Add what?
The eight points was what I meant, because people don’t always read every post. Probably lucky if they have time to read the entire first post.
IDK, that first post is already kind of long.
If the purpose of the 5 minute cool down is to keep the cloud from being filled with numerous consecutive 12 second clips of the same “event”, then how about this:
- First motion detected results in a 12 second clip uploaded to cloud as normal.
- If there is any additional motion detected during the cool down period, text notifications are sent saying “motion is being detected by your Wyze camera”.
If you have your cameras set to record continuously you will still be able to review what was going on during the cool down period.
For people concerned about filling up their SD cards, I get 3 days of 24-7 recording on a 32GB card. That’s plenty of time to get my notifications, review the footage, and permanently save the clips if I need them.
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I’m using SD on a 32gb card and get closer to a week of continuous recording, so I agree there is plenty of time to review and permanently save clips. Unless you’re on vacation or something. Yes, keep the 12 second video as normal with the push notification.
Currently push notifications are sent from the cloud and the camera doesn’t have text capabilities built in. That mean any notification of movement relies on the cloud and communication with the cloud to be in perfect working order. That isn’t the case with my cameras and other user’s cameras, which is why I wanted to eliminate the entire cloud chain and all of its weak links. Oddly enough, I’ve always been able to view live stream or Playback even with Events having total failure.
Without a buffer (cool-down), 30 seconds in my proposal, you could be getting constant text messages. Not sure anybody wants that. I think people mainly want to know if something else is happening and is it the same or something new.
Someone mentioned AWS charges per transaction, so any additional text or push notification will increase Wyze’s cost. Another reason for avoiding cloud based notifications.
OverWatch, the cloud could still send push notifications that are text only. So if a clip has been uploaded in the previous 5 minutes the cloud won’t accept a new video clip BUT instead sends a notification saying “motion is still being detected on your camera”. Then the user will know they should check their camera (either live or playback).
The concern with the cool down period from the users POV is this:
-A bug flies past my camera, a 12 second clip gets uploaded and a push notification “motion detected” is sent to my phone. When I review this “event” I see it was only a bug.
-BUT, anytime in the next 4 minutes and 48 seconds a thief can do whatever they want and there will be no notification of movement. Even if I review the 12 sec clip I was just notified about I will see it was only a bug. Unless I switch to live view or scrub through recorded footage I will never know that something else was going on. But, if I get a a 12 sec clip of a bug followed by several text messages in a short period of time warning me that motion is still being detected then I will know there is something going on that needs a closer look.
Yes, I get it, which is why I started this thread/roadmap. If you read the OP, which summarizes the issue and the proposed solution, you would see users would be notified every 30 seconds of movement after an cloud/push notice by simply checking their Events list. If you’re saying people have to be dinged constantly via text message every second that movement is detected, I respectfully disagree. If people care that little, and the votes here tend to indicate that may be the case, then the five minutes of void isn’t as big a deal as I thought. Also, it isn’t just the next 4 minutes and 48 seconds, it’s until the movement stops, which could be hours later. If Wyze gets charged for every one of those messages, which is what was pointed out, they simply can’t put forward such an expensive and intrusive alternative. Plus, if I’m getting constant text messages because of a spider, tree shadow, squirrel, bird or whatever, I’m going to be forced to turn off notifications. How many text messages per minute would you limit it to?
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Wyze’s cloud recording is not really good as it only record 12 second with a 5 minutes cool down, alot can happens within that 5 minutes. Fortunately a micro sd card will be a simple fix for that. But the not so fortunate fact is that the push notification also suffer from this, it won’t notify you of any sound or motion event during that 5 minutes cool down. I would want wyzecams to send push notification everytime an event happens with no cool down, I don’t care about cloud recording, just the push notification.
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My suggestion is that if a 12 second triggered event is sent to the user’s phone or tablet and there are additional triggers (or trigger) of either sound or motion during the 5 minute cool down, then this gets shown by a flag or notice displayed in the area beside the picture associated with that 12 event upload which currently displays cam name and time of event.
