Will Wyze ever update / fix the bugs in the existing Wyze Band & Wyze Watches and / or open source them for the community to keep them updated / fix the bugs & be able to manage them in open source apps like Gadgetbridge et cetera?
Will Wyze ever update / bug fix and / or open source and / or release new Wyze Scales?
Will Wyze release a budget smart ring or smart pendant and / or other lifestyle products again?
Firstly, the best time/place to ask these questions would be during one their Reddit AMA events that are often occurring shortly after they launch a new product. The next time you hear about a new product launch, check to see when the AMA is and either go ask questions there, or ask someone like me to go ask them for you (I post like a couple dozen questions to them from others every AMA event).
Having said that, I can probably give you enough info from past statements to answer your questions…
They told us a couple of years ago that they were moving away from “Lifestyle” products. Here is one quote from their AMA:
Since that statement a couple of years ago, they indicated that it was their intention to keep most products “STABLE” as they were, only fixing “High Impact” issues that the community tells them in Fix-it-Friday should be the new priority. From one of the Cofounders in a more recent AMA:
We have not stopped supporting any Wyze products, though we have stopped selling some and let them go EOL. On these products, when specific high-impact bugs have been brought to our attention through Fix-It-Friday, we have fixed them. But we haven’t been putting out active updates for all of our products (especially the stable ones) to better focus on cameras. -
I would say that for the most part, Wyze considers older products “stable” unless it is pointed out to them that there is some new high-impact bug significantly impacting a large number of users that needs special attention.
Having prefaced that, I would say the answers are as follows:
Extremely unlikely.
Not likely unless the general community agrees that those bugs are the highest impact issue needing the highest priority that month. So it is possible
Again, not likely…they won’t even offer us an official Public API.
A couple of years ago, I saw that some user had actually created a third party API for the Wyze Watch somewhere, but I have struggled to find it since then, and depending on what your particular bugs are that you’re talking about, it might not even be helpful at all.
You never know. From what they’ve said, it feels unlikely. They said it is too hard to gain traction in the Lifestyle market. There are so many competing affordable alternatives already that they can’t really be disruptive in the market anyway. The last couple of years they have been focussed on Cameras and AI, though they admitted they might do other things occasionally. Afterall they did start offering a sort of lifestyle/security partnership product recently:
I didn’t expect they would do that either. But then they had zero R&D for it. It didn’t take away any of their priority resources to offer it.
Thank you, @carverofchoice, I thought so, especially based on that past refocusing & their actions & lack there of since then, unfortunately.
I was just wondering because we have been wanting to stick with Wyze if possible, it is unfortunate to have lost an American company in this space, I currently do not know any American company in the budget space for smartwatches / smart bands / smart rings.
I haven’t ever used the Band, but I wear the Watch 47 almost constantly. I understand that the AMA response quote is over two years old, and I recognize why the product head would refer to something like the Watch being a fashion accessory, but I think the argument could be made that both the Watch (with the ability to activate Shortcut Rules from the Wyze app) and the Band (with Alexa built-in) offer capabilities within that “Control” category, depending upon how Wyze is choosing to define “control”. From my perspective as an end user, it certainly appears that these devices have the ability to control other connected things within the Wyze ecosystem, so I’d really like to see them get more support and attention.
I liked that the Wyze Band had Alexa support & a microphone, but it had a flaw in the band design that broke in the exact same spot for my entire family.
I agree with you, I will hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.