Back-to-school season is here, and six formerly “smart” products are showing up on Meh and SideDeal without their app or any apparent interest in applying themselves.

They still perform their actual jobs using the controls on the products themselves. But their app-connected features have been held back a grade.

We think at least some of them can do better.

Maybe they need a different app. Maybe there’s a pairing process, firmware update, regional setting, APK, workaround, or particularly persuasive lecture that can restore their former smart functions.

That’s your assignment:

Teach one product to be smart again

Be the first person to post a complete, working, and reproducible fix that restores the smart functions on one of the six products, and you’ll receive:

• A full refund of the purchase price of the product you succesfully re-smarted
• A free IRK
• Four $5 coupons redeemable on Meh or SideDeal
• The temporary respect of the Meh community

There can be up to six winners—one for each product. But each person may claim only one passing grade.

The Rules

1. Pick one subject
Your entry must cover one product and one product only. Once you submit a fix for that product, you may not submit a fix for another one.

No sextuple dipping. This isn’t an advanced-placement course. We won’t stop you from buying more than one item, though.

2. Don’t do everyone else’s homework
Even if you figure out how to restore the smart functions on multiple products, post the solution for only the one you’re claiming.

We don’t want one overachiever handing in the entire answer key and ruining the assignment for everyone else.

3. Show your work
Tell us exactly what you did or downloaded. Your instructions should include everything another buyer would need to reproduce your results, including, where applicable:

• The app, APK, software, or firmware used
• App and software version numbers
• Phone or device model
• Operating system
• Account region or server selection
• Pairing and setup steps
• Any unusual settings, resets, button combinations, or workarounds

4. Video proof is required
Your entry must include a video clearly showing the app controlling the physical product. The app command and the product’s response must both be visible—preferably in one continuous, unedited recording. Pictures and screenshots may be included to document the setup, pairing process, app version, or settings, but pictures alone will not qualify as proof. A screenshot showing that the product appears in an app is not enough. We need to see that it actually learned something.

5. Restore the product’s actual smart functions
Plugging the product into a smart plug does not count.

Neither does attaching a button-pushing robot, training a child to operate it remotely, or having someone stand off-camera and press the controls while you yell, “Alexa.”

The original app-connected functionality—or a reasonably equivalent version of it—must be restored.

6. The first verified solution wins
The first complete, reproducible, and verified solution posted in this thread for each product earns that product’s prize.

Placeholder posts, theories, partial instructions, and “I solved it, video coming later” will not reserve your place in class. We’ll use the timestamp of the first completed qualifying submission.

7. You must have purchased the product
To receive the refund, you must have purchased the product from one of tonight’s Meh or SideDeal events.

8. Don’t bypass safety protections
A solution that bypasses electrical, thermal, pressure, or other built-in safety features does not count. Bringing something back from the dead is fun. Bringing your kitchen down with it is less fun.

Turn in your assignment using this format

• Product:
• App/software and version:
• Phone/device and operating system:
• Exact setup and pairing steps:
• Which smart functions were restored:
• Video proving that it works (no voiceover required):
• Optional setup pictures or screenshots:
• Anything else needed to reproduce the fix:

We’ll update this post whenever one of the six products earns its smart credentials.

Six products are reporting for remedial smart class. Let’s see which ones graduate.