Xiaomi is disabling some of its devices when imported to certain regions

Re:Xiaomi is disabling some of its devices when imported to ... by taneq on Sunday September 12, 2021 @05:23AM (#28499712)

I don't know about Android but my last couple of experiences with Chinese-designed gear have been along these lines.

First was a DJI drone (this was a few years ago so might be different now). In order to even boot it up you have to download and run their firmware installer on a desktop computer (requiring internet access and potentially gathering God-knows-what data) with the drone plugged in. Then to use the drone you have to install their app which demands access to all sorts of things only tangentially related to the main function of the drone.

Second was a wifi security camera. I'd expect a wifi camera setup to go "turn on, connect to camera's access point, configure via web interface, reboot camera". This one was "install app, grant app all permissions, create account on company web page, verify email address, use account to log in to app, point phone camera at QR code on security camera, app autoconfigures camera with your wifi password, all video+audio goes to their servers, you may access it via (and ONLY via) their phone app."

We did NOT keep that camera much less buy any more of them.

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Re:Xiaomi is disabling some of its devices when imported to ... by userbinator on Sunday September 12, 2021 @03:43PM (#28504219)

I think the process with the drone is at least partly due to aviation regulations, but with the camera it sure sounds like the Chinese have started copying the Western pattern of "cloud-ifying" products unnecessarily.

Then again, perhaps avoiding the bigger companies and going to the OEMs or other small manufacturers directly (who would specialise only in hardware, and essentially wouldn't have the resources to set up and maintain the server side, or even an app) might be a better choice.

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