Stringify Shutting Down

I received an email today from Stringify that they are pulling their apps immediately and will shut down servers for existing users in June.
Too bad, I had hoped Vera would work with them eventually. Guess this proves we need to avoid cloud dependency.

Amen to this. I am gradually pulling out every bit of cloud I can from my setup so to mall these google home/ifttt are all utter nonsense to integrate given how little value they provide when almost everything can be done locally.

Many people are using Sonoff, which is totally cloud dependant, but I think it might have some reliability due to its integration with AWS. Sonoff has the ability to do many tasks that normal Z-Wave devices can do but at a fraction of the cost. Do you think Sonoff is worth any investment? I think the ESP286 works the same way.

I own a couple of these devices which I use as backup to the vera. If the vera goes down, that’s how I power cycle it. Since it is independant from the vera I can make it work. The Sonoff uses the ESP chip which is a very cheap wifi setup. It isn’t 100% cloud. It is wifi with a local control from your mobile app but it does indeed prefer cloud. Given how I am using them, I think you can imagine that integrating it into the vera is the last thing I want to do. Getting zwave ones, in spite of their slightly higher cost (got some for ~$20) adds the advantage of them being zwave network repeaters making the mesh more reliable especially for my battery operated devices so for me it is a no brainer.