Bambu Handy is a great way to interact with my printer; I appreciate getting notifications about prints, being able to check the camera from my couch, and updating my AMS from my phone. Kudos for all of that.
What I do not appreciate is all the bloat that has been added to it since I started using it. I do not want any of the social aspects of MakerWorld to be a part of this app; including browsing models, getting notifications from other users, handling copyright claims, etc.
All of this gets in the way of what I actually want to use the app for. For example: when I get a notification about a print finishing and I want to clear it there are now five notification tabs, and the only two I ever use (system and devices) aren’t even initially on the screen because message, comments, and models push them into the scroll overflow.
I’m sure there are lots of people out there who like all the MakerWorld stuff, more power to them… but I really wish that we could (ideally) split them into two separate apps, or fully disable (and remove entirely from the UI) features we don’t use.
Sincerely, a frustrated user who used to be excited about Handy and now not so much.
It sounds like you’ve had great experience with your printer so far. But now you are starting to see the dark side of Bambu. Remember the old phrase, “If it’s on the Internet and it’s free, you’re the product”
Bambu has stated that they have pursued a course of development parallel to Apple. A “walled garden” is what it’s called. There objective is clear, they are creating an Ecosystem by which to force-feed content. That bloat you talked about started to appear right at the launch of Makerworld and there is no way to opt out and to be candid, it feels like Apple in that this is our stuff and you will like it dammit!!!
So although you may find like-minded folks who agree that bloat is bad, this is how Bambu perceives their position in the market place, it’s their Sandbox, there rules, user be damned. I hope I’m wrong and they listen to you and others but don’t hold your breath.
Somehow I don’t see BL splitting an already developed app and having two versions to maintain. Given they at times seem to have some resources stretched thin I doubt they’d be willing go that route.
If they did they’d probably be taken off a task or (most likely) have to take it on with their current work. At that point they will either not move fast enough for some and catch it for that, or struggle and put out a worse app and be called out for that. It’s really a no win situation.
I have 2 CO2 laser’s! One is a Glowforge. They do the same thing as Bamboo. once you send the file thru the cloud, to your printer, it’s not yours anymore. Glowforge has your file and as I understand it, they could use it if the wanted to.
Not 100% sure of this, but it seems quite possible!