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It's a complete privacy nightmare. All those cameras and sensors and devices are recording tons and tons of data about you and your house and selling them to advertiseres or giving them to gov agencies for surveillance. Not to mention the fact that having the doors to your house unlockable if someone in russia or venezuella gets your account password lol

You have to be truly, truly stupid to have any "smart home" products in your house.
Soooooo.......how do you prevent it. Do you own a smart TV or two? My LG OLED Tv has been popping up boxes telling me to "agree" to voice control for my "convenience". Of course that means permission to record any audio that occurs in my bedroom. Uh, Nope! I already hate that it randomly lights up for a few seconds in the middle of the night which they say is for "updates". Do you have a Computer with a camera embedded? Tablet with Camera?, Video Doorbell? OK, now on to the less obvious choices.
1. Thermostats. I have two Ecobees which I really like. Of course they are controlled on the Apple Home App but I also have to have the Ecobee App to update, register, and access the many control features. Even if you or the HVAC folks change things directly on the thermostat itself, that control is being monitored updated, and reported online. Imagine my surprise when my upstairs Thermostat notified me about movement in my kitchen where the downstairs Thermostat is located. (overnight guest went down to the kitchen to get a bottle of water).
2. Ovens: Last year I had to replace the wall ovens in my house. Guess What? The ovens are connected to the internet via a separate App. Don't use it you say? No choice. Some of the best features are not operable except through the App.
3. Dishwasher: Next was a 17 year old dishwasher that died suddenly. Just had it installed and yep, you guessed it, has an App that is required to use some of the features. Everything I do can be done manually on the machine and I don't need to know when it finishes the cycle since I'm not going downstairs to empty it until the morning anyway. However, it apparently is still recording the time, date, cycles that I run, since I got a "summary" of usage along with recommendations that are "preferred" (by whom? I paid for the DW, pay for the energy to run it, pay for the water, pay for the detergent, salt, and drying agent that goes in it......so who thinks they have any right to tell me how I should change any of those things.....but I digress).
4. Washer and Dryer: My Samsung W/D set is nearly 13 years old but is controlled by touch screens that can be connected via WiFi. I don't have them connected and they are old enough that all features are available without internet access. I have no doubt the new ones will require connections, as even the repairmen put your machines online with s/n, location, and software updates. That's all they need to monitor you and your usage.

Right now, these little control freaks are just monitoring our behavior with these devices. I have to wonder how much audio and video is being stored and who has access to it. I do have additional concerns that someday the remote "little Karen gods" will attempt to control our thermostats, dishwashers, and ovens. It is apparent that even if you forego the Apps and available features, that the machines themselves have chips that allow them to be monitored online. Just registering them allows them (and you) to be monitored from afar.

Bottom line: I don't know if it's realistically possible to avoid being monitored. With AI and Quantum computing, constant monitoring of everything in our homes, every room, every person can be monitored via our appliances, tvs, phones, tablets providing tracking nodes. You and your data are just too valuable and they will find a way to track us, record us, and catalog how, when, and where we use our devices. They entice us to comply with the promise of "convenience", which we love. Eventually, I fear, these companies, the governement, will attempt to control our behavior via those devices but with brute force. They will shut off an appliance except during times they deem fit; they will limit temperatures on the thermostats to approved levels; and, of course, will censor anything we want to research or watch on tv, computer, tablet, phone that isn't approved by the state. But it all starts with monitoring us and our behavior online and in our homes, which have traditionally been a private haven for free speech and behavior.

So, if Russia or Venezuela wants to hack my door locks, I will be notified on my HOME app on my phone and can immediately relock it on my phone and change the code online. Nothing to be concerned about. But if my government decides to keep a record of everything I say, do, write, and who visits me in my home and can control my water, electricity usage, and ability to use my appliances.......that is a much greater concern.
 
Do you own a smart TV or two? My LG OLED Tv

I have one too, and it NEVER gets connected to the internet, and every single "smart" or "AI" option in the menus is turned off.

Do you have a Computer with a camera embedded? Tablet with Camera?,

Only macs, which all have a hardwire connection from the status LED to the camera so it will always turn on if the camera is on.

All my appliances are "dumb" simple versions with analog buttons and dials, and those actually last longer are more durable and cheaper.
 
I set all alarms from the phone/home app. My kids have different wake up times since they are in different schools. But from the watch would be a good idea too. I can see the use of a screen, I wouldn’t use it since I wear my watch to bed, but I can see others wanting that. Haptic feedback for what? Notice I’m not killing all your ideas, but I can’t figure out the feedback one.

Haptic feedback for when you are adjusting things on the built in screen, it feels good for the unit to respond to your volume up/down commands
 
I thought this sounded familiar. But, hey, keep predicting it every year, eventually you’ll be correct!

