I still prefer the old fashioned way of letting the rottweiler answer the door first. Much more entertaining that way!Now I just need the Zwave enabled trap door that fires off when the doorbell is pressed and dumps the solicitor into the furnace!
So matt-wink, I have a question.
I see that Wink.com has pulled the Chamberline MyQ product in an effort to push its Ascend product. This despite the fact that those of us who have Chamberline Garage Door openers would likely be better off with the easier to integrate and use MyQ options.
I understand Wink taking the policy of pushing it's "invented here" products (the Ascend) over it's compatible products (the MyQ) in its own store but I want to make sure that's not going to be Wink wide. Those 3rd party products are in unique and in many cases superior to the Quirky equivalent (read: I'm never buying a Norm over a Nest).
If you're going to start excluding 3rd party products, I need to know now to make platform decisions. I don't care what the wink.com store does (your prices aren't competitive anyway), but I want to make sure Wink the platform stays somewhat agnostic.
Gizmodo: My Wink Smart Home Is Just Plain Braindead Now
Then again, this level of garbage is exactly what I'd expect from Gizmodo.
I am at times rather critical of the Wink platform (because I want it to improve) but this Gizmodo guy is a joke. He nearly starts an electrical fire installing a Relay (and that's a lovely wiring job there anyway), destroyed a tripper since he can't comprehend the re-pair directions (the magnet side is clearly not meant to be opened), and has some love affair with animated gifs. Because you know, why use video when you can have poorly compressed, dithered 8-bit technology from the 90s? I think he should have gone with ASCII art.
And then there is the information which is inaccurate (I've paired groups of GE link bulbs at a time with no issue). And I'm reading the relay instructions; they're not just a photo and they're not that complicated. They also clearly state you should hire a professional if you're not comfortable doing this. When you run 15 Amps through your hand via a power drill, that's probably not comfortable ... "I'm not an electrician but I'm good with diagrams".
I got the sense when I read the article the first time he just wanted something to complain about. Assuming the DNS fix works, the hub fix isn't a big deal. If you have to mail it in, yes, then it's a PITA but that happens sometimes.
The part that irks me is that I'm getting the sense from the article that Wink gave him all of this stuff. Then again, this level of garbage is exactly what I'd expect from Gizmodo.
I don't know - the article has a point. Just for the whole 'hub fiasco' the wink platform is on sketchy ground. I'm still not convinced that Wink can recover from that.
I think the article is getting at the fact that the 'everyday Joe' will have similar issues with the Wink platform. If Home Depot is selling Wink, its assumed its reliable and within the tech know-how of the average customer. I tried explaining how my GE bulbs were automated to my father-in-law, you could watch his eyes glaze over as I discussed hubs, wifi, and other non-normal issues. He just wants it to work - like a light switch does.
The article has valid points. This stuff rarely works 'out of the box' and as expected. However, I have had 90% success with the GE 'mini-hub' and GE bulbs, but thats by keeping it extremely simple.
I don't know - the article has a point. Just for the whole 'hub fiasco' the wink platform is on sketchy ground. I'm still not convinced that Wink can recover from that.
I think the article is getting at the fact that the 'everyday Joe' will have similar issues with the Wink platform. If Home Depot is selling Wink, its assumed its reliable and within the tech know-how of the average customer. I tried explaining how my GE bulbs were automated to my father-in-law, you could watch his eyes glaze over as I discussed hubs, wifi, and other non-normal issues. He just wants it to work - like a light switch does.
The article has valid points. This stuff rarely works 'out of the box' and as expected. However, I have had 90% success with the GE 'mini-hub' and GE bulbs, but thats by keeping it extremely simple.
I'm not sure what Wink's long term game plan is if they have one. They seem to be focusing on niche products and giving the Hub away. For those of us interested in HA, honestly, I make sure every product I buy these days works either independently of them, or can be moved to another HA solution. Nests look cool; Honeywall makes a thermostat which looks almost exactly like the one I have on the wall but it has wifi. Both of those work independently of Wink. My light bulbs are almost all on the Hue hub and I only bought trippers as they were reported working in SmartThings (although apparently might not be since then)...
Interesting article on Quirky:
http://www.theverge.com/2015/4/24/8488531/quirky-invention-powered-by-quirky
Which highlights what probably my biggest concern re Wink. I'm not convinced that they have the capabilities or resources in a lot of areas, financial included, to really make it work longer term. Dreaming up and launching something like this is one thing, continuing to operate successfully on a longer-term basis is another. Completely different deal.
Which is why its critical that the Wink app allows LOCAL control of devices. if Wink servers go away, so does all the control of our devices.
For now, Im sticking with GE 'smart' light bulbs that, if needed, can be turned on and off with an old fashioned switch.
Dammit! Should have checked here first!Just a heads up, if you have Android don't update the Wink app the update just force closes.
Seems they just updated the update to 3.1.0.10 and fixed it.
Not yet! At least your Tasker project actually worked! The Jury is still out on Wink's encarnation of it!Looks like my Tasker project is going the way of the dodo...
https://get.google.com/tips/#!/tips/turn-your-lights-on-and-off-with-wink
Looks like my Tasker project is going the way of the dodo...
https://get.google.com/tips/#!/tips/turn-your-lights-on-and-off-with-wink