Wyzecam Person Detection Micro SD Card and Monthly Subscription?

[paulyronnie]

So I have a Wyzecam V2. A while back I use a micro sd card in it and it was great because it detected person and also sound. Then a while back, I recalled it stopped doing that.

Now… I notice that a while back Wyzecam no longer offers this service and charges for it monthly right? So its that much for every single wyzecam a month? Now if one subscribes to that… its called camplus right? Well… does that mean having a micro sd card is essentially useless then? Camplus i believe records up to two whole weeks free on the cloud right before it wipes old footage? But if you use a micro sd card and record say only half the day everyday continuously, isn’t it going to be the same thing?

Now i recall using that two week subscription of camplus for free and it seemed okay… but i notice the person detection isn’t good at all? Also if a wyzecam doesn’t have monthly subscription… and no microsd card… what does it even record then? If someone walks by or sound… there is no notification? What if that person has a microsd card though? They could get up to two weeks of footage since stored in micro sd card still right? But there is no person detection? So what notifications would they even get? Also is the paid monthly subscription worst than the free one a while back or same? When i used the two week free camplus subscription, it didn’t felt that good compared to back then when the person detection was free.

[Newshound]

Did you not sign up for legacy person detection for your V2? That was free… also Sd cards see all.

[paulyronnie]

What is legacy person? I don’t remember what that was.

SD cards see all… but one won’t get any person detection though right with just the micro sd card?

I walked by the wyzecam and it didn’t even sent me a notification. Note, i did this without a micro sd card but shouldn’t it still notify you?

[Newshound]

When Wyze discontinued person detection on V2s because of a contract issue with the founders of that, they offered a way around that by signing up for all other future legacy person detections on those devices. If you didn’t take that offer (which has since expired), then you needed to sign up for the V3 Cam Plus, which was the only other option.

If you didn’t sign up for legacy person detections on the V2, then I wouldn’t expect anything under the current standard.

In that instance, Cam Plus is now the best option.

[paulyronnie]

Is there a way to check if i signed up for the future legacy person detection? So if i did sign up, you get it forever? If you didn’t, then you can never get it? How long did they give that offer for?

Okay so if you didn’t sign up for that, what notifications do you get? Do you even get sound notifications? So no person detection… but what about motion? So someone who walks by your camera, there would be zero notification?

What is the purpose of having a microsd card then if you sign up for camplus though?

[paulyronnie]

Are you also saying having a Wyzecam V2 but you didn’t do the legacy offer signup and have a micro sd card … pretty pointless then?

[towelkingdom]

Cam plus gives you full motion recording, eliminates cool down between events, and gives person detection. But does not offer 24/7 continuous recording.

SD cards give you the choice between event only recording or 24/7 continuous recording.

Personally, I have 3 cameras that have both SD cards (for contuniuos 24/7 recording) as well as cam plus for the person detection, no cool down, and full motion event recordings.

I have a couple of cameras with just cam plus (don’t need 24/7 recording on those) but did need the longer event videos and no cool down.

And I have a camera that only has an SD card for 24/7 recording as that’s all I really need/want on that camera.

You have to change detection settings per camera in that cameras settings. If you want to record upon sound or motion, you have to enable those in detection settings and adjust the sensitivity based on your needs.

The legacy person detection was offered for a short time when they had to transition between the service provider they licensed from originally to a new provider (due to a buy out). They notified via email and there was a limited window to sign on to still get person detection after the switch. You’d see that in your account (in the Wyze app: account>services and it will say person detection pilot).

[towelkingdom]

Also, you don’t need an SD card or cam plus to receive notifications. They won’t differentiate between people and general motion, but you should get notified if you have that option enabled when the camera records an event video. If you see events in the events tab but you did not get notifications, then you either have notifications turned off or snoozed (the bell in the upper corner of the Wyze app will have zzz on it if it’s snoozed).

[Omgitstony]

@paulyronnie

Is there a way to check if i signed up for the future legacy person detection?

In app, go into Account, then Services, do you see “Person detection pilot” anywhere?

If you see it, you have the legacy “pay what you want” person detection.

@paulyronnie

A while back I use a micro sd card in it and it was great because it detected person and also sound. Then a while back, I recalled it stopped doing that.

