Another day, another smart device bites dust – or, in this case, a full range of intelligent home devices.
On Thursday, the consumer electronics company Belkin said it ended the technical care of its former Wemo products on January 31, 2026 and that the application used to control the devices will no longer be taken care of. The decision will have an impact on a range of devices, including smart traffic jams, lighting switches, intelligent bulbs, babies, cooking devices, radiators, air purifiers, motion sensors, etc.
In an email to customers, the outfit explained its decision, saying that it had to move its goal elsewhere.
“This decision was not taken lightly,” said the email. “Over the past decade, since the launch of Belkin for the first time Wemo in 2011, we have committed to offering consumers innovative and simple to use accessories for a transparent intelligent house experience. However, as technology evolves, we need to focus our resources on different parts of the Belkin company. ”
“We understand that this change can disrupt your routines, and we sincerely apologize for the disadvantage,” added the company.
Belkin says that products still under warranty on the end of life date may be eligible for partial refund and that its products configured for use with Apple Homekit will continue to operate even without the Wemo cloud services and the WEMO application. The application will no longer be taken care of after January 31, 2026, and any device functionality which is based on cloud connectivity, such as remote access or voice integrations, will no longer work.
The company will not offer technical support, firmware, software updates or troubleshooting after assistance after January 31.
The move to put an end to a range of intelligent house products leaves consumers without access to technology that has integrated in their daily life – it is not only the toy of an offline child; It is more essential. (Of course, offline toys can also be devastating. See, for example, the sad farewells of the Moxie companion robot.)
It becomes more and more common that companies simply end support for their old smart home products without any technical reason to do so. Instead, these movements allow companies – as Belkin is refocusing – to refocus their efforts on more profitable areas of their businesses.
Google recently announced a similar decision with its decision to close its old nest devices, for example.
In April, the technology giant said that it would no longer support its first generation of Nest learning thermostats. Since October 25, 2025, Nest’s first and second generation models will have their connected features stop, stop receiving updates, no longer working with the Nest or Google Home application and essentially become “stupid” devices.
Instead of devoting resources to take care of their customers, it is easier to send an e-mail to an offer to help them move to a more recent version. In the case of Nest, it is a $ 130 reduction on the 4th generation thermostat, which is normally $ 279.99. Although this can be a good deal, being forced to upgrade due to obsolescence does not go well with many customers whose devices are still working very well, despite their age.
However, this process protects Google from collective remedies, which could result if it closes the many smart devices and the Nest application at the same time. By pushing these customers out of the Nest application and encouraging them to move to more recent devices, Google could say that the use of older devices was actually quite low if a trial was lifted. This could reduce fines or compensation in which such a costume could cause and facilitate Google’s task and, perhaps, ultimately close the Nest application.
In addition, the offer of an advanced opinion of customers of these types of measures reduces the legal risk of the company.
In the case of Belkin, customers who have gone to Wemo for their smart home will be strongly touched and perhaps quite angry too, if they are not eligible for partial reimbursement.
Belkin has provided a full list of affected devices, which includes a wide range of intelligent house products covering several categories.
Belkin notes that his decision does not affect wemo wire products (Skus WLS0503, WDC010, WSC010, WSP100), which will continue to work as they do today via Apple Homekit.
