Apparatus and method for temporarily loaning internet of things (IOT) devices

A system comprising:

• an Internet of Things (IoT) service to receive a command submitted by a first user to loan a plurality of IoT devices associated with a first user account to a second user;
• the IoT service to establish a secure communication channel between the IoT service and an IoT app on an IoT device used by the second user;
• and
• wherein the IoT app is to send an identification code from the IoT app to the IoT service to provide the IoT app access to the plurality of IoT devices over the secure communication channel, wherein the IoT app is to capture the identification code from an optical code, the IoT service to use the identification code to identify the plurality of IoT devices, wherein the IoT service prevents access to the IoT devices by the first user while the second user has access to the IoT devices.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium including instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps of:

• receiving a command submitted by a first user to loan a plurality of Internet of Things (IoT) devices associated with a first user account to a second user;
• establishing a secure communication channel between an IoT service and an IoT app on an IoT device used by the second user;
• and
• receiving an identification code from the IoT app to provide the IoT app access to the plurality of IoT devices over the secure communication channel, wherein the IoT app is to capture the identification code from an optical code, the IoT service to use the identification code to identify the plurality of IoT devices, wherein the IoT service prevents access to the plurality of IoT devices by the first user while the second user has access to the IoT devices.