Lack of continuity

[jasonmgoddard]

I am currently running android version v3.1.0 (564)
All cameras and plugs are running the latest firmware. Really digging the new app but I’m a little frustrated in several design choices.

.
Firstly, the buttons for the camera and plugs group function completely opposite of each other. For cameras, clicking the center of the button will open the group and show you the cameras inside, and clicking the right side of the button will cycle their power " which I have accidentally done on numerous occasions" However, clicking the smart plugs group button in the center will turn ALL of the plugs in that group either on or off and the right portion is for accessing the device list. This seems very counterintuitive and fairly dangerous depending on what these plugs are turning on and off. The ability to use this shortcut as a master switch should be optional and if anything a little more challenging to activate. Maybe a long press and swipe?

The other issue I’m having is the lack of continuity between camera models. I understand that newer cams have more functions but why is the time seek bar missing from the v4 cams when viewing the SD card in full screen mode. Why does my v2 cams have record and take screenshot buttons but the pans and v4’s don’t? Not a single cameras playback looks remotely like each other.

Love the new Wyze app, I just wish there was a little more polish.

[Crease]

I’d also like to see more consistency across the various camera model UIs, and I’ve said so before on the Forum. I’ve also gotten the impression from reading various topics here that there are people who strongly prefer the “old” UI (which apparently has a horizontally-scrolling timeline for microSD card recordings), whereas my oldest Wyze camera model is a Cam Pan v3, so all of my cameras have the “new” UI with the vertical scroll, so I’m already used to that.

There are little inconsistencies that seem to be subject to change for no apparent reason, though, like the way Cam Pan v3 and Cam v4 used to use an “expand” icon for full-screen mode, but then Cam v4’s interface seemed to change to be more like Cam OG’s, where it’s a “screen rotate” icon instead (and then Picture-in-Picture appeared).

They’re fairly easy changes to adapt to, but it does give the impression that the app was cobbled together from disparate modules instead of being conceived as a unified whole. (The piecemeal implementation of “dark mode” doesn’t help.)

@jasonmgoddard

Why does my v2 cams have record and take screenshot buttons but the pans and v4’s don’t?

I see both Take Photo and Record buttons for Cam v4, both when I’m looking at the Live Stream and when I’m viewing playback from microSD. Note that if you’re viewing the Cam v4 stream (either live or playback) in full-screen/landscape mode, you’ll need to tap the vertical ellipsis (⋮) to activate the More menu in order to see those buttons. Where is it that you expect to see them but are not?

As far as the UI on the Favorites tab goes, your suggestions seem like candidates for this Wishlist topic:

Wyze app 3.x - Additions and changes

Wunschliste Wyze 3 App Build the app so that we can set “My devices” as the start page. Every time I open the app, the livestream has to be reloaded. That may work reasonably well when I’m on my home network. On the road with 4G or less it runs itself to death. At least I’ll have direct access to 7 devices instead of the 2.5 live streams. Display of temperature and humidity without having to select the thermostat in Devices and Favorites My 1st favorite in the app is the thermostat. I…

[jasonmgoddard]

Yes it is possible to press the 3 dots to bring up the menu, but again this is only available on the v4 cams, as the v3 view is totally different. Also v4 cameras have an option to view the camera as a floating window in android devices and I don’t see that option on any other camera. As I stated in my post there is just a total lack of continuity between cameras. I have v2, v3, v4 pan v2 and pan v3 pan cameras. It’s a huge learning curve when every camera has a different interface and timeline layout. I think spending some time homogenizing the experience between camera versions would be beneficial for all users.

[Crease]

@jasonmgoddard

Yes it is possible to press the 3 dots to bring up the menu, but again this is only available on the v4 cams, as the v3 view is totally different.

I’m not sure where the “again” comes in here. You mentioned not being able to see certain controls on Cam v4 in your initial post but didn’t say anything about Cam v3. I don’t have any of those, but I believe they use the “old” UI.

Also—and I should’ve mentioned this before—I’m using the latest production version (3.0.5.558) of the Wyze app on Android that’s been made available to me so far (apparently Wyze is doing another unannounced phased roll-out release with no official announcement topic nor Release Notes update [as of this writing]). I haven’t even seen an announcement for the version you mentioned. The newest I’ve seen officially mentioned anywhere is the 3.1.0.b560 Release Candidate.

@jasonmgoddard

Also v4 cameras have an option to view the camera as a floating window in android devices

Yeah, that’s the “Picture-in-Picture” feature I mentioned, and I noticed that at the same time I noticed that the icon to tap for landscape view had changed to be more like what Cam OG has. My understanding is that Cam v3 Pro also has that feature, but I don’t have any of that model. According to a Help Center article, a couple of other models also support it.

@jasonmgoddard

I think spending some time homogenizing the experience between camera versions would be beneficial for all users.

I think I was clearly agreeing with you on that point.

Edit: Additions and deletions as noted above.

[K6CCC]

As far as differences between camera, there are two major factors at play. Older cameras are using the old User Interface, and newer cameras are using the new UI. The old and new UI have the same capabilities, but are re-arranged - in some cases quite a bit. The other factor is different capabilities of different camera models. For example a Pan camera needs pan controls whereas a non pan camera obviously does not. Some camera models support Smart Focus, and most do not. Some have a spotlight and some do not. Some cameras support Picture in Picture, most do not. Each of those different capabilities require different controls. It would not make sense to have a spotlight control on a camera that does not have a spotlight for example. So you are never going to have the same UI for every camera. Even if Wyze were to migrate all the older cameras to the new UI (I don’t expect that to happen), there will still be differences because of different capabilities.

As far as the difference between plug and switch groups vs camera groups in the Version 3 app, I pointed out that difference early in the Beta. I have also accidentally turned off all eight switches more than once.

With all that said, I generally prefer the old UI over the new UI, and for the most part, I have gotten used to the changes in the V3 app.