I hate that anything smart needs my location to be enabled before it will work even if it’s use is unrelated to location. Like my smart light bulbs. Why do they need to know a location ever
Take it a step further and don’t use anything that requires a proprietary app. Even if they don’t require sign-in they’re still hoarding an egregious amount of data on you. I’ve been free of those shackles for years now.
If your bulbs use Bluetooth and your phone is an android, that’s because on Android you need location permission to scan for Bluetooth devices (as known Bluetooth beacons in range could give away your location). It’s still bad, because you can’t know if the app uses that permission for anything else.
I hate that anything smart needs my location to be enabled before it will work even if it’s use is unrelated to location. Like my smart light bulbs. Why do they need to know a location ever
As a rule of thumb those device go straight back for a refund.
I always download the app first before buying. If it requires an account (and they usually do) I don’t buy.
Take it a step further and don’t use anything that requires a proprietary app. Even if they don’t require sign-in they’re still hoarding an egregious amount of data on you. I’ve been free of those shackles for years now.
If your bulbs use Bluetooth and your phone is an android, that’s because on Android you need location permission to scan for Bluetooth devices (as known Bluetooth beacons in range could give away your location). It’s still bad, because you can’t know if the app uses that permission for anything else.
They really don’t. Look into home assistant, there’s no reason the network packet controlling your light bulb needs to go across the internet at all!
And stop buying from vendors that don’t allow full free local control (Google, etc.)