@Riley_S "they must just be set up with a Kasa Account first"

That is the problem TP-LiNK has created.

TP-LINK has removed functionality from devices that I and other have purchased.

I have a box of plugs and switches that I can not set up now because you have removed a feature that I paid for.

Furthermore the app is unusable now without  logging into a KASA account.

I have no desire to be part of anyones cloud which is why I discussed at length with TP-LINK support regarding SETTING UP and USING the plugs and switches via LOCAL ONLY mode BEFORE making my purchases.

I have a number of TP-LINK products: Smart Switches, NICs, Media Converters, etc... and I have always had good things to say about TP-LINK products. That is until now.

What TP-LINK has done is called BAIT and SWITCH.  You have my money yet you have taken away what I purchased.  Some would call that theft.

If you are unwilling to restore the functionality to the app then I will expect a full refund for the products I have purchased.

Riley_S wrote

  ... as we can't guarantee any functionality if your device isn't updating its firmware from our servers, or isn't receiving the most recent security updates.

Hope I don't come across the wrong way, but that just can't be true. Granted, any additional or new functionality or security can't be guaranteed, but TP-Link (or any company for that matter) should always be able to guarantee a product is functional and can be used for the intended purpose by the customer right out of the box. Requiring an account just to get it set up on the local network is a rather onerous position.

Consider the "Cabin in the Woods" scenario: As a customer, I purchase several WiFi IoT products for my cabin in the woods, where I have a WiFi network but intentionally do not have and cannot obtain access to the Internet, or cellular data, in order to automate things at my isolated retreat.

Sure, there are workarounds. But most customers are unlikely to anticipate the things they'd have to do before going out to their cabin. And no one who is highly privacy conscious will appreciate being required to set up an account, regardless of what others may consider the benefits to be.

And not having an account should not prevent a user from updating the firmware. There are several ways around that:

• The most useful, is have the app download the firmware on startup, if an Internet connection is available. When it has new updates, the app can notify the user and provide the option to send the firmware to the device(s), which can handle the update from there. This allows for updates at the Cabin in the Woods, provided the app has been opened at some point before the next trip to the cabin.
• Next best is have the app detect when new firmware is available on start up, and give the user the option to command the devices to go fetch and update themselves. This won't do anything for the Cabin in the Woods, but it won't hurt them, either.
• Last option is just have the devices themselves check for new firmware. The options from there are:
  • Devices notify the app on start up, and give the option for the user to give permission to update, or
  • Devices just update themselves automatically and, to be courteous, the app notifies the user that firmware has been updated successfully. This one is a bit heavy-handed, in my opinion, but isn't entirely unreasonable.

I do get the appeal of encouraging cloud-connectivity, from a company perspective, at least for anything that doesn't involve selling data for advertising or marketing. There are a lot of very good reasons, from enabling control from remote locations, to providing rich technical support information for Customer Service, to getting good (anonymized!) analytics for feature and future product development.

But all of that should be opt-in, not a requirement to use a product that customers have paid for.

  @Riley_S   "the devices are far more stable and secure when operating under an Account. "

Clearly you are a "sales person" without a networking or security background. 
 

The securest means of deployment is to have the device completely isolated from the internet. 
 

Having no internet access other than my wireless service I am living virtually "off grid" with regards to the internet, like a cabin in the woods, it has provided me such privacy and security. 
 

Unfortunately TP-LINK has now stolen from me the ability to control the devices I have installed as well as install the device that are still in the box. 

Worse yet they will know whenever a light is turned on or off, how long it was on, energy consumed and if someone is home.   Pretty soon they will be turning on and off the lights when they feel it is in our best interest. 
 

Before you know it TP-LINK will be charging a subscription fee for the KASA account and failure to pay will render a person's devices useless.  
 

If TP-LINK is unwilling to restore the removed feature then please provide a refund for the devices purchased and installed.