Home automation firm Wink to enforce subscription program on July 27

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in General Discussion
After a series of delays, smart home device maker Wink is making final preparations to roll out a controversial subscription service on July 27, much to the dismay of its user base.

Wink lineup
The current Wink lineup


Announced in a blog post on the company's website, Wink says that the new $4.99 subscription will take effect later this month. If users do not subscribe by July 27, their service will be significantly limited.

Users revolted when Wink initially announced plans to institute a subscription service, as many previously-free features will, in effect, be locked behind a paywall. Wink justified the move as a way to keep the company afloat as the upfront cost of the hardware alone was not sufficient.

After substantial backlash, Wink delayed the planned subscription service multiple times to allow users to respond to the change, whether it be to find a new platform to migrate to or accept the new subscription terms.

If users choose not to subscribe they will lose the ability to add new devices, update the firmware on the hub, use voice control, access their home remotely, and much more.

Users or new adopters who wish to sign up for a Wink subscription can learn more from the company's website.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 14
    laytechlaytech Posts: 292member
    Glad I don't own Wink products. It seems a bit harsh on its customer base. You buy a product for its features, when later get slugged with a fee to use those features.

    There are two ways to look it, if they don't charge you, the Company goes bust and you end up with useless hardware or they charge you and you get to keep the hardware. Assuming they use the subscription revenue wisely. However, there customers are paying for poor management decisions to build hardware under cost.

    Subscription services are wearing thin quickly but I just don't see the true value in for these sort of products. Possibly a small one off annual fee. 
    magman1979caladanianwatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 14
    rbnetengrrbnetengr Posts: 69member
    Wink? Wink who?

    magman1979
  • Reply 3 of 14
    kronus60kronus60 Posts: 2member
    GOOD RIDDANCE TO WINK!

    I purchased several Wink products for home security, including two Hubs (upgraded from first version) only to be told after less than a year that I had to suddenly pay a monthly RANSOM to continue to use their products.  Their first notice claimed that all of my devices would be unusable in roughly 30 days.  Their recent email however changed the tone after apparently some backlash and stated that only some of the features would work if I did not subscribe (I guess even they realized how slimy their decision was).

    I am not unreasonable and understand that all of this costs money, however, I purchased their equipment based on their NOT being a subscription fee.  The honorable thing would have been to inform users that they were now providing an "upgraded service" and or equipment that requires a subscription, and not simply cut the throats of the customers like me that spent hundreds of dollars setting up their system.  They could have simply quit providing support for older equipment.  

    They have the right to change their services -- They do not have the right to intentionally and permanently brick equipment that I purchased in good faith, simply because they think I have enough invested in their equipment to hold me up for a monthly ransom.

    Because they only gave me a month of service in their initial notice, I went out and replaced all of the equipment with HomeKit compatible WiFi devices that were a great deal less expensive, and as it turns out easier to set up and use.

    I think Wink should be reported to the Better Business Bureau for bait and switch.
    lordjohnwhorfinOferPetrolDaveaderutterrattlhedviclauyycwatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 14
    lordjohnwhorfinlordjohnwhorfin Posts: 783member
    Wink was great in the beginning. They had an awesome iOS app, added support for new devices on a regular basis... Things have never been the same since the demise of Quirky. The app was never updated, popular new devices not supported, and the whole system got unbearably flaky. Just this past week my hub disconnected and required a reboot. TWICE.

    There was such an urgency in the way they initially demanded subscription money it’s clear they needed it to keep the lights on and the servers running. I am not expecting any of that money to go to new developments, instead it’s just going to be used to keep a moribund system on life support until it dies of irrelevance. It’s been impossible to buy a new Wink hub for the past three years, the user base is shrinking, not expanding. It’s dead.

