Looking for a robot vacuum and mop to either root and put Valetudo on it or one that prioritizes privacy (offline modes.)

bObsweep UltraVision claims:

Make no mistake: UltraVision fully respects your privacy, UltraVision never sends images anywhere - servers, cloud, or otherwise - be it of your room layout or your cleaning habits. Furthermore, any info you personally insert into the app, such as your name and email address, is stored on US-based servers. Nothing gets exported to foreign servers (unlike your neighbor’s expensive vacuum).

Narwhal claims it keeps information stored locally as well and encrypts data on the phone app.

Is there an advantage to rooting a vacuum and using Valetudo if the vendor doesn’t store information on cloud? Would using the vendor app be a security risk?

Thanks!

  • HiddenLayer555@lemmy.mlEnglish
    2·
    7 hours ago

    Pro tip: Modern battery powered vacuums are lightweight and easy to carry and use. As someone with both a battery powered “manual” vacuum and a robot vacuum (an old one that relies on infrared beacons and has no app integration/smart features), I find that it’s usually more annoying to prep the floor for robot vacuuming (find and remove cables and anything that can jam it, remove temporary things strewn around so it can get to the areas under them, move furniture so it doesn’t get stuck, roll up fluffy rugs that it can get caught on, etc, and then having the anxiety that you missed something so you end up following it around anyway) than just vacuuming myself and moving stuff as I go. It’s one of the things that seem convenient until you actually take a step back and assess whether the problems it creates actually outweighs the problems it solves. Also, I don’t know if the modern ones are better at navigation but mine just rolls around like a pinball and it takes significantly longer for it to cover all the areas than if I did it, and it can end up never actually covering some areas because, again, it just rolls around basically randomly.