You know what sucks? Not Neato vacuums. According to an email sent to users and obtained by The Verge, Neato Robotics’ now-defunct popular robot vacuum cleaner will be permanently taken offline following its parent company’s decision to shut down cloud services, rendering the app non-functional and, by extension, the robots significantly less useful.
Neato vacuum owners won’t have to do without the support of their sweeping robot entirely, but functionality will return entirely to manual mode. This means that users will no longer be able to activate or control the robovac remotely via the MyNeato app. This also means they won’t be able to set custom routines or schedule regular cleanings. The only way to operate the vacuum is to manually press the machine’s physical power button, so the device can bounce around a bit between rooms without thinking.
That day would eventually come for Neato vacuum cleaners, whose doors were closed in 2023 by German parent company Vorwerk Group after its “failure to achieve its economic goals.” At the time, Vorwerk promised to keep the cloud online for at least five years, ensuring Neato vacuum owners could continue to keep their floors clean for half a decade.
Turns out that wasn’t a firm promise.
In the email sent to Neato robot vacuum owners, Vorwerk explained the decision: “Since Neato ceased operations in 2023, Vorwerk has continued to maintain the Neato cloud platform to honor the original five-year service promise. However, cybersecurity standards, compliance obligations and regulations have progressed in such a way that it is no longer possible to operate these existing systems safely and sustainably. “
Vacuum cleaners will still technically work, at least, so they’re not entirely useless, but that’s just the trend of internet-connected devices. Earlier this year, Google announced that it would drop support for the first generations of its Nest smart thermostat, removing cloud support and making it a standard thermostat with manual control. Belkin also had some fun with the bricking feature, saying it would remove support for most of its Wemo products, including smart light switches, outlets, cameras and other devices.
Whatever additional value Internet connectivity brings to devices, it also ties consumers even more closely to the whims of the company. If they decide that the cost of keeping a product online exceeds what they’re getting from that device, they can simply shut it down. After all, they have already received your money.
