Very true. That’s why choice and competition are good things for the consumer! I really like my Wyse sense sensors. This market space is going to be fun to watch. My next item to investigate is window coverings, automated ones.
But Wyze Plugs run on firmware that seems to be respectably well-secured, and penetration tests have definitely found them to be free of having any of the almost criminally negligent, gaping vulnerabilities that researchers routinely find in Belkin Wemo plugs and the vast majority of every other wifi-connected ‘smartplug’ on the consumer market.
Along with some other considerations about Wyze as a company–which includes its hard-earned, great-reputation-based nature of some of the critical components in its rather unparalleled degree of success–I think in the area of security, Wyze makes its competition look like a bunch of amateurs, while simultaneously beating them with lower prices.
Sadly, ‘Absurdly poor security’ is an unspoken product feature you also pay for when you buy a Belkin Wemo ‘smartplug’ in particular, and pretty much every other ‘smartplug’ sold on the consumer market.
And unfortunately, the public has been given the strong impression that consumers can safely assume that if a wifi-based device is Homekit-certified then Apple has ensured that it it is safe to put on your network.
That is not at all true though…from what I’ve observed in the router and firewall logs on my own networks with trying them out…it largely means that the device securely communicates with your Homekit hub (e.g. AppleTV) using Homekit’s encryption protocol.
But Homekit has no ability to prevent the wifi-based device from trying to make pretty much any outgoing and local connections it wants–so if it is exposed to any sort of malicious process that sneaks in, any of it vulnerabilities present in it’s firmware can be exploited on via your LAN and WAN,
And this is all probably why Apple has decided to spend the money on working with some manufacturers of consumer routers, to get them isolate these devices on their own VLAN(s) so they can at least semi-isolate the devices from the rest of everything else present on your network(s).
But I would not all be surprised to learn that Wyze plugs (and its wifi-based products in general) are the most secure, or one of the most secure, ‘smartplugs’ on the market by flashing them with firmware that had security in mind from the ground up (as opposed to nearly every other IOT manufacturer who security researchers routinely say make a it a very low priority).
Hi, can we get an update on bulb and sense HomeKit integration
Made an account just to say this:
I’m not buying anything smart home without homekit.
Saw an ad for the lock, looks cool, already got a homekit lock.
Looked at the bulbs, cool, won’t buy it unless it works with my homekit automations.
No manufacturer is anywhere near complete enough an ecosystem to not integrate with others. I’ll be dead before I open a manufacturer specific app for something I can do in homekit. bye.
Same. And same.
I’m very interested in Wyze products - lack of HomeKit is a dealbreaker though.
Would like to see you product Apple Home Kit compatible. I think your products are cool and useful. I would standardize on Wyze if it were Home Kit and Siri compatible.
Are there any updates on getting this support. Would love to use the Wyze smart plugs with HomeKit.
Sadly after taking the risk and buying some wyzecams hoping they would support HomeKit I am now selling them all and moving to a vendor that does. Cancelling my subscriptions too. Shame as I love the cameras but HomeKit is a dealbreaker for me. They might be good value for money but HomeKit is essential to my requirements.
I’m curious to know why HomeKit is essential for your cameras.
With HomeKit Secure Video, a customer can decrypt their footage with a key available only to them, explained Guy “Bud” Tribble, Apple vice president of software technology
Because reading out of date vendor security whitepapers is obnoxious, and that’s a pattern I can both understand and enjoy.
Fair question, In short I manage multiple locations and everything is underpinned on Apple Home (for simplicity, reliability and interoperability) - I have the door locks, fire alarms, sensors, lights et cetera all integrated and managed for each location within one solution and automations in place
e.g. when door unlocks or sensor detects motion turn lights on. Without having the ability to have the video feed integrated with both automations and a single view makes it a real pain and increased risk. Example of this would be motion detected outside, door unlocked, lights turn on next step is camera triggers motion and video however without HomeKit this is impossible it requires manual intervention or an outside solution such as IFTTT which it then another tool I have to maintain and monitor to make sure it works. It is more infrastructure required and a possibility of the chain breaking down leading to a break in the security chain.
To me therefore its increased risk due to greater infrastructure complexity and reliant on multiple systems operating, more effort to investigate with reduced visibility of the overall “kill chain” e.g. wyze app shows me there is someone in that room, but doesn’t tell me if the front door was genuinely opened or forced open, and if the fire alarm is going off. Some properties I am 12,000 miles away from so I need all the dexterity I can get in these events to make an accurate assessment. Homekit can provide all of that in one view using consumer off the shelf technology at low cost whilst retaining a competitive market from vendors supporting a platform but competition within the sector of which camera or fire alarm to use.
Oh and the privacy and security from apple is bloody amazing compared to most other vendors out there.
Apple does a great job but don’t be lulled into a false sense of security. Apple protects the data and interactions shared with them true. But any interactions between the camera and it’s vendor e.g. Logitech, Wyze, etc are no more or less secure than the vendor makes them.
After 2 years with Wyze and with latest iterations of Homekit, I can assure you I am not buying Wyze sensors plugs unless they are HK compatible or a bridge is provided. Homekit is just too ubiquitous and a reliable standard for any major sensor manufacturer to ignore. Wyze can not afford to ignore it any longer.
Hi @Vino. Wyze is hardly ignoring this Wishlist topic. It has a tag of “Researching”, so that means it’s on their radar. If the tag was “Maybe-Later”, or even “Probably-not”, then that would be a different story.
That is true. However, this was started more than a year ago and its Christmas and there’s a stocking I need to fill and there’s this white bearded man who might come down my chimney
There have been many product releases from Wyze - and I’m always looking for words such as possible integrations with Homekit etc in the forums but have seen nothing. So I am just stating my position at the end of this year and hoping for better things from Wyze. I continue to buy their cams with abandon but everything else… nah!
Wyze has responded, here is their response.
the biggest thing for HomeKit is that we have to create a complete local interactions model that is compatible with HomeKit and if we had local control, we will look at how to do it so it works also with Google Home local SDK requirements and try to anticipate also how we can do local control with our own hardware and software. As such, this is a non trivial issue that requires a lot of engineering to work across the different products that we have.
So, we are not abandoning HomeKit, quite the contrary but this is going to be a little slow until we find a clear path and have engineering resources for the implementation. Our firmware engineers are pretty tied up for the moment with the current products under development.
That’s more or less what I suspected. I was responding to the fellow that was concerned Wyze was ignoring the issue.
Thank you for the detailed explanation, it shows clearly why it takes some time.
Made an account to cast my vote for HomeKit support, My 1 Wyze camera system would quickly to turn into 3-4+ if HomeKit support is eventually added /fingerscrossed