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In my opinion this is not Xiaomi into Home Assistant (HA). To me, an integration would mean that I need nothing from Xiaomi, all activities are within HA. fro

In my opinion this is not Xiaomi into Home Assistant (HA). To me, an integration would mean that I need nothing from Xiaomi, all activities are within HA. from the Github page[0]: > Xiaomi Home Integration and the affiliated cloud interface is provided by Xiaomi officially. You need to use your Xiaomi account to login to get your device list. Xiaomi Home Integration implements OAuth 2.0 login process, which does not keep your account password in the Home Assistant application. However, due to the limitation of the Home Assistant platform, the user information (including device information, certificates, tokens, etc.) of your Xiaomi account will be saved in the Home Assistant configuration file in clear text after successful login. You need to ensure that your Home Assistant configuration file is properly stored. The exposure of your configuration file may result in others logging in with your identity. [0] https://github.com/XiaoMi/ha_xiaomi_home?tab=readme-ov-file#security https://github.com/XiaoMi/ha_xiaomi_home?tab=readme-ov-file#...

greatgib 2y ago
I agree that it totally sucks. If you use home assistant, it is mostly to not give control of everything in your home to the cloud of a company. Especially to a Chinese one... And there is no legitimate reason why control can't be local only, especially when home assistant is there to provide the gateway feature and remote access is needed! So this action of Xiaomi is just a marketing way to be able to print "compatible with home assistant" on their box despite still forcing to use their cloud!
asveikau 2y ago
This is how a lot of home assistant integrations work. Sure, many HA users (self included) try to avoid dependence on cloud services and opt for local only solutions, such as zwave or ZigBee or products that work with local-only wifi. But the nature of the beast is that some devices out there are built to talk only to a cloud service. Having a company start an upstream project is probably a better sign than not having that, however sure, they could pull the plug on their access to cloud service, people may have privacy and security concerns, etc.
- reaperducer 2y ago
  they could pull the plug on their access to cloud service It's happened to me twice. The first time was about seven years ago, when Fiet Electric sent out a software update that deliberately bricked all of its home hubs, and consequentially turned all of the connected smart light bulbs into dumb light bulbs. Speculation on IoT forums at the time was that Fiet failed to properly license some piece of code that was critical to its system; but that was all speculation. I seem to recall that Fiet put out an e-mail long after the fact letting people know they could no longer use their "smart" devices. The second time was earlier this year, when Sylvania ended its cloud service, and turned its smart bulbs into merely clever bulbs. They'll still work with the stand-alone Sylvania app, but new bulbs can no longer be added to Apple HomeKit setups. So you need to use two apps (Home and Sylvania) to control the devices in your home. That is, until the Sylvania app is no longer available in the App Store, or compatible with modern devices. Avoiding Fiet Electric products was easy. But I thought I'd be safe with a big name like Sylvania. The "L" in IoT stands for "Longevity."
  - nemomarx 2y ago
    what's the state of bulbs that don't use apps? I have some from IKEA that get paired to a Bluetooth remote, and it seems pretty good for now but I'm kinda nervous about relying on a device like that.
    - afavour 2y ago
      IIRC Ikea bulbs all use Zigbee so should be pretty safe.
    - microtonal 2y ago
      Philips Hue uses Zigbee and the quality of Hue lights is really excellent (both the lights themselves and longevity, our oldest lights are over 10 years). A lot of Ikea devices also use Zigbee, though it sometimes takes a while before they are supported properly by SmartThings, Home Assistant, etc.
    - mschild 2y ago
iamjackg 2y ago
"Integration" is just the term the HA project uses for code supporting a specific device/brand/platform. Home Assistant shows a label on each integration clarifying whether it's entirely local or cloud-based.
diggan 2y ago
I think (some correct me) you can group most devices into the following categories: 1. Device requires internet for setup, and for usage 2. Device requires internet for setup, but after that don't need it anymore 3. Device can be fully setup without internet, and used without internet Personally I aim to be fully within 3 as much as I can, but some devices are really hard to find at a good price point that falls into 3. All my HA devices are within 3, except some real-time cameras which I couldn't find below ~300 EUR if I wanted them in 3, so those are within group 2 and now isolated after the setup.
- dietr1ch 2y ago
  I'm not buying any device that's not 3, everything else turns into a brick as soon as there's some larger change. I have some older Google Speakers, and while they seemed to be 2, after being powered off for long enough they can't be set up again, not even with internet access since their firmware was also outdated and the app isn't able to set them up again.
  - c0wb0yc0d3r 2y ago
    I learned my lesson with LIFX light bulbs. Luckily for me I was able to find an old version of the Android app. Manually installed it, and was able to rescue the few I have. These days I’ve found that when in doubt get the device that is home kit approved. That usually ensures local only control. You have to fake it with home assistant, but it can be done with little fuss.
  - birdman3131 2y ago
    I am ok with devices that default to 2 but can be converted to 3. Don't recall if Shelly's default to 2 or 3 but I like that you can flash em to tasmota for a gaurenteed 3.
    - AdrianB1 2y ago
      Most devices are in the category 3, except for BLU that are currently in 2. I have almost 1 of everything they make and I did set up the BLU ones using 2 with their app, I did not test to see if their app works without Internet, but I doubt the BLU can be configured without their app.
wkat4242 2y ago
That is nice because the xiaomi stuff is all over the place in HA. Some devices (the air cleaner for example) have built in support but many of them need custom not really supported addons from HACS. Like the WiFi fans, weighing scales, rice cooker etc

