Another day, another smart device bites dust – or, in this case, a complete range of smart home appliances.
On Thursday, Belkin Electronic Consumer Company said it would end technical support for Wemo’s earlier products since January 31, 2026 and that the application used to control the devices will no longer be supported. The decision will affect a series of appliances, such as smart plugs, light switches, smart bulbs, baby screens, kitchen appliances, heaters, air cleaners, motion sensors and much more.
In an email to customers, the uniform explained his decision, saying he had to shift his focus elsewhere.
“This decision was not slightly made,” the email reports. “During the last decade, since Belkin first started Wemo in 2011, we have been committed to providing consumers with innovative simple -use accessories for a seamless smart home experience.
“We understand that this change can disrupt your routines and we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience,” the company added.
Belkin says products are still under warranty until the date of life end may be eligible for partial refund And that its products set for use with Apple’s Homekit will continue to operate even without the wemo cloud services and the Wemo application. The application will also no longer be supported after 31 January 2026 and any device -based device features, such as remote access or voice integration, will no longer work.
The company will not provide technical support, firmware, software updates or assistance to deal with problems after 31 January.
The move to end a range of smart products at home leaves consumers without access to the technology incorporated into their daily lives – this is not just a kid’s game that goes offline. Is more necessary. (Of course, games that go offline may be devastating, as well. See, for example, SAD farewell for the robot fellow Moxie.)
It is becoming more and more common for companies to simply end the support for their older smart products for no technical reason to do so. Instead, these moves allow companies – as Belkin refers – to re -focus their efforts on more profitable areas of their business.
Google has recently announced a similar move to its decision to close its older nest devices, for example.
In April, the technological giant said that would no longer support The oldest generation of thermostats of the nest. Since October 25, 2025, Nest’s first and second -generation models will see that their affiliated features will close, stop receiving updates, no longer operate with the Nest or Google Home application and virtually become “stupid” devices.
Instead of dedicating resources to support its customer base, it is easier to email an offer to help them upgrade to a newer version. In the case of Nest, this is $ 130 from the 4th -line thermostat, which is normally $ 279.99. While this may be a good deal, the forced upgrade due to depreciation does not go well with many customers whose devices are still working well, despite their age.
However, this process protects Google from category action lawsuits, which could arise if it simply closes these many smart devices and the nest application at the same time. By pushing these customers from the Nest application and providing their incentives to upgrade to newer devices, Google could argue that the use of older devices was actually low enough if a treatment was increased. This could reduce any fines or compensation so that such a suit can drive and facilitate Google and may eventually close the Nest application.
In addition, offering to customers advanced notice of these types of movements reduces the legal risk of the company.
In the case of Belkin, the customers everyone went to Wemo for their smart home will be strongly affected and possibly angry if they are not eligible for partial refund.
Belkin provided a complete list of affected devices, which includes a wide range of smart home products covering multiple categories.
Belkin notes that its decision does not affect products based on Wemo yarn (Skus WLS0503, WDC010, WSC010, WSP100), which will continue to operate as they do today via Apple’s homekit.