    So I bit the bullet, bought a Raspberry Pi 4 and installed Homebridge on it. That thing is amazing and not that hard fo figure out! It has tons of plugins to support pretty much any device under the sun, you just need to add a ZWave USB stick and a Zigbee interface to support your legacy Wink devices, and they’ll magically show up as HomeKit devices in your Home app. Much better use of money than a Wink sub.
    OferPetrolDavecaladanianviclauyycCloudTalkinkronus60watto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 14
    mbenz1962mbenz1962 Posts: 169member
    Fear of being hoodWINKed is what causes me to only buy hardware that is compatible with Homekit.  I am confident that Apple wouldn't pull a move like this because their main business is hardware which is priced to be sustainable.  No matter what happens to an individual hardware manufacturer and their platform, at least I will have the same functionality for the life of the product if it works with Homekit.  This decision has meant delays in adding some things that I would like in home automation because there wasn't sufficient (or any) availability for some types of devices, but I have never had to switch hardware just because a company changed its business model.
    caladanianviclauyycbeowulfschmidtwatto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 14
    BeatsBeats Posts: 3,073member
    Soon you'll have to pay a subscription for your refrigerator or it won't open.
    tokyojimucaladanianviclauyyckronus60watto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 14
    svanstromsvanstrom Posts: 702member
    You mistyped…
    many previously-free features
    should be "many already paid for at purchase features".
    beowulfschmidtwatto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 14
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,493member
    Beats said:
    Soon you'll have to pay a subscription for your refrigerator or it won't open.
    Don't say things like that. Samsung may be listening.
    svanstromwatto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 14
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,493member

    laytech said:
    Glad I don't own Wink products. It seems a bit harsh on its customer base. You buy a product for its features, when later get slugged with a fee to use those features.

    There are two ways to look it, if they don't charge you, the Company goes bust and you end up with useless hardware or they charge you and you get to keep the hardware. Assuming they use the subscription revenue wisely. However, there customers are paying for poor management decisions to build hardware under cost.

    Subscription services are wearing thin quickly but I just don't see the true value in for these sort of products. Possibly a small one off annual fee. 
    Well, it won't be too long before we see how this turns out.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 14
    larryjwlarryjw Posts: 982member
    What was their original business model that allowed them to offer services for free?

    They expected advertising to cover expenses? They thought a kind of pyramid scheme would work for them?


    watto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 14
    MichaelKohlMichaelKohl Posts: 20member
    kronus60 said:
    GOOD RIDDANCE TO WINK!
    Because they only gave me a month of service in their initial notice, I went out and replaced all of the equipment with HomeKit compatible WiFi devices that were a great deal less expensive, and as it turns out easier to set up and use.
    What equipment did you buy?
  • Reply 12 of 14
    widmarkwidmark Posts: 37member
    It’s tough right now for companies to stay afloat, but the law is not going to let a company hobble previously sold products for payment. Sounds like the old mob trick of forcing payment for protection.  They prob could get away with calling EOL for std software updates except for “premium” support payers, but after allowing some reasonable ownership period. Otherwise bait and switch.
    kronus60watto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 14
    MplsPMplsP Posts: 3,730member
    widmark said:
    It’s tough right now for companies to stay afloat, but the law is not going to let a company hobble previously sold products for payment. Sounds like the old mob trick of forcing payment for protection.  They prob could get away with calling EOL for std software updates except for “premium” support payers, but after allowing some reasonable ownership period. Otherwise bait and switch.
    As I recall, somewhere in the fine print of their user agreement they reserved the right to start charging fees. 

    I own a Schlage Nexia system that came with our house. It costs $10/month to keep using and I have considered replacing it with another ZWave hub to save the subscription fee. Wink was one that I had considered but I’m glad I didn’t now!

    I understand the need to charge a fee for ongoing services and support, but companies should be upfront about it. If they promised no fees after buying the hub then they should have baked the costs into the price of the hub.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 14
    svanstromsvanstrom Posts: 702member
    MplsP said:
    widmark said:
    It’s tough right now for companies to stay afloat, but the law is not going to let a company hobble previously sold products for payment. Sounds like the old mob trick of forcing payment for protection.  They prob could get away with calling EOL for std software updates except for “premium” support payers, but after allowing some reasonable ownership period. Otherwise bait and switch.
    As I recall, somewhere in the fine print of their user agreement they reserved the right to start charging fees. 

    I own a Schlage Nexia system that came with our house. It costs $10/month to keep using and I have considered replacing it with another ZWave hub to save the subscription fee. Wink was one that I had considered but I’m glad I didn’t now!

    I understand the need to charge a fee for ongoing services and support, but companies should be upfront about it. If they promised no fees after buying the hub then they should have baked the costs into the price of the hub.
    It's not just about fine print and promises, but about technical requirements… When you see these subscription services you often find that technically speaking it's not required to run most, or any, of it at the companies servers; they just design it in a way that will cost them money, because that way they will also control the customers data/devices and can keep charging for the products.

    And once they have X number os users it's easier to raise prices than it is to invent their way into profits; and if they fail, then they leave their loyal customers with non-working crap.

    No one plans to fail at their business, but… IMHO it's either delusional or straight up dishonest to un purpose design your products to fail if your business fails.
    watto_cobra
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