I’m not exactly clear on how the hk compatibility works. But it seems there are two levels at least for cams. When I use homebridge with the ffmpeg plugin, I get the basic streams. When I use scrypted is also has a motion analysis plugin so I get notifications plus options for all the bells and whistles when using iCloud+ to use the AI features, clip recording, automation, etc. I got no idea if this differentiation extends to actual device compatibility or if it’s just the limitation of the homebridge plugin. The plugin for the bulbs and plugs is full featured with ability to schedule, control dimming, color temp, etc. Beyond my skill level to figure out the inner workings and it’s not important enough for me to delve deeper. I guess if I did not have these old PCs laying around to use as the servers for these bridges, then I might be more anxious for Wyze to get into HomeKit or I’d just jump ship to another brand.
I just recently purchase a couple of Wyze cams, they’re really nice for what I’m currently using them for, which is watching birds in my yard. We’re ready to do our whole home security but we just can’t go all in with Wyze without HomeKit integration. Going to check into other options… fingers crossed that Wyze will get on board with HomeKit, before I make a whole home investment. Since customers have been asking for years, I don’t hold out much hope for Wyze. It’s really too bad 
Hello @info4ltj, and welcome to the community.
Wyze currently has decided to go all in on Matter, by doing Matter we should then work with HomeKit since Apple is also part of Matter.
That’s great to hear about Matter, but will that enable us to use HomeKit Secure Video as well?
That I am not sure, I know not at first due to the camera portion of Matter being in very early stages. I know cameras are not a thing in Matter 1.0 but I have read where the may show in Matter 2.0.
If so, maybe future devices will be hk compatible, but I cannot see any backward compatibility, especially for cams.
Not exactly sure how homebridge and scrypted work, but I think they take a RTSP stream and rebroadcast it as required for HomeKit. I know some mfg provide plugins for homebridge in order to allow their devices to be used in HomeKit. Wyze could do this as well but has chosen not to which seems more driven by fear of losing revenue since they also appear to have stopped providing the rtsp fw. With HomeKit and iCloud+, a user no longer needs camplus - why have two subscriptions when iCloud + can handle a lot more than just the cams.
If this ever comes to fruition, do you think the camera would work natively with Apple HomeKit Secure Video, or would it have to be first linked to through the app? I don’t know if Wyze has done any market research, but cameras that work natively with Apple HSV are typically in the $150 range. I prefer the Wyze app to Apple HomeKit, but there are usage cases where I am more comfortable using Apple HSV. If Wyze were to release a version of the camera with native support for a premium price, say $79, I would jump to order. In my usage case I would have the majority of my cameras setup with CamPlus subscriptions, but then a couple on Apple HSV.
I may be wrong but I believe HSV requires enabling recording to get the full benefit of motion and AI detection and event video recordings. But that option requires iCloud+ so essentially would eliminate the need for camplus since the benefits are redundant - why pay for two subscriptions? So if opting for HSV and iCloud +, then wyze loses out on revenue. I can’t see that happening.
I agree with what you’re saying. In my scenario I would pay for CamPlus for my outdoor cameras, but not the indoor. Say I wanted to use one as a baby monitor. That one I would use Apple HSV instead of CamPlus and not even link it to the Wyze app (if the camera supported it). I’m looking at cameras in the $150 range for indoor to use with HSV right now. I also agree about Wyze not wanting to lose revenue. That’s where I was saying if you could pay a premium for the HSV version I would. I know it’ll never happen, just a dream lol.
I can’t see paying for both an enhanced camplus and icloud+. I’m not sure about all cams that are HK compatible natively since I’m using scrypted to get my Wyze cams into HK. But as I understand things, Wyze uses a low res stream to do its motion processing since it uses less bandwidth and takes less processing power. It’s those substreams that are not hksv compliant. So existing Wyze cams will never have native compliance.
FWIW, my step son had some baby monitor cam thing but I guess it was not very good. He got a Logitech cam since it’s HomeKit compatible and it was snap to setup, similar to Wyze by reading a QR code. Then with iCloud+, he has all the various AI functions. He already had iCloud+ so it was not an added cost. Yup, the cam is pricy at around $150. There are others closer to Wyze pricing that are hksv compliant. I’d probably try eufy if my open source options start to give me problems.
