[aestra]

I remember when the smoke detector was first on HN. Some people saying wave to disarm was a great feature and some were saying it was a terrible feature.

I guess terrible won out. It is still a scary feature to me in concept, even if it wasn't broken. This is a safety device, it shouldn't be easy to disarm.

[raldi]

If you don't provide a safe way to temporarily disarm a smoke detector, your users will find unsafe ways to do it.

So providing a wave-to-disarm feature could literally save lives, if it discourages people from removing batteries or placing tape over the speaker.

[IanCal]

I don't think I've ever had a smoke alarm that doesn't turn off if you just press the test button.

[raldi]

"Just"? How tall are you?

[IanCal]

Maybe others have vaulted ceilings in huge mansions, but a standing on a chair has been enough for me. It's hardly a difficult task, and certainly easier than removing the battery or putting tape over the speaker which appeared to be the alternatives suggested above.

[raldi]

When a smoke detector starts falsely making noise in the middle of the night, you have to get out of bed, turn on a light, get a chair, or maybe a stepladder... and maybe that stepladder is on another level, so you have to carry it up a flight of stairs and try not to bang the walls... it's a huge irritation.

Similarly, when there's one in the kitchen and it goes off constantly every time you make toast, it's a major ongoing annoyance.

Many people will respond to these situations by removing the batteries, covering the speaker with tape, or other things that lessen the functionality of the device in the event of an actual emergency.

Therefore, a properly-functioning wave-to-disarm feature (and other irritation-mitigation mechanisms) are not just conveniences; they literally save lives.

[IanCal]

> Therefore, a properly-functioning wave-to-disarm feature (and other irritation-mitigation mechanisms) are not just conveniences; they literally save lives.

I'd be interested to know how well these things line up, you're expecting a big overlap in people who will disable their smoke alarms because it's too much hassle and people who will go out and buy an expensive and fancy one. So you're looking for someone who really cares about their fire alarm but is stupid enough to completely disable one.

However, a non-functioning disable feature could be either phenomenally annoying or hugely dangerous. I don't want to worry that my smoke alarm has turned off just because my dog ran past it or because of a bug. We're also talking about a device which can have its settings updated remotely, what if an update bricks it or turns back on something I feel is unsafe?

> When a smoke detector starts falsely making noise in the middle of the night

I'm not sure I've ever had this happen, would not getting a decent smoke alarm solve this?

> Similarly, when there's one in the kitchen

I've never had a smoke alarm in the kitchen. In the hall next to the kitchen, yes, but not in the kitchen. That's across 9 houses/flats, the last time I set off one from cooking was about 8 years ago. I'm happy dealing with a once-a-decade annoyance.

[johnward]

Old smoke detectors had this feature. You just take the battery out. I have to do this to one of mine every time we use our broiler. I'm sure I'm not the only person who ever removed a battery an forgot to replace it for awhile. At least the nest feature is temporary.

[deveac]

>Old smoke detectors had this feature. You just take the battery out.

The feature was having the detector unknowingly disabled. A better analogy would be the batteries in your smoke detector running out.

[johnward]

My understanding is that it's temporarily disabled by the wave. Is that not the case? It's still an issue if a fire starts and you aren't alerted for 20 minutes but I'm curious.

[IanCal]

I've said this elsewhere, but I don't think I've ever had a smoke alarm that couldn't be turned off by pressing the test button.

[darkarmani]

> I guess terrible won out. It is still a scary feature to me in concept, even if it wasn't broken. This is a safety device, it shouldn't be easy to disarm.

The scary feature is my current method of taking the battery out of the smoke detector. I have yet to understand how this "old feature" is better than nest's feature.