OSRAM Lightify Shutting Down
I’ve been getting a lot of questions about the announcement by OSRAM that they will be shutting down their Lightify Cloud Services on August 31st, 2021. I’ll walk through what this really means to you as a consumer and what options you have. The announcement is as follows from the OSRAM website.
The LIGHTFY cloud servers will be switched off on August 31st, 2021. After this date the LIGHTIFY service and support will be discontinued. This means that there will be no further updates and cloud-to-cloud connections to other systems will not be possible anymore. Furthermore, compatibility to newer versions of the IOS and Android operating systems cannot be assured after this date.
Background
The OSRAM Lightify line works on the Zigbee radio platform. They sold a wide array of vibrant RGBW lights that are/were some of my favorites. I find the colors to be amazing and run them throughout my smart home with no issues whatsoever. OSRAM provided a Gateway that would allow you to avoid the cost of purchasing a smart home hub. This would allow you to control your lights through the app and it provided very modest automations. In order for the app to work, the Gateway connects to the internet and then to the OSRAM Cloud Services, which is then connected to the app on your phone.
If you have a smart home automation hub that is capable of connecting to Zigbee devices (Hubitat, Wink, SmartThings, Vera, etc.) then you had no need for the OSRAM Gateway, since everything can/could be controlled through the hub. This is, in fact, how all of my Lightify devices are integrated into my smart home.
The one nice thing about the Gateway is that it does allow you to perform firmware updates on the devices. Some hubs also provided this feature, but in my experience it was somewhat cumbersome.
The bottom line is that you don’t need the OSRAM Gateway or the Cloud Services to control the OSRAM devices, as long as you have a Zigbee compatible hub.
I should also point out that Sylvania (which is a subsidiary of OSARM) has been picking up most of the OSRAM Lightify products. These are branded as Sylvania Smart+ and can be found on Amazon and other retailers. I did a video about some smart RGBW retrofit lights from Sylvania and I still love them. In my opinion, this move allows Sylvania to continue to sell the Zigbee products direct to market without the need for the OSRAM Gateway. This is just my opinion however.
What Happens When they Shut Down?
I really wish that OSRAM would have provided more clarity in their announcement. I’ve searched their website for official information and have found none. What I’m about to say is based on my own experience and may not be correct for everyone.
When the Cloud Services shut down this will in all likelihood only affect those customers that are using the OSRAM Gateway. I suspect this isn’t that many people and is probably why OSRAM is cutting the service. It’s difficult for a company that relies on product sales (and only product sales) to sustain a perpetual service. This is why you see many companies charging a monthly fee (like Wink Hub recently announced).
If you are using (or thinking about using) OSRAM Lightify products and you already own a smart home hub like those mentioned earlier, there will be no impact other than you probably wont be able to get the firmware updates.
What Can I Do About It?
Other than purchase a smart home hub that is capable of controlling Zigbee bulbs, you really don’t have any other options. This isn’t as bleak as it sounds. If you’re committed to home automation, you will want to go down this road anyway. Both Amazon and Google have voice assistants that can support Zigbee devices, and I already listed several others that can as well.
What Are My Other Options?
Aside from throwing away your gear (if you don’t want to purchase a real Zigbee hub), you don’t have any other options.