

- WEMO PC APPLICATION FULL
- WEMO PC APPLICATION ANDROID
- WEMO PC APPLICATION CODE
- WEMO PC APPLICATION ZIP
WEMO PC APPLICATION FULL
Sometimes we don’t need full access to a permission’s data, but even access to a very minor portion of it results in the full permission being triggered. Under Contacts/Calendar, the WeMo app requires access to “read your contacts.” What do my contacts have to do with controlling my WeMo devices? Developers tend to use all of the tools at their disposal when creating the app and it may include some permissions that are not explicitly used in the current version of the app, but are road mapped for future feature upgrades or advances.
WEMO PC APPLICATION CODE
However, we do use some of the information to enable sunrise/sunset rules.īuilding out the code for these IoT devices is pretty complicated and often there are reasons for including permissions that may not be obvious on the surface, but are necessary on the backend to create the level of superior user experience that we strive for with WeMo.
WEMO PC APPLICATION ZIP
It's based on zip code - hence the need to input location.”īelkin engineers added: Location – We do not actively use or store all of the location information that the permission triggers, and are looking into to seeing if it is part of a larger class of permissions that we may be able to remove. For example, “WeMo utilizes that info to enable automatic sunrise/sunset programming. The WeMo location permission gives access “to approximate location (network-based)” and to “precise location (GPS and network-based).” Since none of the WeMo products utilize geofencing, so that they turn on or turn off based on the GPS distance from the home, then why does the WeMo app need access to location information? It turns out that there is nothing creepy about it. Because of the way Google Play groups and displays permissions, I’ve copied, cut and collected them into the image below.
WEMO PC APPLICATION ANDROID
Android app permissions are a mess, and Google “ simplifying” how permissions work by grouping them did not help the situation. Still, none of the rules or remote access indicated to me the need to access location, camera, microphone, USB storage, contacts or call logs.īelkin offers an iOS WeMo app and WeMo app for Android. Remote access is handy for turning on a light or other device from any location.

The app allows for notifications if a device is triggered by motion or by sensing power. One of setups for rules includes “ away mode,” which is a security feature that allows a person to “schedule the lights to turn off and on at random intervals, making it appear that someone is home even when the house is vacant.” Other rules allow people to use sunset, sunrise or other specific times to turn devices off and on, as well as use motion as a trigger.

Coffee, Holmes and Osram, Wemo also has home automation and smart device products such as a crockpot, coffeemaker, humidifier, air purifier and heaters. I reached out via email to Belkin engineers to find out what WeMo’s permissions really mean.īelkin home automation WeMo products include a light switch, WeMo Insight Switch, WeMo switch, WeMo switch and motion, NetCams and smart LED bulbs. For that reason, we’re drilling down into WeMo app permissions, based solely on WeMo and not what more can be done by connecting a WeMo device with IFTTT. But people with IoT home automation devices such as WeMo can't pass on the app. If app permissions seem overreaching by asking for too much access, then I pass on that app. Overall, app permissions are wildly misunderstood. Sometimes the required access wasn’t evil, but some did pose privacy risks. Do you recall the drama and panic about Facebook Messenger permissions requiring excessive access to devices? And after the FTC hammered on “Brightest Flashlight Free” for sharing app users’ location and device ID with third-parties and advertisers, without users’ knowledge, it started a flashlight app panic.
