This reinforces my belief that unless there's officially supported API/CLI access & the end user can control (should they opt to) the cadence of updates - you don't own the hardware.
I would agree with a modified version of this statement. To own hardware, I need the ability to control software update cadence and be able to use the device without connecting to an external server I don't control.
If an API or CLI interfaces with an external server in order to function, and that server goes down, I just lost access to my device. By contrast, a GUI app that operates entirely on my local network is never going to stop working.