Interesting after the failures of Lowes and other retailers to "own" the automation space HomeDepot is moving in the direction of low cost Wifi integration with "Cloud". I wonder how long they will stick with it?
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I did enjoy when the Iris motion sensors were selling brand new for less than $5. I picked up 50 of them. Maybe Home Depot will have a deal on WiFi gear in a couple of years. 
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I think this could end up being really shrewd move by HD...
It targets that coveted market of yet-untapped noobs with $$ to spend, and gives them a local in-store shopping option where they can get a wide variety of smart goodies all with the confidence that it'll all work together. And once they get 'em in deep enough, they know it'll be hard for 'em to leave. That's all a pretty darn solid plan.
Well, assuming the variety is indeed wide enough and it does all work well together -- that's a big TBD in reality.
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Haha, if it's anything resembling the way the chain is run, cloudy with a huge chance for shutdown. Think of all the disappointed customers with lousy routers and end device # limits, spotty WiFi and the crowded 2.4gHz spectrum. Maybe when these devices go on clearance someone can figure how to flash them to run locally.
It'll go something like this:
Jan 2025, Dear HD customers we value so much...unfortunately we are shutting down our cloud based automation system. We regret...
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Don't forget that Home Depot stated supporting home automation with the Wink hub.
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It can also target their general contractor market that is not affiliated with any other smart home group. With the diversity of products that are fairly straightforward to install, they could give discounts to the Home Depot Pros and make it up via future cloud services or marketing.
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Given their history of selling my purchases to Meta without asking me for any consent whatsoever, there isn’t a chance in hell that I allow them access to my smart home
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I read the headline and thought, "This will not end well."
I miss the days when retailers just sold stuff other people made, instead of trying to own it all. But then again, I miss going to Sears for real Craftsman tools and Kenmore appliances. Go figure... But for this, I'm still skeptical and think I'll stick to Lutron for lighting and Zooz for most other stuff.
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You aren't the only one; but, the reality is those days are never coming back.
Hard to believe that the 80s are now 40 years ago, but I can recall going to Sears for an oil change or new tyres/battery, getting my eyeglass prescription filled, and emergency dental work.
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Except Sears/Craftsman didn't actually make anything on their own. They got (usually really high quality) brand name stuff and had them made with the Craftsman logo. As a measurement guy, back in the late 80's/90's, I happened to recognize a Scherr Tumico Micrometer with a Craftsman Logo. They are unmistakable and unique. Did some more digging to confim my suspicions and found out that the majority of Craftsman was just rebranded "other brands."
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Whoever or whatever their tools were, they were the most reliable tools I've ever owned. Even my 1/2" rachet with dents from using it as a hammer still works great, some 40 years later. I even have some of my dad's craftsman tools, well any ones my older brothers didn't take.
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A plus 1 for Wink. When I bailed four years ago everything I was using paired with Hubitat.
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