Belkin ends help for many Wemo units and its Wemo app
One other day, one other good system bites the mud — or, on this case, a full lineup of good dwelling units.
On Thursday, the buyer electronics firm Belkin mentioned it is going to finish technical help for its older Wemo merchandise as of January 31, 2026, and that the app used to regulate the units will not be supported. The choice will affect a variety of units, together with good plugs, mild switches, good bulbs, child screens, kitchen home equipment, heaters, air purifiers, movement sensors, and extra.
In an e mail to prospects, the outfit defined its choice, saying it wanted to shift its focus elsewhere.
“This choice was not made evenly,” the e-mail reads. “Over the past decade, since Belkin first launched Wemo in 2011, we’ve been dedicated to offering shoppers with revolutionary, simple-to-use equipment for a seamless good dwelling expertise. Nonetheless, as expertise evolves, we should focus our sources on completely different elements of the Belkin enterprise.”
“We perceive this alteration could disrupt your routines, and we sincerely apologize for the inconvenience,” the corporate added.
Belkin says that merchandise nonetheless underneath guarantee by the end-of-life date could also be eligible for a partial refund and that its merchandise configured to be used with Apple’s HomeKit will proceed to operate even with out Wemo’s cloud providers and the Wemo app. The app may even not be supported after January 31, 2026, and any system options that depend on cloud connectivity, like distant entry or voice integrations, will not work.
The corporate gained’t provide technical help, firmware, software program updates, or troubleshooting help after January 31, both.
The transfer to terminate a line of good dwelling merchandise leaves shoppers with out entry to expertise that has develop into built-in into their every day lives — this isn’t only a youngster’s toy going offline; it’s extra important. (After all, toys going offline might be devastating, too. See, for instance, the unhappy farewells for the robotic companion Moxie.)
It’s changing into more and more frequent for corporations to easily finish help for his or her older good dwelling merchandise with none technical purpose to take action. As a substitute, these strikes enable corporations — as Belkin alludes to — to refocus their efforts on extra worthwhile areas of their companies.
Google lately introduced the same transfer with its choice to close down its older Nest units, as an illustration.
In April, the tech big mentioned it might not help its earliest technology of Nest Studying Thermostats. As of October 25, 2025, Nest’s first- and second-generation fashions will see their linked options shut off, cease receiving updates, not work with the Nest or Google House app, and primarily develop into “dumb” units.
As a substitute of dedicating sources to help its buyer base, it’s simpler to e mail a suggestion to assist them improve to a more moderen model. In Nest’s case, that’s $130 off the Nest 4th-gen thermostat, which is often $279.99. Whereas which may be a very good deal, being pressured to improve because of obsolescence doesn’t go over nicely with many purchasers whose units nonetheless work simply nice, regardless of their age.
Nonetheless, this course of does shield Google from going through class motion lawsuits, which might consequence if it simply shut down this many good units and the Nest app directly. By pushing these prospects off the Nest app and incentivizing them to improve to newer units, Google might argue that utilization of the older units was truly pretty low if a lawsuit have been raised. That might cut back any fines or compensation that such a go well with might lead to and make it simpler for Google and, maybe, ultimately shut down the Nest app.
As well as, providing prospects superior discover of these kinds of strikes reduces the corporate’s authorized danger.
In Belkin’s case, prospects who went all in on Wemo for his or her good dwelling might be closely impacted and probably fairly offended, too, in the event that they’re not eligible for the partial refund.
Belkin offered a full listing of affected units, which incorporates a variety of good dwelling merchandise spanning a number of classes.
Belkin notes that its choice doesn’t have an effect on Wemo’s Thread-based merchandise (SKUs WLS0503, WDC010, WSC010, WSP100), which is able to proceed to operate as they do at present by means of Apple’s HomeKit.