cross-posted from: https://programming.dev/post/37646129

Source: Reddit postPrivate front-end.

Samsung Statement to Android Authority:

Samsung is committed to innovation and enhancing every day value for our home appliance customers. As part of our ongoing efforts to strengthen that value, we are conducting a pilot program to offer promotions and curated advertisements on certain Samsung Family Hub refrigerator models in the U.S. market.

As a part of this pilot program, Family Hub refrigerators in the U.S. will receive an over-the-network (OTN) software update with Terms of Service (T&C) and Privacy Notice (PN). Advertising will appear on certain Family Hub refrigerator Cover Screens. The Cover Screen appears when a Family Hub screen is idle. Ad design format may change depending on Family Hub personalization options for the Cover Screen, and advertising will not appear when Cover Screen displays Art Mode or picture albums.

Advertisements can be dismissed on the Cover Screens where ads are shown, meaning that specific ads will not appear again during the campaign period.

  • mechoman444@lemmy.world
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    12 hours ago

    The easiest thing in the world is not to connect your fridge to the internet.

    Also don’t buy Samsung refrigerators they are truly truly horrific.

    I’m an appliance repairman.

      • NauticalNoodle@lemmy.ml
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        9 hours ago

        They’re low-quality. My family just got rid of one partly because the condenser line kept freezing over and spilling water everywhere but mainly because the electronic touchscreen controls also froze and never worked again so the temp could never be adjusted even after a thaw and reboot. Their microwaves also suck.

        • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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          9 hours ago

          The refrigerator I have is a cheap one purchased by a landlord. The house was then sold about 20 years ago and it entered private ownership, that owner sold the house again, the next owner died of old age, the next owner entered a care home, the next owner got married and moved out and then I bought the house. Through it all the refrigerator has endured.

          I have no idea what make it is because the label has worn off, to my knowledge no one has ever done anything to it because when I was redoing the floor I found a snickers wrapper underneath it, dated 2005

          I swear everything is crap now and made to last all of 5 years and 1 day so that it breaks down just outside of the warranty window.

    • phx@lemmy.world
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      12 hours ago

      In that case the easiest thing is not to buy a Samsung or any other “smart” fridge

  • SpiceDealer@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    9 hours ago

    Don’t ever buy any fridge with internet connectivity. This also extends other home appliances. Just buy those classic white boxes or, if you fancy yourself the Gordon Ramsey type and have money/credit score to buy one, get a Viking fridge.

  • robocall@lemmy.world
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    11 hours ago

    Love my dumb fridge. No screens, no water dispenser. I own a pitcher and a facuet. Don’t need to change filters every six months or check the weather on my fridge. I never want a screen on my fridge.

    • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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      9 hours ago

      My fridge is in a little room off the kitchen, so there’d be literally no point there being a screen on it anyway, has the only time I ever go in there is to get something out of the fridge.

  • 2910000@lemmy.world
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    12 hours ago

    I’d love a fridge with network connectivity and ‘smart’ features, but I’d need control over the firmware it runs

      • 2910000@lemmy.world
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        12 hours ago

        As someone who’s into home automation:

        1. Some of the features are cool, like seeing what’s in your fridge remotely. That’d be nice to have while I’m out shopping
        2. I currently have an old NUC hooked up to a little interface and some speakers in my kitchen. It’s a bit janky, and it would be nice to run that through some hardware that’s actually intended for kitchen use

        Admittedly I’m not sure I could justify the price for “would be nice” features like that

        • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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          9 hours ago

          Ok I’ve been wondering this about the “see the contents of your fridge” thing.

          Where does the camera go? What part of the fridge is firing of away from the food storing part that you could get a good angle with a camera. The only place you could put it is on the door, but then it’s just right up against the milk and you wouldn’t be able to see anything.

          • 2910000@lemmy.world
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            7 hours ago

            I imagined something like this (youtube video L7iROzIKm1M ) but idk if it’s still a thing

            It’s moot for me anyway because there’s no chance of appliance makers opening up their hardware

            EDIT: can’t post a link to YT for some reason

        • phutatorius@lemmy.zip
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          2 hours ago

          I live in England and own a small (by US standards) fridge. That last head of cabbage has nowhere to hide. You can see everything in a glimpse.

