[vvanders]

You could already talk freely to the MQTT on the printer and it was already secured with a unique password. This feels like making it a second class feature that could disappear at a future point.

[the_mitsuhiko]

That is obviously correct, but this is a meaningful improvement over what their initial plan was.

[rowanG077]

That doesn't seem obvious to me. It's not unthinkable their plan is:

- Want to introduce x, but we are worried what our userbase thinks.

- Introduce something way more ridiculous y that subsumes x.

- Rollback y but not x because of backlash.

Now they look like a company that listens to their users and they got what they wanted.

[madeofpalk]

They’ve suffered real brand damage. Any of the changes (original, or these) seem like they would win over unconvinced potential customers, yet they’ve actively turned some away.

[satvikpendem]

Ah the classic door in the face technique

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Door-in-the-face_technique

[vvanders]

I don't really see what having a "developer mode" offers here beyond the existing solution. The current mqtt is already locked down with a unique password and AFAIK the endpoint was read-only anyway.

Don't get me wrong I'm glad they're responding to feedback but the feedback shouldn't have been required in the first place.

I'm all for better security on products(esp ones that heat up to 300C!) but interoperability with open standards makes it a better product overall and given the direction we've seen in the IoT space I think they've done quite a bit of damage(even if not intentionally) by not taking more care in this area.

[parasubvert]

Developer mode is just "how it works today" mode. It's insecure, and uses private APIs, and thus shouldn't be used, but people will anyway, so they're listening to their customers.

[hn8726]

> Developer mode is just "how it works today" mode.

For LAN mode yes, but for how the printer works — not exactly. Right now you can print from a 3rd party slicer (Orca Slicer) and at the same time use Bambu Handy mobile app to for example monitor the print. LAN mode disables the cloud connection (always has). Which means that with the revised changes you have to choose either a 3rd party slicer _or_ active cloud connection

[parasubvert]

Hmm, seems pretty clear that OrcaSlicer will eventually adapt to use Bambu Connect regardless, which will preserve active cloud connections.

[hn8726]

Adapting to Bambu Connect means passing the print files to another app, and it's unclear if that app will work without a cloud account. Plus Orca does lose functionality like controlling the printer directly from the slicer, and one of the critiques of the new system is needing a separate app in the first place.

If you mean that OrcaSlicer will reimplement Bambu Connect protocols inside — I doubt that will happen, since Bambu Connect is not open source, so this would involve reverse engineering the protocols and potentially including Bambu Connect certificates.