A YouTuber Bought a State-of-the-Art Connected Dishwasher. That’s When His Nightmare Began

“I won’t connect my dishwasher to your stupid cloud,” YouTuber Jeff Geerling stated after buying a new appliance for his home. For years, users have dealt with products that force them to watch everything they do or don’t work as they should.

Debuting the dishwasher. Geerling explained in his blog and a YouTube video how he bought a new Bosch dishwasher—specifically, one from the 500 series, which he had seen recommended in Consumer Reports. Once installed, the surprise came: He couldn’t just turn it on and run it.

Wi-Fi and an online account are required. When he tried to run a wash cycle, Geerling realized he couldn’t turn on the option. After reading the instructions, he understood why. He had to do two things first: connect the dishwasher to his home Wi-Fi network and create an account on Bosch’s Home Connect service. That would give him access to the rinse option and additional features such as Eco or Half Load modes. Even the basic options wouldn’t work via Bluetooth—Wi-Fi and an account were mandatory.

If you want a screen, you have to pay more. The dishwasher Geerling bought costs around $1,000. Despite this—or perhaps because of it—it has no physical buttons. The controls are touch-sensitive and located on the dishwasher door when opened. It also lacks a display to show how much time is left in the cycle. The Bosch 800 series, which does have a display, costs $400 more.

Why do I need a dishwasher app? As Geerling pointed out, a local app with a direct wireless connection—but no connection to the Internet or other devices on the local network—could make sense. But this didn’t. He said having to control nearly all of the dishwasher’s functions through an app and Wi-Fi was absurd. “I don’t need the Internet on my dishwasher,” he said.

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Few and bad options. Geerling, who is tech-savvy, is used to finding solutions to these kinds of problems. He noted that while he might not be able to use the advanced options, it seemed odd to spend $1,000 on a dishwasher and not have access to them. He also considered using a VLAN (a separate, isolated network) for connected devices.

Even hacking it won’t help much. A more technical solution exists. Someone reverse-engineered Bosch’s protocol and created an HCPY protocol to control these dishwashers without manufacturer interference. However, setting it up would take hours. All Geerling wanted was to use his dishwasher easily. He could return it, but he had already invested time and effort into installing it.

A dishwasher shouldn’t be connected to the Internet. For Geerling, Bosch’s strategy is a major mistake. If a dishwasher relies on an app and a cloud service, Bosch must manage and maintain that service, which leads to two possibilities: Either the company sells user data or eventually shuts down the service, possibly replacing it with a subscription—something that has happened in similar cases.

A potential security risk. A connected dishwasher also introduces a cybersecurity risk. If hackers find a vulnerability in Bosch dishwashers, they could gain access to the rest of a home network. This has happened before—not once, but many times.

Not everything has to be connected. Geerling’s conclusion—which I agree with—is that appliances and connected products should follow one rule: operate locally first, then offer cloud connectivity as an option. This dishwasher represents a growing trend that may make sense in some areas, but certainly not in this one.

Image | Jeff Geerling

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