Smart home hub maker Wink moves to a subscription plan - CNET

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You can continue to use your second-gen Wink hub, as long as you pay the monthly subscription fee.

Tyler Lizenby/CNET

In an email sent out Wednesday, smart home hub maker Wink informed customers it's moving to a mandatory subscription plan. Starting May 13, you won't be able to use your Wink devices unless you pay a $4.99 monthly fee. 

Wink, along with SmartThings and the now-defunct Revolv hub, was part of the early smart home. Back before Google and Amazon dominated with their comparatively user-friendly voice-controlled speakers and smart displays, these intrepid startups developed "hubs." Hubs are utilitarian, router-connected devices that are designed to unite all of your various smart home products from different manufacturers under a single app. 

Rather than switching between the Nest and Philips app, for example, Wink supports both through its own multitasking app. 

Wink (and SmartThings) hubs still exist in the wild today, but Wink -- which is owned by Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas -- was already struggling to stay afloat before "long term costs and recent economic events have caused additional strain on our business," as one section of the email reads. 

We have a lot of great ideas on how to expand on Wink's capabilities and satisfy the many requests from our user base. In order to provide for development and continued growth, we are transitioning to a $4.99 monthly subscription, starting on May 13, 2020. This fee is designed to be as modest as possible. Your support will enable us to continue providing you with the functionality that you've come to rely on, and focus on accelerating new integrations and app features.

Toward the bottom of the email, Wink confirms that users won't be able to access their Wink devices -- or any of their established smart home automations without paying the $4.99 monthly fee:

Should you choose not to sign up for a subscription you will no longer be able to access your Wink devices from the app, with voice control or through the API, and your automations will be disabled on May 13. Your device connections, settings and automations can be reactivated if you decide to subscribe at a later date.

I'd be curious to hear about today's email from current Wink users. Will you pay the $4.99 fee? Or stop using Wink? Let me know in the comment section below. 

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