“Up until this point, the mechanism we’ve used to identify who is the owner of the Hue system and can do this [control your bridge], is by physical access to the device — and pressing the button on the bridge,” says Yianni. “This approach is inadequate going forward, and we need a more robust way to identify the owner of the system and enable them to manage their system — the Hue account is how we will do this.”

Actual physical security that requires people to be admitted into your home before they can manage your config is somehow inadequate? Compared to a fucking clowd scheme it's so much better.

what this means for you

I have a friend with a bushel of hue bulbs in her garage, having swapped dozens for something less enshittified. They're going to the landfill. She's never touching the hue line again and regrets spending any money with them in the past. THAT's what that means. It's okay if they die.