Ask HN: Any resources for finding non-smart appliances?

Most. As of 2025, this does not apply to the dishwasher from Bosch as discussed in this blog article: https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2025/i-wont-connect-my-dis...

There is functionality hidden in the app, so that the manufacturer can save a dime and a half on some buttons. Unfortunately, this line has already been crossed.

The functionality that is hidden: Rinse, Machine Care (self-cleaning), HalfLoad, Eco and Delay start.

The problem is not that you have more functionality in the app. It's that all the evil people that have designed (not implemented, the drones that write the code rarely have the right to express opinion or provide common sense in big corporate) this idiocy require you to have online account with them, for reasons unknown. This functionality should be local. Bluetooth works fine.

That's certainly worse, but needing to use your phone to run the dishwasher is still bullshit.

So is being obligated to use remote control to operate your TV, but here we are. The only way out of this bind is to obligate manufacturers for different classes of appliances to comply with some standards about local functionality. Which I approve.

Jeff bought that dishwasher based on its Consumer Reports ratings. They must have taken his criticism into account, because it is now far from the top rated dishwasher and includes a disclosure about requiring an app.

I trust Consumer Reports and would never buy an appliance without consulting them, but it doesn't surprise me that they're a little conservative and wouldn't realize they need to call this stuff out initially.

How on earth does that work in an Airbnb? Or like, even my house guests? Do my parents and housekeeper and who knows who else all need to be set up with the Bosch app to be able to function in my kitchen?

But the TV comes with the remote. An appliance with an app doesn't even have the courtesy of a remote.

I believe Jeff pointed out that he got the 2025 model, while the tested model was a 2024 model. So they may have retestet with the new model and it now scores worse.

The interesting bit would be to have the reaction from Bosch. They "updated" their design and the review score went down.

It barely works if you're two adults in a home. Half of all the smart appliances can only be linked to one device. Sorry honey, I couldn't do the dishes or the laundry, the machines are linked to your Bosch account.

It's still got a pretty good score, so it probably hasn't yet been added to the scoring criteria. OTOH, it's got the caveat and it's at the bottom of the list of recommendations, so it feels like some non-numerical weighting has been applied. I hope they do add it to the scoring criteria soon.

In the meantime "wifi" is a feature that can be filtered on in their sorting tool.

My TV has buttons and I can control it via my phone (universal remote inbuilt app)

I've got one of these Boschs, and it is bullshit ... but you "only" need the app to run some of the cycle types, so it's only a problem sometimes. The delicate cycle being app limited would be a problem if we used that more often.

It's somewhat the same problem because its possible to lose manufacturer remotes.

And if the TV decided to implement weird, non-standard control signals, it can be a pain to access certain functionality with universal remotes (e.g. settings).

Different path to get there, but same end result: not being able to access functionality without going through an annoying manufacturer-specific route.

Also, take a look at the permissions required for the app - why does my dishwasher need access to my search history and location?