I have two Yale Zwave locks that are at least 11 years old and still kicking. The key factor to this is the non reliance on the cloud.
Zigbee, Zwave, Esphome and other non-cloud will always work longer than any cloud based solution that is at risk of being shutdown, use a outdated or no longer available app, become a subscription, etc.
I agree with you that they should be required by law to open their code and unlock the devices but I doubt this will happen any time soon.
I’m not sure what your regular OS is but on Linux you can also use Qemu/Kvm to run virtual machines, or docker/podman for containers. You can also look into Virtual Box for a more finished interface. If you want to have something that behaves like the cloud you could also try Incus.
On windows : HyperV or Virtual Box for vms, you can also use Docker Desktop or Podman desktop. I think wsl also let you run services.
These are the latest official configs for the echo.
This works very well for tech enthusiasts and people who self-host nextcloud at home.
The issue is when you are a government or university, it becomes harder to get all your users (which are probably not all tech savvy) to install a third party app store deal with the Android warnings about installing from third-parties, etc etc.
And this is probably the user base Google are targeting with this move (assuming it’s malicious) . When the higher ups complain that their files are not syncing and need to install things with a special procedure they sometimes wonder why they are not using M365 or Google which seems hassle free.
To answer the last part of your post:
So far my experience is that the RCS-iMessage feature is working (or not) depending on the Apple user’s provider. I’m on Android with a “cheap” provider in Canada and RCS-iMessage work with my iMessage contacts that are on major providers but those on cheaper providers don’t work yet.
So if you are on Android and your basic RCS works you should be good.
I have had Zwave Yale locks for almost 10 years now and am pretty happy with them. I have the assure SL (mentionned in another comment) on 3 doors right now and they are rock solid.
The battery is reported to Zwave but you will also get some beeping and flashing on the lock itself when the battery gets low, so even if you don’t see it in HA it is hard to miss and end up with a dead battery.
As a side note, I always bought the push button variant of those locks and stayed away from the touch pad version. Living in Canada it seemed like a bad choice to deal with touchpads in the winter with the gloves and snow possibly melting on it.
If you are using zigbee you should check Sinope Sedna Walter valve with the optional water flow sensor. It is supported in zha using quirks from claudegel on github.
Just make sure you select the ZigBee one since their WiFi one need their proprietary hub to work.
For those of you who are interested in this but don’t know where to start I think https://www.freedombox.org/ may be a good starting point. It’s been around for a long time, provides easy enough installation and a nice web interface for management. Its based on Debian and you can give it a try on their demo.
Also the vision for the project aligns pretty much with what op is saying https://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox/Vision