greatgib 2y ago

I agree that it totally sucks. If you use home assistant, it is mostly to not give control of everything in your home to the cloud of a company. Especially to a Chinese one... And there is no legitimate reason why control can't be local only, especially when home assistant is there to provide the gateway feature and remote access is needed! So this action of Xiaomi is just a marketing way to be able to print "compatible with home assistant" on their box despite still forcing to use their cloud!

asveikau 2y ago

This is how a lot of home assistant integrations work. Sure, many HA users (self included) try to avoid dependence on cloud services and opt for local only solutions, such as zwave or ZigBee or products that work with local-only wifi. But the nature of the beast is that some devices out there are built to talk only to a cloud service. Having a company start an upstream project is probably a better sign than not having that, however sure, they could pull the plug on their access to cloud service, people may have privacy and security concerns, etc.

reaperducer 2y ago
they could pull the plug on their access to cloud service It's happened to me twice. The first time was about seven years ago, when Fiet Electric sent out a software update that deliberately bricked all of its home hubs, and consequentially turned all of the connected smart light bulbs into dumb light bulbs. Speculation on IoT forums at the time was that Fiet failed to properly license some piece of code that was critical to its system; but that was all speculation. I seem to recall that Fiet put out an e-mail long after the fact letting people know they could no longer use their "smart" devices. The second time was earlier this year, when Sylvania ended its cloud service, and turned its smart bulbs into merely clever bulbs. They'll still work with the stand-alone Sylvania app, but new bulbs can no longer be added to Apple HomeKit setups. So you need to use two apps (Home and Sylvania) to control the devices in your home. That is, until the Sylvania app is no longer available in the App Store, or compatible with modern devices. Avoiding Fiet Electric products was easy. But I thought I'd be safe with a big name like Sylvania. The "L" in IoT stands for "Longevity."
- nemomarx 2y ago
  what's the state of bulbs that don't use apps? I have some from IKEA that get paired to a Bluetooth remote, and it seems pretty good for now but I'm kinda nervous about relying on a device like that.
  - afavour 2y ago
    IIRC Ikea bulbs all use Zigbee so should be pretty safe.
  - microtonal 2y ago
    Philips Hue uses Zigbee and the quality of Hue lights is really excellent (both the lights themselves and longevity, our oldest lights are over 10 years). A lot of Ikea devices also use Zigbee, though it sometimes takes a while before they are supported properly by SmartThings, Home Assistant, etc.
  - mschild 2y ago

iamjackg 2y ago

"Integration" is just the term the HA project uses for code supporting a specific device/brand/platform. Home Assistant shows a label on each integration clarifying whether it's entirely local or cloud-based.

diggan 2y ago

I think (some correct me) you can group most devices into the following categories: 1. Device requires internet for setup, and for usage 2. Device requires internet for setup, but after that don't need it anymore 3. Device can be fully setup without internet, and used without internet Personally I aim to be fully within 3 as much as I can, but some devices are really hard to find at a good price point that falls into 3. All my HA devices are within 3, except some real-time cameras which I couldn't find below ~300 EUR if I wanted them in 3, so those are within group 2 and now isolated after the setup.

dietr1ch 2y ago
I'm not buying any device that's not 3, everything else turns into a brick as soon as there's some larger change. I have some older Google Speakers, and while they seemed to be 2, after being powered off for long enough they can't be set up again, not even with internet access since their firmware was also outdated and the app isn't able to set them up again.
- c0wb0yc0d3r 2y ago
  I learned my lesson with LIFX light bulbs. Luckily for me I was able to find an old version of the Android app. Manually installed it, and was able to rescue the few I have. These days I’ve found that when in doubt get the device that is home kit approved. That usually ensures local only control. You have to fake it with home assistant, but it can be done with little fuss.
- birdman3131 2y ago
  I am ok with devices that default to 2 but can be converted to 3. Don't recall if Shelly's default to 2 or 3 but I like that you can flash em to tasmota for a gaurenteed 3.
  - AdrianB1 2y ago
    Most devices are in the category 3, except for BLU that are currently in 2. I have almost 1 of everything they make and I did set up the BLU ones using 2 with their app, I did not test to see if their app works without Internet, but I doubt the BLU can be configured without their app.

wkat4242 2y ago

That is nice because the xiaomi stuff is all over the place in HA. Some devices (the air cleaner for example) have built in support but many of them need custom not really supported addons from HACS. Like the WiFi fans, weighing scales, rice cooker etc