Are you talking about the “xnor” person detection? That is no longer a thing. That was person detection that was within the firmware of the camera itself. Xnor is no longer a thing, and Wyze had to develope there own person detection, which occurs now in the cloud.

@paulyronnie

I notice that a while back Wyzecam no longer offers this service and charges for it monthly right? So its that much for every single wyzecam a month? Now if one subscribes to that… its called camplus right? Well… does that mean having a micro sd card is essentially useless then?

Yes, camplus is the name of the Wyze subscription service that offers cloud clips for the duration of the motion with no cooldown period. If there is no motion, no clip. Cloud clips are saved for 14 days. This is different than continuous sd card local storage, which records 24/7 to the sd card in the camera. Retention is based in your quality settings, sd card size, event only or continuous setting, and amount of motion detected.

“Cloud storage” (free 12 sec/5 min cool down) and “local storage” (sd card) are operated seperately from each other, settings of one do not effect the other. You can have one, both or neither at anytime. It is up to you to understand the pros and cons of each, and choose what’s best for each camera location. At a minimum, my cameras have atleast local storage event recording to a sd card. Some have only local storage continuous recording, and some have local storage set to continuous and have camplus.

@paulyronnie

Now i recall using that two week subscription of camplus for free and it seemed okay… but i notice the person detection isn’t good at all?

There could be many things at play here. The foreground (person) needs to be contrasted compaired to the background. Is there other motion happening near the person? My front camera has near 100% accuracy, and I believe that’s because the person is contrasted against my white house siding, makes it easy for the cloud algorithm to distinguish the silloute of a person. Person detection is done in the cloud. Your camplus camera sends the clip, the cloud servers run their algorithm on it and then tag person, package, veh, etc.

@paulyronnie

Also if a wyzecam doesn’t have monthly subscription… and no microsd card… what does it even record then? If someone walks by or sound… there is no notification? What if that person has a microsd card though?

You have the ability to use the free cloud recording, which is 12 second clips, and then a 5 min cool down before the next clip can be saved. This clip, like all cloud clips to send a notification to the device via the app. Sd card local storage does not send notifications to your device via the app. If you have no cloud recording set up, but have a sd card in the camera, local storage will be recording but you won’t get any notifications from it.

@paulyronnie

SD cards see all… but one won’t get any person detection though right with just the micro sd card?

No. You need a camera with the legacy person detection, or camplus because person detection occurs in the cloud. You only get notified of cloud events if your notification settings are enabled.

@paulyronnie

I walked by the wyzecam and it didn’t even sent me a notification. Note, i did this without a micro sd card but shouldn’t it still notify you?

Did you have cloud event recording and your notifications enabled?

[paulyronnie]

When I click on services and active subscription, I see

Active subscriptions

Person Detection (Pilot)

When I click on above, i actually see two wyzecams. Both seem to be off. So if i turn them both on… it would work? So these two wyzecams will forever have the person detection? Would that mean these two cameras wouldn’t need that monthly camplus subscription fee then? Or are there people that still get the monthly camplus even if they have person detection?

What do you mean cloud even recording enabled? I know i have notifications enabled.

So if a wyzecam didn’t sign up for the legacy a while back, then it can never have person detection right?

Also… you would recommend every wyzecam you have… whether it has person detection or camplus… to always have a micro sd card in it right?

Now if you had the option of one of your cameras to have either the micro sd card… or the camplus… which would you choose if you could only choose one? Which would you say is more important? But if a camera has the legacy person detection and microsd card… that is more than enough then right?

Also back then, was there even a monthly subscription service with wyzecam?

[Newshound]

@paulyronnie

When I click on services and active subscription, I see

Active subscriptions

Person Detection (Pilot)

When I click on above, i actually see two wyzecams. Both seem to be off. So if i turn them both on… it would work?

Yes.

@paulyronnie

So these two wyzecams will forever have the person detection?

In theory. I don’t expect them to ever discontinue legacy person detection.

@paulyronnie

Would that mean these two cameras wouldn’t need that monthly camplus subscription fee then?

Yes, if you are only looking for Person Detection. However, if you are looking for further AI enhancements, like Face, Package, Vehicle, or Pet Detection, you would need Cam Plus.

@paulyronnie

So if a wyzecam didn’t sign up for the legacy a while back, then it can never have person detection right?