I don’t have sufficient knowledge or understanding of the WYZE system as to the feasibility of implementing this without major costs or redesign. Is the the cam is capable of doing this through a modest firmware update or if it could be done via the AWS server? In either case that flag would have be generated at the end of the cool down period. Assuming that the cam was triggering properly and no cool down notice flag was present to indicate additional triggers, then the owner would not have to search through 5 minutes of data each time a bug flies by in order to look for other activities of interest.
A solution keeping the 5 min on the cloud would be that in the sd card instead of one min would be the 5 lost minutes … keeping the recording of only events…
This 5-min cooldown is the only thing why I can’t recommend Wyze to friends, or put a sticker “Protected by Wyze” on my window - the home will become extremely vulnerable immediately after Wyze is identified as a surveillance system. I understand that surveillance is not the initial intention, but this is the most value I gain - hope others do, too. A distracting movement (as someone mentioned - a ball) - then go/break in, take the camera - no one will ever find out what’s happened. I believe with the current inclination towards detection of things relevant to home safety (motion, open/close etc.) the cooldown problem needs to be solved the sooner - the better. For internal-facing cameras (room watchers) I’d suggest to remove the cooldown completely - I’d rather kill all the flies around than risk a theft to happen. I would encourage users to push this problem from the wishlist to the roadmap. Thanks.
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I think that if the camera has an SD card there should not be any cool down and all events should be recorded. I also think that the recording length should be configurable if the SD card is present.
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Will be super helpful to have the 5 min cool down removed. If a car pass by your street and a person just walk into your driveway 2 min after you will miss that.
Thats the only feature that makes wyze not a security camera, and can’t recommended to a friends after I know this flaw.
sure there’s a solution: allow users to CHOOSE cloud or local storage. putting an extra step between the cam and the user causes all kinds of problems.
if cam detects motion - send alert, record to sd. seems pretty straightforward to me.
Does nobody realize that all security cameras have a cool down period? This is such a common complaint on this forum that no one seems to grasp. Every system I’ve used, regardless of price has a cool down. What do you want, a notification on every frame of motion? Where do you draw that line?
If you’re worried about someone mission impossible inserting themselves into your house during a cooldown, you should also worry about the security concern of advertising which type of system you’re using. A simple $3 "This property under 24 hour video surveillance sign from Home Depot covers you. If you tell people what your security hardware is, it is easier to breach, regardless of which hardware it is.
You’re worried about someone timing out a 5 minute cooldown to break in, but then want to advertise that a wifi jammer will turn off your whole system? I just don’t get it, this is not an actual life relevant security concern. Once you put up a Wyze sticker like you are talking about, its just wifi jam, then take camera, just as easy as a rolling ball.
Opportunist criminals aren’t casing your house like a bank vault, and finding the vulnerabilities of your system just to take your TV, they’re breaking in for quick money. If you have objects that are of such value that you think an Italian Job style heist is a possibility, I would suggest an actually professionally installed whole home system with real time monitoring, not a $20 convenience camera.
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when a guy parks his truck NEAR the front of my house i get a motion alert.
when the guy driving that truck, the ups guy, leaves his truck and walks up to my door, i DO NOT get an alert.
and, as an aside, i only get person alerts randomly, but i get motion and sound alerts even when they’re turned off. so i get to catch a leaf blowing across the grass but i miss the delivery guy…
MOD NOTE: Post edited to conform to the Community Guidelines
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I realize that other cameras have a cool down period but I believe some cameras have less than 5 minutes and some (Blink cameras??) has it where you can customize the cooldown period. A lot of us would like a shorter cool down period…ijs.
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I think there are several viable solutions that would not require much changes to wyze’s business plan or codebase.
- Give the user the option to increase record time and decrease cool down time in exchange for a limited storage space. Similar to Google photos aproach of unlimited photos at their resolution or original resolution but limited space.
