I mean that’s a really cool hack, but why in the world would a humidifier need a cloud connection?!?
smart appliances, i would never buy one of those.
Because it’s Xiaomi. Everything Xiaomi NEEDS an app and cloud connection to share as much of your stuff as possible. It’s how they get cheaper selling prices to begin with.
I bought a Xiaomi scooter on impulse and realized it doesn’t fucking go above 5kmh until you connect it to an app. It rots in my garage now.
Usually lite version of their products don’t connect to the to the internet.
Huh…first news of this. I’ll have to look into it. I love their non-internet stuff, like their power banks, air pump, screwdrivers and other small gadgets, but usually steer clear of their IoT things unless I know for a fact I can block them and use them offline.
EDIT: I’m not sure what other lite devices might not connect online. But the Mi Air Purifier 4 Lite website already shows “works with Amazon Alexa and OK Google”. So I guess this one is definitely online…
I see, interesting. I was wrong then.
Edit: So it seems they have non “smart” versions but not for everything.
It totally makes sense to have one running with HomeAssistant. Humidify the air based on a sensor reading. Don’t run in certain timeframes, f.e. when nobody is home. Track the air quality into nice graphs. Give an alarm when the water is low. That totally makes sense. Using a chinese cloud doesn’t
Well, my vacuum robot is integrated into home assistant, but I use valetudo so it’s only connected to local WiFi. Air quality graphs I also have but also connected via zinger so I don’t broadcast my data and don’t have any holes in my system that I’m not responyfor and can’t patch.
Connect via app. That’s probably all.
Home assistant has had a local integration to pretty much all Xiaomi devices for quite a while now.


