June Oven was the gold standard

A decade ago, former Apple engineers built a beautiful smart oven with a built-in scale, restaurant-grade heating elements, a camera, and AI food recognition. At one thousand four hundred ninety five dollars, it set the standard for smart cooking appliances.

Weber killed June this week

Weber, which bought June in January two thousand twenty one and stopped making ovens in two thousand twenty two, shut off the app and cloud services this past Tuesday. Users now have a sleek-looking toaster oven with no app control, no updates, and no support.

Weber rejected open-sourcing the tech

Weber considered open-sourcing June's technology to keep it alive but decided against it, citing the fact that June's IP is part of its Weber Connect platform. Users cannot factory reset the oven without risking permanent failure.

The graveyard keeps growing

June is the latest in a depressingly long list of connected products that have arrived in the smart home graveyard in the last two years alone. The Nest Secure, early Nest Thermostats, Belkin's WeMo line, Neato's robot vacuums, the Brava smart oven, Logitech's Pop buttons, Bose's SoundTouch speakers, and Sengled's smart bulbs all lost their lifelines.

Some devices survive as zombies

Most gadgets degrade rather than die outright. June and Brava still work as ovens. Nest Thermostats still control heating and cooling. Neato still vacuums floors. But remote access, voice control, updates, and other smart features you bought them for are gone.

Rescue is rare but possible

Some devices have been saved by local APIs and protocols like Zigbee, Thread, and Apple's HomeKit, or through Home Assistant integration. When Insteon shut down in two thousand twenty two, its users bought the company and resurrected it. Bose open-sourced its SoundTouch API.

Why startups are dying

Many early smart home pioneers are aging out after a decade plus. Most have been bought by bigger companies attracted by the shiny thing but then dismayed by the bottom line. Cloud servers cost money, and once a company decides to shut down a product, reasons to keep paying fade rapidly.

Level Lock shows the pattern

Level Lock, another former Apple engineer startup that produced a beautiful replacement for a common household item, was bought by Assa Abloy, which abruptly fired most of the team. It is still alive, but how long it will continue is a big question.

Consumer Reports wants legislation

Consumer Reports is pushing for legislation around connected IoT devices, including making manufacturers push a local API to a device before killing its cloud. This would allow it to keep talking to a platform like Home Assistant instead of becoming a paperweight.

Manufacturers must build safeguards

When building a connected device, manufacturers need to make it function without the cloud. Include physical buttons so it does not rely on an app, and use local protocols alongside any cloud connectivity. Matter devices can retain many functions regardless of what happens to the manufacturer's business.

Companies should plan for shutdown

Manufacturers need to design for death from day one, or at the very least plan to pay for the funeral. Amazon refunded anyone who bought a Halo in the twelve months before it killed the fitness band. Vorwerk promised to keep Neato running for five years; when that was truncated to two, it gave some users free replacements.

“design for death from day one”

How to protect yourself

Make sure any smart home device offers local control, has physical buttons or a direct remote control, and can operate offline. Do not dismiss cloud-connected features; they can add real value. But remember that any feature reliant on a server could one day die.

Cloud dependency is by design

Many companies keep devices cloud-dependent for revenue. Chamberlain, maker of the popular MyQ garage door opener, blocked unauthorized API access, preventing Home Assistant users from controlling their garage door openers through the platform, and developed new security protocols that blocked those trying to work around its cloud control.