I was directly replying to @gemniii about his 3 thumbs but I do like the rose-colored glasses idea. Probably too much trouble to send a shot of tequila or a beer.
2 Likes
Fixed it for you. 
@julia, which version of the app are you referring to? I would like add that to the title of your topic for clarity.
I turned it off. I purchased a V2 camera to test CMC outside. Unfortunately, while CMC was enabled I would get “Network Unstable” every time there was video and the event wouldn’t be sent to the cloud. Since turning CMC off for the camera, I haven’t had any issues and each 12 second event records properly.
Haven’t contacted support about it because I really don’t have time to troubleshoot things. I might try it again in the new year after it has some time to mature. Though the poor performance also means that I will probably skip any early access to the Outdoor Cam if it is offered this year. If I wanted to test for Wyze, I would join their beta program.
1 Like
Sorry, after auto-updating to this latest version of the Wyze app, I turned off that atuo function in my iOS apps setting. So far, all I want to do is go back one version of the Wyze app.
Not a fan of the mandatory:
12 or more sec annotations
Additional Icon elements inside the video recordings are not needed
The large increase in Smart video alerts that are false alarms.
I had to reset the motion detection zones on a few of the cams as I was getting false alarms from long running stable cameras located in locked storage rooms with no movements from any sources.
I’m also not crazy about the different graphics appearances/styles from screen to screen.
My advice to Wyze, slow down, smaller software refinements leads to stronger user experiences.
I just participated in a national lighting user forum about how this relatively young, popular, upstart light manufacturing company tackled to many Internet of things enhancements, which ultimately led to the company not being here after less than 10 years of existence and stranding it’s large intalled user base in low priced lamps. Sad. The senior lighting experts comment about how our current population is built on the speed of microwave oven expectations, which has many dark consequences.
3 Likes
This app sucks
1 Like
1 Like
I sometimes think, “this poor little ‘camera’ is trying so hard, maybe we’re expecting too much,” but I saw an interview a few months back with Senior Director of Technology & Services @Frederik where he claimed to love the little guy - far more than the Pan - and he’s managed big Boeing projects (if I recall) so size may still matter, but not in a way a non-programmer might expect.
Following-on this idea:
and @wayneluke’s earlier comment here…
…instead of continuing to expand on a base interface that may be growing awkward with many additions and enhancements, would API programmers ever say, “Dam the torpedoes!” and do a complete remake - effectively starting from scratch?
Also, I don’t understand what @99guspuppet is talking about here but I’m sure some of you might:
Would that help?
1 Like
This is intriguing but I don’t understand. Could you expand on it?
iOS v 2.6.62
1 Like
On android it’s 2.6.42
I used to be a contractor for Airbus through my then company. As one of the principal engineer and “director” of the development program, I helped creating customized version of a Product Lifecycle Management software used to manage all the data used during the definition of the A380, A350 and A400M plus some legacy planes (A330/340…). Never worked with Boeing despite being in Seattle! 
And you are most likely talking about the Episode 2 Wyze Podcast. Thank you listening!
There is no difference between the Cam V2 and the Pan but the extra costs, the bigger size and the limitations that the Pan is currently showing makes me say that I like the Cam V2 way more. I see the value of the Pan and when it would work better.
I don’t see how they’ll be able to continue rapidly expanding features without forcing people to adapt to a changing interface (or forego updates, which has its own drawbacks.)
We won’t and we are thinking about that. The approach to UX was one thing when we had one product: 1 camera. When you launch the camera, we know what you want to do: use the camera. But when you have not one but many cameras, sensors, bulbs and plugs then it becomes very difficult to know why you are coming in the app. There is also people like me: with many cameras in their house. (about 15 including in & out of the house). The amount of video produced per day is beyond what can be reviewed by watching the videos.
We also have something different coming. While the devices that we have brought to market so far are dedicated to the home, there are two devices that are personal in nature. The mobile phone and the upcoming scale.
This means that we have to change how we are approaching the app and what it means to use the app. The challenge is that for the customers that have one camera, or a couple of bulbs, we should not have a very complicated UX, the simplicity that we had when we launched the app should still be there BUT the UX should allow to take on the complexity of customers with a very large set of the devices (in quantity and diversity).