I’m using the docker wyze bridge to create rtsp streams and rotate my side mounted v2. The rtsp stream is read by scrypted which rebroadcasts the stream for hksv. Not sure how scrypted sends the stream to HomeKit - I’m just sending 1 stream for each of 4 cams which are full res that I’m also using for motion processing and it’s running on a 12 yr old netbook with only 1.3ghz cpu and 4gb ram, hats also running homebridge, so can’t be overly cpu intensive. When we move, I’ll probably be looking at alternatives to Wyze unless they improve the rtsp fw to be more regularly supported.
This is relatively easy to do. The fact that we are having to beg Wyze to do this natively is embarrassing.
Agree for devices other than cams. The cams don’t meet the stream requirements for hksv certification and apple denied their waiver request. Other devices should be able to get qualified - several plugins for homebridge bring wyze switches, plugs, bulbs to HomeKit so no reason wyze can’t do it natively.
As ChemEngr stated we did try to get cameras HomeKit compatible and we were denied the waiver by Apple. Wyze has now switched directions and is integrating with Matter which should give us integration with Apple, Google, SmartThings and any others that have joined Matter.
What plug in are you using that allows for the switch to Homebridge?
Maybe over stated - I don’t have any switches so not sure, but I suspect if not already being picked up, it won’t be long - unless wyze put something in the firmware to defeat plugins from finding it. I have plugs, bulbs and cam on/off toggles in homebridge using wyze smart home plugin. The developer seems active and and has responded by looking into my request for a device ignore variable.
I have a Wink hub I would like to sell you.
Matter will probably help. But native HomeKit integration would likely be better. I understand the denial was for the previous generation of cameras and software. Try again now?
Any ETA on Matter integration?
I am sure it is out there, but I cannot seem to find it. How do you bring the Wyze doorbell into HomeKit? I have HOOBS set up for some other devices already, but I do not know how to bring the doorbell through.
Thanks!
The docker-Wyze bridge transcodes the the stream to rtsp which I’m using in scrypted to provide the cams for HomeKit. However, in hoobs/homebridge you can use one of 2 plug-ins camera-ffmpeg is very basic, I think you just get a live stream to view, or camera-ui is much better since it can provide the HomeKit secure video stream if you want to record to iCloud or use the apple ai features. In any case you either need to use the docker Wyze bridge by mrlt8 on GitHub or figure out if there may be some other hack to create the rtsp stream for the hoobs plugin. Since the db has no sd card, it’s impossible to flash it with a hack so as far as I can see, using the docker Wyze bridge is the easiest option. I’m running it on an old 2nd gen i5 cpu based pc with 8gb ram in win 10. Setting up docker was pretty easy, had to open the ports the bridge uses in the win firewall. I actually got rid of hoobs and now use homebridge, but it doesn’t matter, they use the same plugins. I run homebridge and scrypted on a 12 yr old old minimal netbook that has a dual core pentium with 4gb ram that I dumped win7 and loaded lubuntu 18 and it’s been running fine. The dev for the bridge, mrlt8, is active on GitHub along with many users so under issues and discussions are loads of helpful info. I’m not using camera-ui since I got scrypted working and it does well for me, I’ve been able to tweak the motion detection so it’s generally functional, although I still have camlite PD and video for my v2. My db does have a great view so I’m not bothering to signup for iCloud+ to record in HomeKit, at least as long as the Wyze app continues to offer db recordings.
For those stating that Wyze products (other than the cameras) may work with Matter in the future, is this referring to existing products? I’m not well-read on the different protocols but my impression is that some hardware that has existing support for protocols like Thread, Zigbee, et cetera, can potentially be updated to support Matter if they have the right hardware and the manufacturers want to code a firmware update in. But I just have a feeling that Wyze wants to be in its own ecosystem and that regardless of future hardware, existing products will never work with HomeKit due to lacking hardware. Can anyone elaborate on this?