Yeah, this is what I'm worried about.

What's different this time apart from it's a year later? Patiently waiting for the next Apple TV here...
 
Most important upgrade should be hardware AV1 decoding. The rest is fluff.
That would be supported in hardware if Apple used A17 pro or A18. Given the delay in release after the iPhone 16 series I’d assume the A18 will likely be the target cpu as they might have caught up with production mid 2025 but then they did put the A17pro into the iPad mini.
 
I don't think that hits the mark, gamers to Apple are the people playing premium casino gacha games and spending money on micro transactions. That's gamers as far as Apple is concerned. The Wii had stuff like Mario Galaxy, Pikmin and Twilight Princess which are much deeper than anything Apple has on offer, RE not withstanding. Casino games for children are predatory but move the services needle which is why Apple takes such a passive stance. Money printer go brrrrrr basically. It's the antithesis of a deep single-player experience which I'd argue Apple doesn't care about based on decades of prior evidence.
I notice that the much maligned Apple Arcade has announced some final fantasy games for early next year. They are the older titles like FF4 remaster but might be interesting for some gamers who grew up with those titles.

An A18 powered next gen Apple TV ought to be perfectly capable of running some superb games. Have already commented in other threads that putting a tvOS mode into an M4 Mac mini might also be a back door way of creating a ‘pro’ gaming device.

It just needs a little more encouragement from apple rather than just seeking an unrealistically high profit margin from the start and then losing interest when it doesn’t deliver according to those expectations.
 
Eh. If someone wants to know that my blinds go up at sunrise on weekedays and 7:30 on the weekend I'm okay with that. Hell, if someone in <insert country here> wants to make them go up at a different time, I think I'll survive.

Everybody has a certain risk tolerance. Identifying where that is and acting accordingly is not stupid.

wrong attitude to encourage by way of minimizing, even if you are 'right' for your use case.

lets advocate local control, not, 'i dont care i have nothing to hide/mine/monetize'
 
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I thought this sounded familiar. But, hey, keep predicting it every year, eventually you’ll be correct!

It wouldn't surprise me if the Apple TV we get next is the one mentioned here. It's happened several times before where an Apple TV was rumoured but then didn't appear for a year or so until it was launched with a chip that would have made sense when it was originally rumoured. I think the Apple TV HD was rumoured to appear in late 2014 but appeared in late 2015, complete with 2014's A8 chip. The same thing happened with the 2nd gen 4K - rumoured in 2020, but appeared in 2021 with 2018's A12 chip.

There has been precedent for a cutting edge chip to be used - the 1st gen Apple TV 4k from 2017, using the A10X chip from the iPad Pro from the same year, so there's hope for an A18 chip yet, but I won't get excited until it launches.
 
Without physical access, is it anything more than playing a dumb prank?

Sure, I wouldn't want anyone unlocking my front door from afar. But it almost certainly would be of no significance whatsoever. Unless they have physical access either directly or through someone acting on their instructions/information, or someone passing by happens to notice or try the handle.

I was trying to be sarcastic :)
 
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There are lots of features that other recently upgraded streaming devices have that Apple TV doesn't have. There was a recent article, and I can't find it. But search seems way more advanced on other devices. Also the lack of customization on the Home Screen is rough. And it just feels sad that Apple, in particular, hasn't thought of a new idea that other devices don't have. I don't know what they might be, but I'm not a developer.
 
It wouldn't surprise me if the Apple TV we get next is the one mentioned here. It's happened several times before where an Apple TV was rumoured but then didn't appear for a year or so until it was launched with a chip that would have made sense when it was originally rumoured. I think the Apple TV HD was rumoured to appear in late 2014 but appeared in late 2015, complete with 2014's A8 chip. The same thing happened with the 2nd gen 4K - rumoured in 2020, but appeared in 2021 with 2018's A12 chip.

There has been precedent for a cutting edge chip to be used - the 1st gen Apple TV 4k from 2017, using the A10X chip from the iPad Pro from the same year, so there's hope for an A18 chip yet, but I won't get excited until it launches.
The issue here now is that the next Apple TV should really have the same AI features that the iPhones and iPad Mini have gained. Especially if they expect to use AI capable CPUs in a HomeKit hub device that the AppleTV is being touted as.

That means A17 Pro (as in the iPad mini) at the very least. In the past the Apple TV units have come with CPUs that are out of date (due no doubt in part to delays in releasing them) but there's a hard cut off with AI capability in mind now with a A17Pro. If Apple intend for the AppleTV 4k 4th gen to have a life span measured in years have they cut a deal with TSMC to make the A17Pro on the 'dead-end' N3B process in enough numbers to make it economically worthwhile?

You'd assume the iPad Mini is probably getting a 2 year lifespan based on the recent rumours of an OLED variant coming for the 8th gen of that in 2026.

