Other devices get forced firmware updates regularly as well. Sometimes an app version is only compatible with a specific firmware version. It should be safe as long as the device cannot be bricked by a firmware update.
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And here’s the third opinion: I don’t mind, since …
(1) never change a running system
(2) I want to be up to date.
A dilemma.
Fortunately, my strong opinion doesn’t count as I don’t even own the LM4.
More seriously: make it work. Really work. Many potential buyers are waiting for it being better than the LM3.
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Please make offline app! Do you really think that there is internet everywhere LED light exists?!
I just updated app, and try to login (why should login to use device?!) and get “failed to update try later”.WTF?! Sorry, but it is complete trash. If your servers close or burn down some reason, all LM4 become garbage .
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I will help convey your message to them, but I do not know whether they will accept your suggestion.
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Oh great, if this is true, yet another device with built-in expiration date.
Even the requirement to login is trash, sorry that I say that so clearly. Why on a simple measurement device with local bluetooth connection? Getting personal data from device or what?
I installed the app, and it did not ask me for a login. I don’t have an Opple device (why I have to 
) but I was able to see the measurement screen. What is really bad is that the location must be allowed, otherwise you cannot connect a Light Master to the app. Wow. Who knows what will happen with the location data, but I assume that they will be stored on a server somewhere in china.
I see, getting a proper spectrophotometer (handheld or stand-alone) seems the far better alternative for me. Of course it is far more expensive and thus it might not be the best solution for all users, but the measurements are much more reliable, more precise, it is possible to get the spectral data of the measured light source (which allows deeper analysis) and there are also no problems to use these devices without internet connection (for the devices I know, maybe there are some not-so-nice manufacturers out there).
personally, I do think it’s a pretty common bad practice for apps in China to have much privilege/right to get info from user’s device. causing a lot of privacy concerns. a lot of other apps do the same here.
but I disagree with privacy concerns of data with LM users. what can they do with you data? perhaps just to count how many users for a specific country. LM is not as sophisticated as a phone which may pose security concerns. that’s my understanding.
they want your app logged in because there are a whole batch of home appliances can be managed by a single app. you can save/manage your measurement report from the cloud, and so on. their intention should be creating convenience instead of concern.
It is strange , that you see measurements page without login.
Usually the first page is login page.
I like big data, and dont mind that app collect some appropriate info. But I hate local device with all local computation need internet and worked servers in 3000km for work.
this company has a lot of products, they simply can not create an app for each specific product. so they want to manage all devices with one app, perhaps this is the reason. for local users here, their home has a whole variety of opple products, for example lights to control. they want to build a platform for internet of things, LM happens to be one of the things.
I will convey your complaint to them, but I think 99% they will ignore it.
To measure lumens you need GPS tracking and Internet ! But yea, its cheap right ? 
Hm, I installed the Light Master Pro app right from the Play store (here in germany) and started it. I was asked a few things (which Opple I would use and so on, but I did not pair a LM) and it jumped right to the measurements page, albeit with empty results.
I haven’t an Opple Light Master tho, I cannot test how this app will behave with an LM connected. Most users will pair the LM while starting the app the first time, and maybe the app will ask for an user account and log in, I don’t know.
The Light Master Pro app is already a seperate app! There are also ‘Opple Home’ and ‘Opple Smart Lighting’ on the app store from the same publisher ‘Opple Lighting Co.ltd’ (at least here in EU, maybe there are more/other apps in other regions).
So this explanation is not valid for my opinion. I think data acquisition and - even worse - dealing with these data (hopefully I am dead wrong) is a thing here, which is unfortunately common for any IoT or smart device manufacturer. I also see no other features or shortcuts to other products than Opple LM in this ‘Light Master Pro’ app.
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Monday I will convey your concerns to app team. but I am nobody in a big org.
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I hear that Light Master Pro app would be dumped.
maybe it’s still there because LM3 is there. actually the new app supports LM3 too.
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Ok, a change to one Opple app for all devices would explain why a login is required. I tested the wrong app, I assumed that the LM4 will use the dedicated app which is not the case 
so forget what I wrote earlier 
I installed the OPPLE Smart Lighting app. After an extremely long installation (5 min on a Samsung Galaxy A5 2017, where normally installation is a lot quicker) and another extremely slow start the app wants a log in. Ok, then I am out and I will stick to my real spectrophotometer (hopefully I also can get a handheld variant for working on the field already this year, where the LM4 has not a stand of chance against it in terms of precision and analysing 
)
The LM3 is usable without login, in the case the ‘Light Master Pro’ app will be used.
And as soon Opple decides to dump the support for the LM4 it is no longer usable, as it seems.
BTW GPS permission it is android “feature” , without it android app can not scan BT devices…
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…maybe but only trash app cannot… all others can .
Weird permissions aside, anyone recheck the accuracy after some of these updates?
I just downloaded the new “Opple Smart Lighting” app and tried my old LM3 with it. I have to say I am far from impressed. It takes quite a while to load, aesthetically it looks worse than the “Light Master Pro” app, and for whatever reason it still doesn’t calculate the DUV even though it calculates for the LM4. However, I can say the readings are identical between the two apps.
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On Android 8 and above, you can get around this using CDM (Companion Device Manager). But if you don’t use CDM, location permissions are still required on Android 11 and below. Without CDM on Android 12 onwards you can avoid permissions using android:usesPermissionFlags=“neverForLocation”. The team may not be aware of this though.
Basically everyone should be using CDM, but BLE on Android is hard
A while back I asked Opple for the specs to rewrite the LM3/LM4 apps for our needs, but they did not bite
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Is the LM4 accurate / comparable to LM3 now?