An Open Letter to the Great Folks at Wyze

Watercooler
1

Not sure if this is suitable for this forum or another, but I couldn’t find a more suitable forum so here it is.

Dear Wyze -

I’ve been using your products now for a few years. Indoor & outdoor cams, video doorbell, spotlights, smart bulbs. As I watch the company grow, and grow its product offerings, I want to offer some (hopefully) helpful feedback on one area you really need to work on.

The reason I have swapped my Google Nest system out for a Wyze-Alexa-based home security system is that the Wyze-Alexa offers me the capabilities I want that Google Nest doesn’t, and after 5+ years of “we’re working on it”, I gave up on Google. Entirely.

I have Wyze cams in all rooms in my home, the exterior of the house (garage, front porch, back porch, backyard), front doorbell, and Wyze smart bulbs. Yes, I use an Android phone & tablet when I am away from home, which is nice for checking on the dog, and the security of the house. I can see that the house is fine & not on fire. And that the dog is fine in bed, not pulling the stuffings out of our new family room furniture! But when I am home, I am on my Windows 11 network and this is where I have built my home security system. And this is where your software, well, sucks. I want to have a very-wide monitor displaying ALL cameras simultaneously so that I can check the status of the property quickly at a glance. I can not. The individual displays should be scalable. They are not. No lag time on video. Little things like that. Wyze Live simply doesn’t cut the mustard. Wyze Live is a nice beta project, but its not ready for prime time. And to be honest, I haven’t seen any improvements in it for quite a while now. Why? And as a matter-of-fact, why is the Wyze app on my phone named WyzeBeta?

I realize that getting new hardware out the door is critically important to you, but so should your software platforms (plural). For those who are trying to build their own home or small business security system, Android (or Apple’s equivalent) on tiny phone screens simply don’t cut it. If the current Wyze Live is your finished product, I made a HUGE mistake.

You’re to be commended for getting great products at ultra-reasonable prices to market. Please follow-up with your Windows and MacOS software.

Many thanks for listening!

Ken

2

Presumably because you are using a beta version of the app (as am I), and not the production version.

3 Likes
3

As stated above, this is because you enrolled in the Beta program. You can unenroll from Beta and switch back to the public/production version of the Wyze app by opening Google Play, open the Wyze App page, scroll down to where it says “You’re a beta tester” and select “Leave” and you will go back to the normal public/production version of the app.

I believe it basically considered as a fully released product now, but it will likely receive some ongoing updates over time, which I suspect because I have seen several updates throughout this year, though I do not know of any dramatic or significant things being worked on right now. I would not necessarily expect anything significant to change, though it’s possible.

What most people do if they need more control or customizability on a desktop/laptop like you asked for is to either run a Tinycam server (ie: on an Android phone or in an Android emulator like Bluestacks) which will then let them stream to a browser in several different layout options. Another option is to run Docker Wyze Bridge, which will basically convert all the Wyze streams to RTSP or other formats and then you can set everything up any way you want, any size you want, any layout you want, even record camera streams, all locally.

Those are 2 pretty good options worth looking into if the default Wyze Webview isn’t cutting it for you.

I have used both Tiny Cam and Docker Wyze Bridge, so I know they both work pretty well for the kind of things you mentioned.

3 Likes
4

I use Tiny Cam Pro on a ChromeCast plugged into a wide screen TV for this. Have you considered using an Android Emulator running Tiny Cam?

5

No, I haven’t considered that. I don’t use Chrome or Chromecast products.

6

I can’t tell you how much time I spent trying to find a “Google Play” app on my phone.
I finally went to Google Playstore and installed “Google Play”. No where do I find the Wyze app in Google Play. I can open the WyzeBeta app, but no where in there do I find anything saying I am a beta tester. Frustrating to say the least.

“What most people do if they need more control or customizability on a desktop/laptop like you asked for is to either run a Tinycam server…” Then what is the purpose of the Wyze Live? It simply does not work. And that is the point I was trying to make. I expect an application to work in the Windows environment. Since Windows is a major desktop environment, I don’t think that is much of an ask. If you are putting out a product, it should work as advertised. That’s my opinion & everyone is free to have a different opinion.

In terms of running Docker Wyze Bridge: I must confess up-front, I am feeling like I am severely mentally challenged (I hope that is the proper PC way of putting it). I never heard of “Wyze Bridge” before so I went to the Wyze site to see how much it will cost me, and I couldn’t find that product anywhere. I then did a search for Docker, as I never heard of that before either. I found this: “Streaming should continue to work without an active internet connection, but will probably stop working after some time as the cameras were not designed to be used without the cloud. Some camera commands also depend on the cloud and may not function without an active connection. See wz_mini_hacks for firmware level modification to run the camera offline.” When I see the work “hack”, being a very old-timer, I cringe a bit.

Very honestly, I do not want to start building a “system” of parts just to get where I want to be, which is the ability to display all of my Wyze cams on my Windows desktop, either inside a browser window or in a separate application. Stated a bit more concisely: I want WyzeLive to work as it should. I fully appreciate the suggestions here as ways to get where I want to be, but I just don’t have it in me any more to start putting pieces of software together, applying patches and hacks, etc. I want all that presented to me in a nice little package with a bow on top, and I’m willing to pay a reasonable price for that. I thought WyzeLive was that package, and it is not.

Wyze seems to be solely (?) focused on creating new hardware & selling it cheap. I would rather they be a company like RevoPoint, a company that is developing great hardware but also putting substantial resources into developing their own software for their products.

One more thing: I found that the SGIN model T10 tablets running Android 12 work exceptionally well as displays for the Wyze cams and the Wyze app. I ordered several more of them, and what I received today were tablets (model T10S) that had Android 13 on them and guess what: the Wyze app doesn’t work on them. Don’t know if it is Android 13, the fact that SGIN is now shipping the T10S models, or both. Again, very frustrating.

And finally, I want to say again that I really do appreciate all the suggestions on ways to accomplish what I want. 40-50 years ago, I would have jumped on these suggestions, but I just don’t have it in me any more to want to undertake those kinds of efforts to cobble together a solution. And in this day & age, I just can’t believe that I would have to cobble together anything.

7

Google Play is just another word used to mean Google Playstore.

When you are enrolled in beta, the WyzeBeta replaces the option for the Wyze App in Google Playstore. That’s how all Beta programs work through Google.

If you want to unenroll from beta, open your WyzeBeta app, select the account icon on the bottom right. Select the option called “About” close to the bottom. Select the option called “Beta Program” Then select the button at the bottom that says “Leave”

I believe that should revert you back to the version of the app that doesn’t say Beta on it.

Alternatively, you can go to the WyzeBeta app location on the Google Playstore and if you look closely you will find a spot where Google says you’re a Beta tester for that app, then you can select the “Leave” link to get out that way.

image
image420×958 75.7 KB

1 Like
8

That, the hacks firmware, and if you come across blue stacks, tiny cam, any Android emulator etc are not Wyze products. They are all third party programs and firmware offered by others and not Wyze.

But don’t confuse the “bridge” with the old Sense bridge that connected to the original pan cams and the v2 to help run sensors. That’s something different.

1 Like