will stop functioning on January 31, 2026. After parent company Belkin shuts down the Wemo cloud service on that date, users will no longer be able to remotely control their devices through the Wemo app.

Any Wemo devices released before 2021 will essentially become e-waste. The company's older humidifiers, air purifiers, heaters, Wi-Fi baby monitors, motion sensors, light switches, and other products will be impacted.

This situation highlights a recurring issue with Internet of Things devices: planned or unplanned obsolescence. Customers who purchase smart gadgets to control lights or other essential appliances often face problems years later when support ends or the manufacturer exits the market. Security vulnerabilities may never be patched, and technical support may no longer be available when glitches arise.

Many smart plugs and light switches released between 2021 and 2023, which support Apple's HomeKit platform, will continue to function after January 31 if users switch to controlling them through HomeKit instead of the Wemo app. Only a few HomeKit-exclusive light switches and plugs will remain completely unaffected.

Although some affected devices also work with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, Wemo's integration with those services often relies on the company's cloud infrastructure. As a result, those features will also stop working. Partial refunds will be available after January for products that are still under warranty.

Belkin, best known for selling accessories for electronics made by other companies, launched its Wemo smart home brand in 2011. Although the company initially used a proprietary cloud system that supported a wide range of devices, it has gradually shifted to producing mainly light switches and plugs compatible with Apple HomeKit.

Although cutting support for Wemo's cloud service will force many customers to replace devices that might have functioned perfectly for years, relying on a larger company's platform likely saves Belkin money. While many smaller companies manufacture IoT devices, this situation suggests that the industry is becoming increasingly dependent on a few major tech companies.

Many consumers are not aware that sellers can remotely disable smart home devices. Earlier this year, Ars Technica reported that nearly half of survey respondents did not know their smart controls for doorbells or lights could eventually become e-waste.

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Belkin ends support for Wemo devices, many will become e-waste come January

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Half of consumers didnt know that cloud dependent hardware could be shut off remotely? I'm sorry, but if you are stupid enough to not understand how cloud connected services work (and frankly, in this age of the worlds knowledge at your fingertips, ignorance is not an excuse, you ARE stupid if you fall for this kind of thing) and go and buy any device that requires an internet connection to function, you deserve for all your expensive infrastructure to fail. Go buy it again, good little consooomer!

Meanwhile, the 50+ year old light switches in my house work perfectly fine. Funny how that works. And I dont need the internet to turn off my lights, I do that by hand before I leave the house. My dummy heater, air conditioner, and de humidifier all work great too! If I want something to turn on or off on a schedule, most "dumb" devices still have the ability to set on/off times, or you can buy simple mechanical timers that plug into the wall.

Only way I'd ever touch a "cloud" device would be if said cloud was open source and could be self hosted.

 

[Aus spot]

Half of consumers didnt know that cloud dependent hardware could be shut off remotely? I'm sorry, but if you are stupid enough to not understand how cloud connected services work (and frankly, in this age of the worlds knowledge at your fingertips, ignorance is not an excuse, you ARE stupid.

I think you have outed yourself as someone without the full view, by your lack of knowledge of average consumer.

The average consumer has many things on their mind, the specific details of how their ICT works is not, and should not be something they need to worry about. The cloud still exists, it’s not like the cloud has stopped working.

Just because you have an interest in ICT and read websites like this that are dedicated to ICT does not make you smart. If you can’t view the issues strategically and can only call people names if you know one small detail they don’t, take a good look at yourself and then look outside your friendship group for what average people deal with everyday. There’s likely a rocket scientist or biologist that don’t fully understand the cloud issues associated with their house heater.

Aka, don’t call people “stupid” because you may think you know one piece of information they don’t.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

Meanwhile my $0.79 physical light switch will still work 30 years from now after 7 other smart platforms are sunsetted without a single software update. (I am so glad I got over smart home things early).

 

[toooooot]

Humidifiers, air purifiers, heaters, will most likely work. They just will be a bit dumber.