So what are we doing? First, we realize that the original team was stretched beyond limit. So we more than triple the number of designers that are working on creating your Wyze experience. We also are rethinking the app from the bottom up. We started 6 months ago but hit an impasse. So we double down and are hard at work in creating the next version of it and we are starting to get some pretty interesting lessons.
One is that to unlock and contextualize the devices, we will need to augment the quantity of organizing concepts.
For example, we are looking at the notion of Home because for some automation we need to know if the user is home or close to home and what are the devices that are at that location.
Another lesson is that being device centric makes some of the UX difficult because you might jump from one device to the next when trying to do something. For example, a doorbell, a contact sensor and a lock might be working in tandem when someone is at the door.
So we are looking at all those challenges and trying to create the best UX possible.
I give it a 4 in intuitiveness. I believe the app can use some work. Unfortunately, I think they will just keep cramming stuff into hidden nooks while they bring new products to market. Too much hidden in drop downs and behind other gadgets. I understand they are dealing with limited screen space. I just think it can be utilized better. The low contrast between controls and the backgrounds also hurts the app.
No we won’t. We have to do it for the moment and trying to minimize the impact for the moment as we are working towards a better experience but this is not something that can happen overnight. So please patience!
…instead of continuing to expand on a base interface that may be growing awkward with many additions and enhancements, would API programmers ever say, “Dam the torpedoes!” and do a complete remake - effectively starting from scratch?
Exactly what we are doing. Well not completely from scratch but we are starting from a blank piece of papers.
the best thing wyze could do is to create as many API hooks ( perhaps JSON commands or similar ) as possible so that the creative community can rearrange the UI as desired … that would be “wyze”.
[…]
so many great things about WYZE PRODUCTS … sadly , i must say the user interface for the ipad app is poor. the organization makes little sense to me. i so wish that there was an API or config file to make life easier… both for configuring the system and for documenting the setup. BOO HOO
Actually, I would disagree. One of the mission of Wyze is to make the technology accessible. So we have to make a solution that works for a large amount of people. Creating web hooks and advanced configuration limits the number of people that would be able to handle it.
What I would agree with is that we need to have ways to offer advanced configuration/customization. As the person in charge of the integration technologies, I’m interested in creating in time (ie. don’t expect anything before 2021 at the VERY least!), an entire Developer API. For the moment, our cloud has been designed with no possibility to open the API to a developer community. The results would be very dangerous for the overall ecosystem.
8 Likes
Is your live view stable? If not, that might indicate that the camera has some issues with your Wi-Fi. The 12s video is a single file that is being transferred so it can support having a spotty connection. CMC is using 4s video chunks and is definitely more sensitive in having all the chunks available in order before it can play.
As for testing, we are testing. We have actually postponed the release a few times to make sure that we had the proper level of quality. Unfortunately, there is no way to replicate the vast diversity of configurations in the real world, even with several thousands beta testers.
3 Likes
Does this mean Wyze relies on beta testers to test the software direct from the developers? Beta testers tend to be power users and overlook a lot of basic tests. And they seldom do regression tests.
2 Likes
I have no problems with live view on any of the Wyze cameras I have. Even when out of the house, it works fine unless I have poor cellular connectivity.
The only issue with events was when CMC was enabled.
No that would be a very poor way to do any software development. We have several stages, we have some internal QA done at 2 levels, partners and internal, then internal testing, alpha then beta and then prod.
1 Like
Well it sounds like you indeed have an issue with CMC. You mentioned that you have a contact with the support, I hope they can give you some resolutions.
1 Like
That’s nice to know. But why do basic UI and some easy to spot bugs get through? These are the sort of bugs that are uncovered during testing. And then there are previously-fixed bugs that resurface in later versions?
1 Like
My camera does not need rose colored glasses. For some reason most things on it come out with a rose colored tint. The camera has been outside under the cover of our porch roof for nearly a year, but we live in Southern CA where we almost never get freezing temperatures. Any ideas how to fix the problem?
1 Like
Same here. I believe it just started with this new app version. Thought it was me. (same situation: outdoors, but under cover, in a protected area.)
1 Like