Smart home devices should work without the internet

The author argues that smart home devices should prioritize local operation over cloud dependency, establishing a core rule that anything essential must work without internet. Drawing from a decade of home automation experience, the author details specific failures (Google breaking Nest API, Samsung fridge certificate errors) and outlines practical rules for reliable smart homes, including using local hardware like Tasmota firmware and MQTT brokers, avoiding point-to-point device connections, and treating cloud services only as optional add-ons.