A user who didn’t sign up for Legacy Person Detection when it was offered can not sign up for it now. So, anyone who doesn’t have a “Person Detection (Pilot)” under Account tab > Services will need Cam Plus instead.

@paulyronnie

Also… you would recommend every wyzecam you have… whether it has person detection or camplus… to always have a micro sd card in it right?

Absolutely. And in “Continuous Record” mode. Then you never have to worry about whether a threshold was met. If you know something happened, it is on the SD card. Only catch is you have to look within about 3 days (HD w/32GB card) to get the incident before it is overwritten.

@paulyronnie

Now if you had the option of one of your cameras to have either the micro sd card… or the camplus… which would you choose if you could only choose one?

The SD card. If something happens, you can typically back up to the time of a generic motion alert to see all that happened.

@paulyronnie

if a camera has the legacy person detection and microsd card… that is more than enough then right?

Yes, unless you feel you need Face, Package, Vehicle, or Pet Detection.

@paulyronnie

Also back then, was there even a monthly subscription service with wyzecam?

No, that was one of the original attractors to Wyze. That changed when Xnor was no longer a thing and Wyze had to hire new people to develop their own algorithm.

[Omgitstony]

@paulyronnie ,

@Newshound

@paulyronnie

Would that mean these two cameras wouldn’t need that monthly camplus subscription fee then?

Yes, if you are only looking for Person Detection. However, if you are looking for further AI enhancements, like Face, Package, Vehicle, or Pet Detection, you would need Cam Plus.

And/or clips for the duration of the motion saved to the cloud, not just 12 second clips.

@paulyronnie

Also… you would recommend every wyzecam you have… whether it has person detection or camplus… to always have a micro sd card in it right?

I have sd cards in each of my cameras, even my pet food dishes camera. What I recommend, is that each user do their own due diligence to understand the pros and cons and make an informed decision yay or nay as to their individual use cases. Having a sd card, like @Newshound stated, takes out the thresholds and algorithm’s and saves everything to the card, and that’s a big pro to me.

[Omgitstony]

@paulyronnie

What do you mean cloud even recording enabled? I know i have notifications enabled.

This…

@Omgitstony

@paulyronnie

I walked by the wyzecam and it didn’t even sent me a notification. Note, i did this without a micro sd card but shouldn’t it still notify you?

Did you have cloud event recording and your notifications enabled?

Notifications are sent when events are recorded to the cloud. Events are sent to the cloud if you have your settings under “event recording” enabled. If you have “notifications” enabled, nothing will happen unless you also have event recording enabled, they are two different sets of settings. In your example, if you have event recording enabled, and notifications enabled, you should of got a notification that you walked by your camera if the event passed your detection zone and sensitivity settings. If you only had notifications enabled, nothing will happen.

[paulyronnie]

Okay so this is strange. We have another wyzecam which wasn’t used for many months. I don’t think it was even turned on for a long time. I then added this wyzecam to the wyzecam app.

For some reason when i go to wyzecam, active subscriptions, person detection (pilot) , I actually see three different wyzecam cameras and you could actually turn on for all three of them? Note one of the wyzecam isn’t mine but someone else’s but they said they haven’t used it probably since last year maybe. But yet i could turn on that camera for person detection (pilot). Does this mean that person upgraded to the legacy months ago then but forgot about it?

Now i set up two of those wyzecams now. I got micro sd card for each of them. Now im walking by the cameras… and there doesn’t seem to be any detection at all? Only one of my cameras after only a few minutes later, i would see a notification. Is this normal? I am literally walking by each of the cameras… shouldn’t it immediately send me a notification? My old wyzecam always was like that.

In events, i have person, motion and three cameras in like under events in white letters in llke a torqoise background. So wouldn’t that mean all event should be shown?

I am pretty sure i have all my settings correct. I have detect motion and sound for each of them. Why isn’t it showing any notifications when i just walk by the cameras?

[paulyronnie]

Another issue that i been having. After walking by a camera say 8 minutes ago, now i get a notification from it and it says sound notification only. I click on that notification that shows up on my iphone and click on it… normally it should play that short clip.

Instead it goes straight to the live feed of that camera? Why is it doing that? But when i click on events and recent events… that event isn’t even there?

[Omgitstony]

@paulyronnie

I actually see three different wyzecam cameras and you could actually turn on for all three of them?

