Philips' Internet-Connected Lightbulbs Will No Longer Connect to the Internet

Philips will discontinue its support of the first generation of its Hue Bridge on April 29. The Hue Bridge is the centerpiece of Philip’s internet-connected lighting system, the hub that connected the lights in your home to the internet and software owners used to control their lights. With this decision, Philips joins the growing list of companies that make it clear people no longer own the stuff they buy.

Philips won’t brick the original Hue Bridges, but it will stop updating their software. That means the Bridges, and the lights they’re connected to, will no longer be able to use any of Philips’ online services, which is, of course, one of the whole purposes of buying the lights in the first place. But the lights can still be locally controlled via a dedicated app. “Signify will no longer issue security updates and your v1 Bridge may no longer be secure,” Philips said in a post explaining the policy on its website. “We do not recommend use of Hue Bridge v1 after April 30, 2020 due to potential security concerns.”

After Philip’s announced the change, users on Twitter started asking questions and the Philips Hue account answered them. Twitter user Mark Liversedge wanted to know why this was happening. “The V1 Bridge no longer has the resources to guarantee the evolution of the Hue system—from compatibility, speed, and security,” the Phillips twitter account said. “We want to be able to dedicate more time and effort to maintaining and developing the current bridge and system.”

The Philips twitter account also promised that the new Bridge V2 would be “future-proof. We actually decided to eventually discontinue further software updates and online services for the Hue Bridge v1, in order to focus on supporting our Hue Bridge v2 ecosystem,” it said.

There is currently no trade-in or recycling program for the old Huge Bridge systems. If users want to stay current, and secure, they’ll have to pay $59.99 for a new system. The Bridge is just the latest device to join the growing pile of internet connected stuff that, for completely arbitrary reasons, won’t update and, without security updates, puts a user at risk.

In January, Sonos discontinued support for older model speakers. Google purchased then bricked the devices of smarthome competitor Revolv, bricking people’s $300 systems. HP can remotely kill ink cartridges with DRM if users don’t pay for a subscription service. There’s even a cat box that won’t function without proprietary kitty litter.

Security experts and consumer advocates have pushed against behavior from companies like HP, Sonos, and Philips. But governments, especially the United States government, don’t seem interested in the problem. Until they are, companies will continue to break our things when it becomes profitable or, to hear them tell it, necessary.