Hunter will cut the old cloud link between HunterSMART fans and Google Home and Alexa on Jan. 1, 2027. Some owners will need new hardware to keep voice control.
If you tell Alexa or Google Home to turn on your Hunter ceiling fan, that may stop working on January 1, 2027. Hunter is shutting down the old internet connection that links its HunterSMART fans to those two voice systems. Some fans can be switched to a newer standard. Others may need new parts.
Hunter is a major ceiling fan brand in the US. Its HunterSMART fans connect to Google Home and Alexa through a cloud link. That means your accounts talk to each other over the internet. Hunter is ending that link.
After the cutoff date, anything that depends on it stops. That includes voice commands, scenes and automations. A scene is a saved group of settings, and an automation runs on its own, such as at a set time.
The change hits owners of HunterSMART fans who use Google Home or Alexa. Hunter's own app and the remote that comes with the fan will keep working. Only the link to the big smart home systems goes away.
Owners with an eligible model can keep everything. Hunter is moving those fans to Matter, an industry standard meant to help smart home products work together. Once a fan is switched over, Hunter says all smart functions continue in Google Home and Alexa. The catch is that not every fan qualifies. Hunter has been updating select models over the past year.
Depending on the model, the fix is either a firmware update, which is a software update for the fan, or new hardware. Hunter says the options vary by product. The hardware point is the one to watch, because it means some owners will have to do more than tap an update button.
There is also a practical warning. The reviewer at 9to5Google owns an older model that needs new hardware. He could not even get it back on Wi-Fi to look for an update, because Hunter's Android app kept crashing during setup. One person's experience does not prove a wider problem, but it is a reason to start early.
Once a fan is updated, it will no longer work through the old account link. It has to be set up again directly in the Google Home or Alexa app.
The alert box above lists the steps. The short version is to check whether your model is on Hunter's Matter list, then follow Hunter's instructions for it.
The material does not say how many fans are eligible, what any new hardware would cost, or whether Hunter will extend the deadline. Hunter's HunterSMART Matter resource page is the place to look for current details on compatibility and upgrade options.
Check now whether your HunterSMART fan can switch to Matter, because the old Google Home and Alexa link ends January 1, 2027.
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