- It keeps the entire length clip as long as there is motion detected, the user has 24 hours or 12 hours to view the full length motion clip, after that the clip is trimmed to 12 seconds
- If there is an sd card in device the cloud will record the entire clip as long as there is duration, if the clip is longer than 12 seconds then it pushes the clip from the cloud to the devices sd card and keeps only a thumbnail and reference to the clip on the ad card.
- With the new A.I. person detection at least record those clips in full duration even if it’s during a cool down period.
- Final solution and this is more for the technical diy users, allow users to use their own AWS S3 bucket for storage in place of an sd card and allow them to record continuasly and allow them to do event based recording with total control on record length and cool down period (if any).
Just my $0.02, but Wyze’s current single solution is inneficient for my needs and an regretting purchasing my first two wyze cameras and am bummed I won’t be littering my every square inch of my residence with these tiny, cheap cameras like I was planning on doing.
Hopefully they change their course and priorities soon, I really want this product line (eco system) thrives but users need more options. I’m an Android guy, not an apple guy.
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Hey guys, let’s just end this discussion. Yes, the cooldown period is uncomfortable. Yes, it seemingly reduces security. But hey:
- it is not intended to be a super security system, and it wouldn’t be wyze from us to demand this for such an affordable solution;
- Wyze team provides an alternative that can handle an intrusion - person detection, contact sensors, motion sensors… One usually buys a kit, not a single camera;
- this is a foolproof solution. You’re not creating a vault, you’re repelling those who are able to think, hence are cautious. Methhead can be stopped by a metal door only… But! You’re given an opportunity to see the intrusion and make a decision to handle the situation.
I just ask you guys to understand that indeed, Wyze provides hell of possibilities to make you aware of something that happens in your perimeter, and you can both react and prove what happened.
Would you enter a property when you know that it’s under surveillance? Once you’ve seen a camera eye, would you be sure that you’re not filmed from a number of points while you’re lurking around? Yep, this is the intention, and it’s working.
Place fake cameras that are clearly visible. Put Wyze in the places from where they can snap an intruder while they’re trying to hide their faces. Sound up your perimeter - install a cheap motion sensors that are connected to an alarm device (does it come to the Wyze’s backlog?), a simple “ta-ta” around your yard will serve you better than a watch dog.
I would now rather vote for careful marking of the recorded video - let it be 5-sec stamps “a person on the video”. Plus, it becomes urgent to introduce x3-5-10-20 fast-forward/rewind, or a search for the specific time.
Just to reiterate. Simple cameras looking outside through the window (I am waiting for outdoor cameras, too) - let them track persons only; contact sensors on essential entry points; and let your rotating cameras patrol your corridors and rooms reacting on any movement (headlights in the night can be a problem - but either get used to it, or get back earlier
). That’s it. You won’t find better.
Best regards to the team - heaps appreciated. Cheers!
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I’m reiterating that being able to modify the recording length and the cooldown time period have become requirements for me to seriously continue and expand my use of the Wyze cameras.
I recently had the state and local police and detectives laugh at my Wyze cam. Why? Because it caught (on video) someone breaking and entering (which they were impressed by), but did not catch them walking out with stuff because they did so during the 5-minute cool-down period. The police thought this was ridiculous – and I agree – especially since my 10+ year old D-Link wifi-connected camera gives me the option to specify the recording length, number of still frames before and after the motion, and the cool-down period. None of which Wyze lets me do. And Wyze Support’s answer was “put in an SD Card”. Sorry, but that doesn’t resolve the issue. I get many alerts including trucks driving by therefore many cooldown periods. I’m not going to endlessly watch the video because the important events may have NOT been triggered because they were during a cooldown period. I’m considering moving to a different camera platform as a result.
(Not to combine this with another sorely missed and needed feature, but I also missed the alert in the above B&E case because the sound was no different than the zillions of other alerts I get on my phone every day, and therefore have become numb to it. Get on that one, too, please, Wyze!)
Thanks for listening.
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