          Which ties in to two broader considerations: we don’t overheat our homes, so you can leave things like butter on the kitchen counter that would be refrigerated in most of the US, and we live in a small, compact city, so anything we need is no more than a 10-minute walk away. So there’s no reason to stock up a huge fridge (though we do have a separate freezer).

        • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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          9 hours ago

          Can’t you just look. That’s how I do it, I look at it. I open the door and I look at what I’ve got in the fridge, and that’s how I know what I’ve got in the fridge.

        • Taleya@aussie.zone
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          12 hours ago

          ah. We ended up using Paprika for His Lordship’s ADHD. Bonus is he could noodle through it on the train home and snag anything he wanted at the supermarket on the way past.

  • surph_ninja@lemmy.world
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    23 hours ago

    Given how many times Samsung’s been caught spying on customer mics, and throwing ads into everything with an internet connection, I don’t understand why anyone is still putting wifi credentials into a Samsung device.

    • TomAwsm@lemmy.world
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      21 hours ago

      I don’t understand why people even buy their products. Shouldn’t trust them farther than you can throw your fridge.

        • TomAwsm@lemmy.world
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          19 hours ago

          Last time I had a Samsung product was their S7 phone, and even then it was so full of bloatware I just couldn’t take it anymore.

  • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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    1 day ago

    If you have gone out of your way and intentionally purchased a fridge with an internet connection and a screen frankly you deserve this. What did you expect? Screens have advertisements on them, why else would they put a screen on there.

    • BanMe@lemmy.world
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      24 hours ago

      There was a time when WiFi was actually useful in smart appliances, I have an LG washer/dryer about 7-8 years old, no touchscreens, but by WiFi you can get cycle done alerts, time checks, even remote start it. My matching fridge gives me energy conservation information, and allows me to choose a lower duty winter cycle

      I like these features. IDK why the fuck I would want a fridge with a touchscreen. All the smart appliances I’ve seen in the last 5 years are just there to serve you ads and steal your data.

      • phutatorius@lemmy.zip
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        2 hours ago

        Yeah, if I wanted to monitor and control my appliance online (which I don’t), just give me wifi connectivity and a REST API.

      • HiTekRedNek@lemmy.world
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        24 hours ago

        Yeah. We have a smart washer. It’s out in our detached garage/shop so even if the chime were on, no one in the house would ever hear it.

        The only “smart” feature we use on it at all is remote notifications.

        And we don’t use the GE app for that either. I have it linked through our Home Assistant, so no one in the family needs their crap on our phones. Yes, HA must link into their servers, but the only real data GE gets is how much we use it, and the “city” where our internet connection says we’re in… which is 300 miles away from our actual home, in a completely different state.

        • phutatorius@lemmy.zip
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          2 hours ago

          but the only real data GE gets is how much we use it

          Nope. If they want my data, they can pay me for it. Fuck them.

  • lmuel@sopuli.xyz
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    1 day ago

    I hate the enshittification going on everywhere but I’d say the whole smart fridge thing was pretty shitty to begin with…

  • Octavio@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    I need my fridge to maintain a cold temperature on the inside. That’s it. That’s 100% of what I need from a fridge. The last one I bought was $300 and there’s no place to put an ad. I have no idea why y’all were hooking your appliances up to the internet in the first place, but I’m sorry you’re having a bad time.

    • TheProtagonist@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      You could add a printed ad with adhesive tape to the front door of your fridge to have a similar experience like all those “smart” things…

      In the past, the typical example for a “smart device” was a refrigerator, that would automatically buy milk online once it’s empty, but I’m not sure if that really works (or makes any sense). But at least you can now see ads together with weather and news on your refrigerator door.

  • handsoffmydata@lemmy.zip
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    1 day ago

    Next model will come with a latch that won’t unlock the fridge door until you’ve watched a 30 second ad or are subscribed to SnackPass+ for 29.99$ a month.