LG acquires Athom

Why not use the device as is for the next 2 years and panic then? :grin:

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I will continue using the device as nothingā€™s wrong with it. Moving to something else would just be a pain in the ass right now. I admit that I panicked the first day but right now people are just absurd.Most are talking about privacy etc and I am 100% that the exact same people donā€™t even have some basic networking knowledge and security at home is close to zero.
You have whatsapp, FB, chatgpt, share your dick pics all over the place :joy:, etc and you donā€™t want your electricity statistics sent to LGā€¦be real!

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oliver-hardy-stan-laurel

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Is do understand that this is what you want. But how can you be so sure that this is how it gonna be? Google and Alaxa are a kind of universal brands. They donā€™t sell there own tvā€™s or refrigerators. So there is no competition between Samsung and Google at that point. So Samsung is willing to give support for Google home and Alexa for there products. But working with LG is a complete different story.

Why should by example a brand like Samsung support the smarthome platform of LG? It does not make any sense as only LG will benefit from this as they can sell the data. And I donā€™t think that Samsung will help LG to grow.

And the other way around (by example LG that supports Samsung TVā€™s) This will only be the case if there are made some agreements between Homey and LG about this. And if that is the case, the question is, for how longā€¦ Can you give us any insights in that aspect to help us to relax a little bit?

Last but not least, I think you could have done a better job in informing us users about this whole thing. There was just one short email which raises only more questions than giving proper answers.

The most sensible response Iā€™ve seen so far.

App developers have not been part of the conversation, because thatā€™s what LG wants.

This is simply a puff piece.

I know because Iā€™m the one responsible for managing these partnerships. :wink:

Firstly, as mentioned before, we wonā€™t be selling any data. Period. Community Developers and Talks With Homey partners can rest assured that data that can possibly be collected via their Homey Apps will never be sold to third parties.

Furthermore, itā€™s entirely up to each brand to decide whether they want to continue their Talks With Homey partnership. So far, Iā€™ve had only positive conversations, with partners expressing excitement about the merger. They are here to stay. We aim to remain a neutral party, providing a welcoming platform for every brand.

In my opinion, the smart home industry can only thrive when all brands collaborate instead of working in isolation. Weā€™ve emphasized this point in our discussions with LG, and they fully agree.

LG also understands that Homey can only flourish if it supports a wide range of brands. If they wanted a platform exclusively for LG products, they wouldnā€™t have acquired us anyways.

Lastly, to help you relax, I highly recommend this video :pray:

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Interesting move :hugs:. I understand everyoneā€™s concerns, but Iā€™ll keep my Homey and see what the future holds.

Given the current uncertainty, I think it would be beneficial for the founders to host another AMA or a Zoom session (Because interactive with camera). This would provide a platform for users to ask questions and share their concerns directly with the team. Having the opportunity to engage in a live, interactive discussion could help clarify many issues and some of the worries people have.

Overall, open and honest communication is key during times of change, and I believe this approach could help a lot of people feel more confident and informed about the direction Homey is heading.

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I definitely agree.
One of the main problems with Athom was their lack of financial capabilities to invest more in development. Also I was afraid about depending on free development because they are not paid (not fair) and they can quit whenever they want leaving us in the wild with no answer (and it happens with some apps).
Also Athom could disappear consider it the difficult situation for financing small startups and companies. The real risk was seing HP just disappear one dayā€¦
Being acquired by such a great company is reassuring more than creating anxiety. Itā€™s a recognition and an opportunity. And it leaves open more development with more money and a wider scope.
Also the panic about data being collected is from my point of view exaggerated. Looking at interactions to understand customers practices is not the same as using private data. It can be anonymized and be useful to make a better product. And really I donā€™t care about a Korean guy knowing at what time I switch on my pool heating or when I close my curtains. What the fuck ?
Congrat Athom team !

Christopher Charpentier

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Since many of us as users consider LG a third party, this statement is completly false and misleading!

Considering that we were customers of Athom, and itā€™s been sold to LG, Athom most definitely have sold our data to a third party (LG)!

Please stop saying Athom will never sell the data, just because itā€™s called a merger or acquisition.

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I consider homey as the perfect smart home solution, I always felt technology providers such as homey, peloton and tesla as the Apple company in their field, I feel afraid of homey future as i never found a smart home hub as perfect as homey. Also i understand the founders decision and the need of the cash to run the company and for them. Luckily I am running some of my devices on HA. since 4 months ago and I access. them remotely via the home app on my iphone, actually the most automations i run them on the apple home app. For now I will keep using homey as nothing happened and will keep an eye on newer devices are compatible for HA not homey as i used to do before.

My humble opinion, despite of acquisition, this would not be allowed without our consent, otherwise it would cause GDPR breach.

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Time to sell? For me, Homey never delivered what I expected. Limited compatibility with devices, poor reception (worse than Fibaro 2 which has older and worse chipset!).
And LG is not good. We had LG TV ā€¦ bad, sold immediately. LG washing and drying machine ā€¦ poor disaster, extremely bad design. LG air condition ā€¦ mediocre quality, noisy.
So ā€¦ to be honest, I do not care much. Just confirmation that Homey wasnā€™t and isnā€™t what I expected and now it will be only worse.

Because you can learn and move to a different platform in those 2 years. Anyone sticking with Homey is only making the inevitable transition much harder on themselves down the line.

Not only is that interview a puff piece, but it reveals that the LG acquisition process has been in the works for a year. So all this time Athom was promoting and selling a $400 Homey Pro 2023 as ā€œprivacy-firstā€ they knew the company would likely end up being sold to a large corporation that wants users data. Iā€™m not sure why anybody would trust them after this.

Btw, read ā€œBuildā€ by Tony Fadell. What happened to Nest after it was acquired by Google. It is an extremely good book, pure gold.

Buying a company does not invalidate any existing user and privacy agreements. This doesnā€™t mean they canā€™t change those in the future (but they could always have done that even without being bought by LG), but it still needs the users consent.

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User and/or privacy agreements are subject to change and any updates might be required to sign/check to continue using all/new functionalities.

So, and im technically ā€œspeculatingā€, at some point, it could be that you will need to sign that to keep using your Homey.

And beside, at some point, LG could deside to merge Athom into LG, bypassing big parts of GDPR protections.

Again, they could have always done this, even without being aquired.

This still does not invalidate your current data privacy agreement that you have with Athom, which specifically states which of your data is used for what purpose. LG is not allowed to use any of that data outside what is agreed upon in the current policy without the users consent.

I suggest that you read the current privacy policy, because itā€™s pretty short and rather clear about what they can currently do with your data.

EDIT: Also the GDPR applies to all of your users who are EU citizens, it does not matter if your company is foreign in case this was what you were suggesting.

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Oh really? My LG aircos work fine with gomey.

One of the few things that works fineā€¦

Iā€™m really hoping that LG doesnā€™t lock it down and push out competition from Homey and close the ecosystem.