Google Home/Assistant Integration

the problem with offering an API is that we have to make sure that we have a secure way to give access to the API to the intended owner. Right now, we are not in a position to offer an API. The system is build in a way that is way too secured (ie. not flexible enough to allow non Wyze resources to connect). We are redesigning part of the cloud and redoing a good part of the firmware that should give us more flexibility.
I’m not saying we will create an API or open the access to WebRTC to the general public or to a developer program but we would have more flexibility if we decide to do so.

3 Likes

That’s ok, we have a little bit of the price of the camera that goes to cloud operation so as long as not everybody is doing it with all their cameras, we are ok. :slight_smile:

1 Like

Will the official release still have the 15+ second stream initialization delay and 15+ second real-time viewing lag?

Oh, man! Local streaming (without going up and down in “the cloud”) would be an absolute game-changer. Even on fibre, I’m looking at a 20-25 second lag right now (which is way better than no video at all!)
Thanks for so much work, folks. I’ll definitely be adding to my 4 Cam v2s.

2 Likes

Some posts back it was said that the topics release will have this same delay, although there should be some minor improvement when they get all their servers in production, or something like that. They are working however on completely re-do-ing how the camera processes the stream and (my non technical understanding) converts it to allow Chromecast to play it. That should all but eliminate the lag, to make close to real time, according to the post, but this will take months, possibly end of year or longer. They wanted to give us this functionality, which of course is better than none.

1 Like

Hey Bystander. Just out of curiousity, is there a basis for this suspicion - or is it just operating out of an “abundance of caution” (which I fully understand)?

To be clear – I’m not suggesting that Wyze’s own software has issues, but rather that developers wanting to support Wyze cam are limited to either only RTSP-flashed cams, or to relying on some binaries that are not obviously okay to trust.

Read on if you want details …

In order to allow their app to connect to the camera, Wyze relies on P2P networking infrastructure from a Taiwanese company called Throughtek. Throughtek is the owner of the “Chinese servers” that Wyze cams used to contact in the past. I believe Wyze now enforces that only Throughtek servers in the US are used.

In order to access Throughtek’s infrastructure, Wyze has to rely on an SDK from Throughtek. Throughtek’s SDK is distributed as binaries only (i.e. no source code) and not available to the public. Wyze may have protected themselves from being vulnerable to issues in the SDK, or they may have decided that Throughtek is okay to trust. (I don’t know.)

Plenty of legit companies distribute software as binary-only … so this alone isn’t necessarily bad. However, in the absence of any official Wyze cam api, anyone else wanting to support Wyze cams is limited to either supporting only cameras flashed with RTSP support, or to figuring out how to access Throughtek’s servers without an official SDK from Throughtek, since there isn’t one generally available to developers.

The only application I know of that can talk to unmodified Wyze cams is Tinycam, and the author did it by building on a binary copy of the Throughtek libraries that came from a random repository on github that doesn’t look like an official source, may not have been an intentional checkin, and hasn’t been updated in a few years – hence my mention that anyone wanting to integrate with unmodified Wyze cams would have to rely on libraries of “questionable provenance”. Developers brave enough to build on binaries from an unknown source need to do a fair amount of extra work if they intent to be protected in case there’s something malicious or insecure in those binaries.

I’d love to see the far nicer and safer alternative of an SDK or API blessed by Wyze that other developers could use to talk to Wyze cam. Of course, as Frederik pointed out, a prerequisite for that is that Wyze has to decide whether or not their corporate strategy will be to welcome third-party integrations.

9 Likes

Thanks so much for the depth and clarity in this response. Capital. :+1:

Google home shows Wyze Home, does this mean Google home integration is live?!

My delay is only 10 seconds, and I also experience the stream stopping after 5 min or so

I’ve been a beta tester. and today I unlinked wyze from google home app, and tried to relink back in. And I got the famous ’ couldn’t update setting, please check your connection error’. I’ve been trying more than 30 times now, but the same error keeps happening. Hope this is just temporary error.

Same issue here. Not able to link my wyze home account in the Google home app.

glad to know i am not the only one.

Same problem here, I was never beta tester.
“couldn’t update setting, please check your connection error”

Mine was working but today it quit. I unlinked and can’t relink i get the “something went wrong try again later”. Ipad can see the cameras fine

Update to the it actually says wyze home is linked the circle keeps spinning and 30 seconds or so later is when it says something went wrong try again later. So something it broken on the wyze end I think.

It is working today now

@Frederik I thought this feature was supposed to be added by Q1 2019 end of March. You said in the wyze Q&A video said you were 99.9% sure. I guess we’re in the 0.1%. :smirk:

Have you tried to add it? Many nonbeta users this week have been able to successfully add Wyze in their Google Home app.

Oh I thought it was just beta. I will try to add it later. Thanks.