I have been using Logitech peripherals for years. Logitech gear always just worked.
Now they demand internet accounts to use the features of the keyboard and mouse that I purchased. WTF?
Not only that, have to use wide-open-to-snooping Chrome to adjust the settings. You cannot adjust/use your mouse and keyboard if you just use Firefox.
This only makes sense if they are planning (or are already) tracking my every move online to sell to advertisers or spooks.
What are the good options?
Also, if anybody sees how these changes could be benign, please let me know.
EDIT:
By popular demand:
The keyboard I bought that started this journey: MX Keys S
The key feature that first demanded cloud access: Swithing between computers, now it is requires it to adjust the receivers. I have both a Bolt and a Unifying receiver.
Mouse (actually a trackball) that now is requesting that I use a Chrome Browser to adjust it: M570
Software:
The Logi SetPoint Settings I open from Windows now requires you to log into your Logitech account to make changes to your Unifying or 2.4 ghz usb receiver. This link takes you to a screen that says Logi Web Connect. It does not work unless you use the latest version of Chrome, Edge, & Opera, but reccomends Chrome for the best experience.
Logitech + used to require this to enable options, but I don’t see it on my Windows computer anymore. It is still on my Mac, but upon opening it to confirm for this message, it seems to be announcing that it is now able to incorporate AI into everything I type. (ugggh)
The way forward is to stop looking at those as “features of the keyboard and mouse that I purchased” and consider them as “unlockables” where you have to pay again by handing over your personal info. Then stop buying their stuff, because it’s absurd to have to pay twice.
I prefer my keyboards and mice as dumb as possible. Preferably with cables, so I never have to worry about charging them.
stop looking at those as “features of the keyboard and mouse that I purchased”
Seriously.
Maybe I’m an old timer but my idea of extra features on a mouse or keyboard are simply more inputs: more mouse buttons or wheels, more keys on a keyboard (like media keys). At most that just requires additional hardware, but nothing my OS can’t handle on its own.
What are some good dumb brands yall could recommend for keyboard, mouse, and other peripherals?
Anker has a nice “vertical” mouse that has a wired variant. For keyboards I usually just check for an obscure Chinese brand
I used to love Anker, but after the performance of their MagSafe batteries and recent recall, I’m hesitant to recommend them anymore 🤷
Logitech.
G305 for a “standard” mouse
MX Vertical for a vertical mouse
Both are wireless with a dedicated dongle and run off AA batteries. I hope that’s acceptable.
G332 or G432 for a headset with decent sound and mic (that even works well over hearing aides)
Keyboard? I dunno, I went with a Das Keyboard Ultimate 4, I love my clickity clacky but it’s not a cheap recommendation
They’ve all served me well for 6 or more years with the exception of the MX Vertical (2 years so far) and are all still spotless. None show any sign of wear or tear and do their job well.
EDIT I see OP had bad experiences specifically with this brand. I’m sorry to see that, disregard my opinions, OP.
I picked up a wireless Cooler Master mouse on impulse for $20 from a bargain bin and it’s … Actually okay. The software doesn’t even need to stay running. You open the util, change the settings, close it, and that’s it. Downside is the cable… While it is technically USBC, they’ve done that thing where the port is recessed in a specifically shaped divot that only their cable will fit.
I hate this so much.
My hp printer doesn’t do shit, if I’m not online and logged in to my hp account. For what if not for collecting datathey have no business collecting.
No advice, just shared frustration.
All printers print out an image code with each print that we don’t pick up on normally.
It’s why if you’re out of one color you can’t print in b+w.
Everything printed is traceable back to the printer it came from, this is why there are no knock off brand printers and they’re allowed to do whatever the fuck they want to the market.
Old dot matrix printers are free of this totalitarian fear mongering, just saying.
Probably not the answer you’re looking for, but switch to Linux and use Piper, a free & open source replacement for the Logitech software, that was created because they don’t offer an official version for Linux
I use a Logitech mouse and do not have the problems you are talking about.