There is no limit to the amount of v2 and pancams that you can apply the legacy PD to.

@paulyronnie

Now i set up two of those wyzecams now. I got micro sd card for each of them. Now im walking by the cameras… and there doesn’t seem to be any detection at all?

You do not get notifications from local storage (sd card) recordings, you get notifications from cloud recordings. local storage and cloud storage are two separate and independent things. What are your cloud storage settings? Where you walking by during the cool down period?

@paulyronnie

Only one of my cameras after only a few minutes later, i would see a notification. Is this normal? I am literally walking by each of the cameras… shouldn’t it immediately send me a notification?

You get a notification of the event clip saved to the cloud. If you have the free cloud service, notifications average about 13 to 15 seconds after the onset of the event.

@paulyronnie

In events, i have person, motion and three cameras in like under events in white letters in llke a torqoise background. So wouldn’t that mean all event should be shown?

For troubleshooting I would remove all filters so that you can see all events.

@paulyronnie

I am pretty sure i have all my settings correct. I have detect motion and sound for each of them. Why isn’t it showing any notifications when i just walk by the cameras?

Are you in the cool down.? Did you walking by the camera trigger the threshold of the sensitivity settings? Do you have a detection zone set? Were you within that detection zone?

@paulyronnie

Instead it goes straight to the live feed of that camera? Why is it doing that? But when i click on events and recent events… that event isn’t even there?

Either the clip is still uploading or it’s having trouble? I would remove all the filters and your event tab so that nothing is filtered out.

[paulyronnie]

Well i meant of the wyzecams we had, i know two of them we subscribed to that legacy pilot detection to. One of the wyzecams, its not mine but someone else’s, im pretty sure it wasn’t used for a very long time… which mean they didn’t even upgrade to legacy pilot detection. So im wondering why i could turn this on… my my iphone with that camera?

How do i check my cloud storage settings? Do i need to pay for that? Back then with my old wyzecam years ago, it always get me notification when i walk by pretty much close to immediately or not more than a minute after it. I mean imagine cameras are on… im walking by these cameras back and forth. I not sure what you mean by cooling period.

I do have the free cloud service right? How do i check this? Yea sounds about right that those notifications comes around that time after an event.

Remove all filters. Can you explain where this is at and where? On filter… i see camera groupd

Camera one
Camera two
Camera three

I have all these three checked but i only have camera one and two connected now.

I’m not sure what is cool down. Motion detection and sound detection sensitivity is around 50 each. Event recording i have turned on for detect motion and sound. What is detection zone set? I am literally walking by the camera and looking at my phone that shows im walking by the camera.

Im not sure what you mean by remove all filters. If you remove that, aren’t you removing all the cameras?

[Omgitstony]

@paulyronnie

Well i meant of the wyzecams we had, i know two of them we subscribed to that legacy pilot detection to. One of the wyzecams, its not mine but someone else’s, im pretty sure it wasn’t used for a very long time… which mean they didn’t even upgrade to legacy pilot detection. So im wondering why i could turn this on… my my iphone with that camera?

Legacy person detection is a service. When you signed up for it, the service is now attached to your account which you can apply it to whatever v2 or pan cam you have that you want. I’m guessing it’s included in on the list in the legacy person detection service because it shows up as a camera on your list of devices.

@paulyronnie

How do i check my cloud storage settings? Do i need to pay for that? Back then with my old wyzecam years ago, it always get me notification when i walk by pretty much close to immediately or not more than a minute after it. I mean imagine cameras are on… im walking by these cameras back and forth. I not sure what you mean by cooling period.

The cloud settings are within your camera settings, no need to pay to just view your settings in your cameras. With the cooldown, the free cloud storage only records a 12-second clip and then has a cool down period of 5 minutes for the camera will not detect anything. When that cooldown of 5 minutes is up the camera will again detect and save a clip to the cloud if there is an event. If you have the free cloud service, and you have an event, anything that happens in the next 5 minutes there will not be a notification for because the camera is not detecting during that time. If you have cam plus that does not have a cooldown between motion events.

@paulyronnie

I do have the free cloud service right? How do i check this? Yea sounds about right that those notifications comes around that time after an event.

Did you pay for cam plus? Did you apply cam plus to that camera? If you didn’t and you have cloud recording enabled you’re using the free cloud service.