And the A15 powered 3rd Gen AppleTV has gotten rid of the fan that was in the 2nd gen 4k A12 powered model - even more reason to see a smaller process A17Pro or A18 inserted as the CPU for the 4th gen 4k but if Apple were serious at all about gaming they'd have kept the fan.

That said, A18 seems ever more likely as supply of the CPUs becomes less constrained after the initial iPhone demand dies down so the first half of 2025 seems reasonable and the CPU will likely still be in production by the time the iPhone 16 becomes an entry level model in 2 years time.
 
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Soooooo.......how do you prevent it. Do you own a smart TV or two? My LG OLED Tv has been popping up boxes telling me to "agree" to voice control for my "convenience". Of course that means permission to record any audio that occurs in my bedroom. Uh, Nope! I already hate that it randomly lights up for a few seconds in the middle of the night which they say is for "updates". Do you have a Computer with a camera embedded? Tablet with Camera?, Video Doorbell? OK, now on to the less obvious choices.
1. Thermostats. I have two Ecobees which I really like. Of course they are controlled on the Apple Home App but I also have to have the Ecobee App to update, register, and access the many control features. Even if you or the HVAC folks change things directly on the thermostat itself, that control is being monitored updated, and reported online. Imagine my surprise when my upstairs Thermostat notified me about movement in my kitchen where the downstairs Thermostat is located. (overnight guest went down to the kitchen to get a bottle of water).
2. Ovens: Last year I had to replace the wall ovens in my house. Guess What? The ovens are connected to the internet via a separate App. Don't use it you say? No choice. Some of the best features are not operable except through the App.
3. Dishwasher: Next was a 17 year old dishwasher that died suddenly. Just had it installed and yep, you guessed it, has an App that is required to use some of the features. Everything I do can be done manually on the machine and I don't need to know when it finishes the cycle since I'm not going downstairs to empty it until the morning anyway. However, it apparently is still recording the time, date, cycles that I run, since I got a "summary" of usage along with recommendations that are "preferred" (by whom? I paid for the DW, pay for the energy to run it, pay for the water, pay for the detergent, salt, and drying agent that goes in it......so who thinks they have any right to tell me how I should change any of those things.....but I digress).
4. Washer and Dryer: My Samsung W/D set is nearly 13 years old but is controlled by touch screens that can be connected via WiFi. I don't have them connected and they are old enough that all features are available without internet access. I have no doubt the new ones will require connections, as even the repairmen put your machines online with s/n, location, and software updates. That's all they need to monitor you and your usage.

Right now, these little control freaks are just monitoring our behavior with these devices. I have to wonder how much audio and video is being stored and who has access to it. I do have additional concerns that someday the remote "little Karen gods" will attempt to control our thermostats, dishwashers, and ovens. It is apparent that even if you forego the Apps and available features, that the machines themselves have chips that allow them to be monitored online. Just registering them allows them (and you) to be monitored from afar.

Bottom line: I don't know if it's realistically possible to avoid being monitored. With AI and Quantum computing, constant monitoring of everything in our homes, every room, every person can be monitored via our appliances, tvs, phones, tablets providing tracking nodes. You and your data are just too valuable and they will find a way to track us, record us, and catalog how, when, and where we use our devices. They entice us to comply with the promise of "convenience", which we love. Eventually, I fear, these companies, the governement, will attempt to control our behavior via those devices but with brute force. They will shut off an appliance except during times they deem fit; they will limit temperatures on the thermostats to approved levels; and, of course, will censor anything we want to research or watch on tv, computer, tablet, phone that isn't approved by the state. But it all starts with monitoring us and our behavior online and in our homes, which have traditionally been a private haven for free speech and behavior.

So, if Russia or Venezuela wants to hack my door locks, I will be notified on my HOME app on my phone and can immediately relock it on my phone and change the code online. Nothing to be concerned about. But if my government decides to keep a record of everything I say, do, write, and who visits me in my home and can control my water, electricity usage, and ability to use my appliances.......that is a much greater concern.
Do you have dogs?
 
PLEASE give us a white color option! The white premium plastics are what differentiate Apple products. Some of us like a clean minimalist look in our living spaces.
 
It's an added expense (if I had to guess). Plus extra complexity. While I love my 100's of TBs in my 12 bay Nas fed out to my boxes it's not feasible for everyone. It requires additional hardware of some sort at a minimum, and potentially a Windows one at that for best results. Not everyone is gonna do what I did and pair it with a Windows server box that also has a home assistant VM and all the network backups and automations etc etc. Even a fraction of what I'm doing is a bridge too far for someone that wants "it just works"
True, but anyone wanting to attach a drive to a streaming TV device is already halfway there. Plex is perfectly suitable option.
 
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