Yeah, I’d like to know the specifics, too. My Logi mouse still uses the same application (although they did update terms recently) and while they’ve added some AI shovelware to it the mouse stil remembers its shortcuts with that thing off and I haven’t noticed any changes to how the application is put together.
It’s entirely possible the application is a Chromium-based browser thing, but in any case it still doesn’t require a login (although it does support one) and it will run offline.
Don’t get me wrong, Logi’s approach to this, along with a lot of other hardware manufacturers, sucks really bad. I do appreciate Microsoft, of all people, recently starting to standardize RGB controls, at least. It’s still wonky and interacts weirdly with some third party software, but it’s a start. I don’t need twenty different apps to keep glowy lights and saved shortcuts going.
Oh, cool. My current device uses Logitech Options+, which is not the same as the old G Hub and is not the same as what you’re describing.
Which honestly, before we get into the mandatory login and everything else, begs the question… why does Logitech need three different multi-device software hubs? What the hell?
It’s not (just) that manufacturers are trying to mine all this bloatware for data, it’s that most of them are absolutely terrible at making software in the first place.
Me either. I have a G502 and I have the G Hub app to control the features(DPI, button assignments, RGB), but I’ve never needed an account to use it.
I use my 602 (the wireless one) on linux with an open-source mouse app called Piper. Does everything GHub can do - at least as far as my needs go.
Good recommendation.
I’d be stuck in the ASUS ROG bloatware environment with BSODs were it not for G Hub! Great app.
You need to share some context for that statement lol. What are you talking about?
My G503 started requiring the Windows app to set any other RGB than rainbow patterns.
I had it set to off, it used to store on the mouse, now I need to install and run Windows to have it not flashbang me.
I used black tape. I don’t recommend this dumb thing to anyone, anymore.
That is still an option, but there is a tradeoff. There is a button in the software to enable on-board memory mode.
You lose all your key assignment controls and fine-tuned DPI settings, but it stores on the device. If you want to have those features available, the mouse needs some software on the PC to talk to for more fine-grained control.
Buy open hardware with open source firmware.
I’m typing this from a Corne-ish Zen and you can see my firmware (ZMK) with my keymap at https://github.com/Utopiah/zmk-config-zen-2/blob/main/config/corneish_zen.keymap#L27
Nobody can touch this but me. No update can break it. Yet, it’s more feature rich than most keyboards.
There are equivalents for most peripherals. It’s not cheap, usually even MORE expensive than already pricey ones like Logitech (I have an MX Vertical, still) but IMHO it’s worth it. It’s good right now, pragmatically speaking, but also morally speaking.
I advise against swimming upstream, namely NOT buying hardware that have such enshitification practices because if they don’t do it today, they might tomorrow when there is more pressure from shareholders. Also by buying alternatives you are economically supporting people whom you believe are providing better solutions for yourself and others.
PS: a gateway to such projects is https://crowdsupply.com which is a kind of KickStarter. I bought a dozen things there, all delivered and working.
Happy to, it is a Corne-ish Zen (6 columns (3x6) / Rose Gold) that I bought as a group buy from https://splitkb.com , ordered in May 2022 and received in January 2023. I’ve been using it daily, at home and on the move, since.
It’s not cheap but if you work hours a day on a computer, if you have pain in the hands or wrist as I did, finding the “right” keyboard for you, both ergonomically speaking and software wise, is worth every penny IMHO.
They don’t have it anymore it seems but they have a lot of quality alternatives I’m sure.
It looks like https://lowprokb.ca/products/corne-ish-zen?variant=42051226796196
What I meant to say is that a lot of commercial keyboards are sold with some “customizable” they are. And it’s partly true, you have tool allowing to make some shortcut on popular OSes. It might be sufficient for some people … but it is NOT the same as putting your own firmware in it.
I’m not advocating for a $300 keyboard over a $30 one, “just” for genuine customization. Some that doesn’t have arbitrary limitations from the manufacturer and doesn’t have support for only some OSes which in turns (well Windows and MacOS not to name them) also promote a consumer only with limited control options, as OP is saying about enshitification.