@paulyronnie

Remove all filters. Can you explain where this is at and where? On filter… i see camera groupd

from the event tab if you click the funnel looking thing on the upper right hand corner you get to this screen just click the clear all and then apply.

@paulyronnie

Im not sure what you mean by remove all filters. If you remove that, aren’t you removing all the cameras?

Removing all filters does just that, it does not filter anything and shows you all events regardless of their tagging, which camera, motion or sound, anything and everything in the event tab. This is good for troubleshooting.

[paulyronnie]

Okay so because i signed up for legacy service months ago with my iphone, i can use it with any
wyzecam 2 i connect to. That is interesting. So you saying anyone else that had wyzecam account a while back that didn’t subscribe to legacy pilot detection, if they want to use their camera now… they wouldn’t have the legacy pilot detection that im having? Right now using their camera to test at the moment.

Would this also mean other people in my family who sign up for wyzecam now on their phone… wouldn’t be able to get the legacy pilot detection service on their phone? I have few wyzecam and want to have them see the same things im using. They didn’t sign up with email yet etc. So if i were to share my camera with them or something like this, they still can’t get the legacy pilot detection? So they have to pay for the cam plus monthly? Say few members of family want to have the same wyzecam installed on my iphone on their iphone etc.

I go to settings, wyzecam. Notifications i have on. I have checked alerts for lock screen and notification center but not banners. I have on for sounds and badges. So this is cloud storage? Or is it icloud? If it matters, my icloud storage is full on my iphone so i can’t even make backups. Is that related to this?

Nope did not pay for camplus. I don’t have camplus in any of the cameras. Only had it in that trial period.
How do i enable cloud recording on my iphone?

Okay when i clear all… all those cameras now show unchecked. So under events tab, you see
Person and Motion bolded. Is that correct? The word Cameras and where you click on it… goes to what you shown but they are’t checked.

[Omgitstony]

@paulyronnie

Okay so because i signed up for legacy service months ago with my iphone, i can use it with any
wyzecam 2 i connect to. That is interesting. So you saying anyone else that had wyzecam account a while back that didn’t subscribe to legacy pilot detection, if they want to use their camera now… they wouldn’t have the legacy pilot detection that im having? Right now using their camera to test at the moment.

Legacy person detection was only offered to users that had created accounts before a certain time. There was only a certain time for those users to sign up for the legacy person detection, and it has not been offered again since. Anyone that has a old account that did not sign up for legacy person detection can still use their cameras normally they just don’t have the legacy person detection option available to them.

@paulyronnie

Would this also mean other people in my family who sign up for wyzecam now on their phone… wouldn’t be able to get the legacy pilot detection service on their phone? I have few wyzecam and want to have them see the same things im using. They didn’t sign up with email yet etc. So if i were to share my camera with them or something like this, they still can’t get the legacy pilot detection? So they have to pay for the cam plus monthly?

Any new account that wants person detection will need to subscribe to cam plus. I am unsure how shared cameras react when one of the parties has the legacy person detection like you do.If they are trusted family members you could share the same login credentials that you have and you could all use the same Wye account.

@paulyronnie

I go to settings, wyzecam. Notifications i have on. I have checked alerts for lock screen and notification center but not banners. I have on for sounds and badges. So this is cloud storage? Or is it icloud? If it matters, my icloud storage is full on my iphone so i can’t even make backups. Is that related to this?

When I mention cloud recording I am not talking about iCloud I am talking about the cloud storage within Wyze. Anything that shows up in the event tab is your cloud storage.

@paulyronnie

Nope did not pay for camplus. I don’t have camplus in any of the cameras. Only had it in that trial period.
How do i enable cloud recording on my iphone?

So you usually free cloud service. You have a cooldown. Of 5 minutes between events. If you walk in front of the camera and get an event anything you do in front of the camera for the next 5 minutes will not get recorded to the cloud and you will not get a notification of anything. If you had an SD card in the camera and if you had local storage enabled that would be recorded to the card but you would not get a notification of it.

In your individual camera settings, these three groups of settings are your cloud storage recording settings.

@paulyronnie

Okay when i clear all… all those cameras now show unchecked. So under events tab, you see
Person and Motion bolded. Is that correct? The word Cameras and where you click on it… goes to what you shown but they are’t checked.

Having no filters applied looks like this: