Looking for input about our app - 3/18/2025

[WyzeJasonJ]

I have tw o questions for you, our Wyze users, about things in the Wyze app.

1. We would like to know where you would want to display the action control buttons. For this example we will be showing you the Wyze Floodlight Pro.
   A. Current Design - with the control on the left-bottom corner of the live stream
   
   
   
   B. Move the control to the center-bottom of the live stream (next to the microphone)
   
   
   
   C. Move the control to the menu bar
   
   

• A. Current Design
• B. Move to center-bottom
• C. Move to menu bar

Our second question has to do with the green dots under the menu bar.

Do you understand what the green dots are for?

• Yes
• No

[carverofchoice]

I didn’t answer the first question [yet] since none of those options make a big difference to me.

[Crease]

Since you asked, here’s my 2¢:

1. I don’t have a strong preference about placement for a control like a floodlight (or spotlight, like for Cam OG or Cam v4), but any action control buttons that overlay the live view pane definitely need backing contrast. Having white controls overlay an area of a camera’s view that’s also white or very light (and the designer is never going to know where or at what a camera is pointed) makes those controls unusable or nearly so. Wyze’s app design really suffers in several areas when it comes to poor use of contrast.
2. The green and grey dots to me indicate that the menu bar can be swiped horizontally. With one green dot on the left and a grey dot on the right, I would expect to be able to swipe the menu bar right-to-left in order to reveal more options/features. Some kind of visual cue like this has long been needed. I’ve seen suggestions for use of chevrons (, ) as cues, because some users don’t realize that strip of controls can be swiped to reveal things like the Siren and Timelapse buttons. I think I understand the use of the dots, but my problem with that design paradigm in this case is that it pushes other content farther down the screen, and in a case like the microSD card recording playback timeline for some cameras and with some phone screen form factors, there’s not a lot of real estate to give up and the timeline is already difficult to use because of the limited space.

I haven’t voted, because none of the options presented here are something I would really choose, but I think it’s good that Wyze is asking these kinds of questions, and it makes me wonder something else: If something like a floodlight control, which is a direct on-camera feature, is important enough that it should be a view pane overlay element, then why doesn’t the siren get the same treatment? I’m not saying that it should. I’m just asking the question, because they seem like similar features/functions, in a way, but they’re treated/placed differently in the UI. My personal preference would be to allow user customization of what is apparently called the “menu bar”:

@Crease

I imagine an implementation could be like the way Quick Settings are managed in Android, allowing the user to edit (add, remove, arrange) the settings tiles that he or she is most likely to use frequently and/or want to see as indicators (for things like Smart Focus on Cam v4 or Track Motion on Cam Pan v3).

Thank you for asking us for more input!

[spamoni]

Thanks for the options provided. As with others, I have no real preference, but I did select the the action being center aligned, as that is my OCD.

For the green dot, that is used for moving between the menus, as @Crease said, currently users are confused about moving through the menu options.

[peepeep]

I have a floodlight v1 and the icon is at the top right above the live image (as it is with the v3 spotlight) which is fine.

In the example, it would matter if toggling the floodlight manually was something I used a lot (or wanted it to be super handy at critical moments.) In those cases, I prefer the icon to be at an outside edge.

@Crease

Thank you for asking us for more input!

Hear hear!

[ssummerlin]

Less on the view screen is better for me. Would like to move speaker and microphone off of the screen as well.

Thanks. I like useful polls.

[Loki]

I think consistency of the interface across camera models is much more important than the placement of any one particular control. That would be my priority.

[Crease]

I’d give this more than one if I could.

[CatHome]

@Crease

my problem with that design paradigm in this case is that it pushes other content farther down the screen,

Instead of the green dots where you show them, how about arrows to the left and right as shown here:

[Crease]

@CatHome

Instead of the green dots where you show them, how about arrows to the left and right as shown here:

Yeah, that’s kinda what I said above:

@Crease

I’ve seen suggestions for use of chevrons (, ) as cues, because some users don’t realize that strip of controls can be swiped to reveal things like the Siren and Timelapse buttons.

I imagine most users would be familiar with that kind of design standard, which seems fairly intuitive and doesn’t unnecessarily occupy additional rows of pixels.

I appreciate the visual!

[habib]

@Loki

I think consistency of the interface across camera models is much more important than the placement of any one particular control. That would be my priority.

I second the above as well as consistency between page layouts. As it stands the app feels very disorganized. Thanks for reaching out for input.

[peepeep]

Multi-Cam Timeline: How do YOU use it?

The Monitoring Tab is a work-in-progress, I think. I thought I’d detail the functions insofar as I understand them. I have only cam models v2 & v3 (the interface may differ in some later cams.)

@peepeep

It’s not intuitive. I’m having to think about which is the best path/utility to achieve what I’m after. Which is work.

Multi-Cam Timeline: How do YOU use it?

Ok, three days after I wrote this after having muscled through the features’ functions til I felt I knew them well, I’ve been using them in the course of my regular activities and I’m finding some satisfaction in their use, not so much work. So good.

Multi-Cam Timeline: How do YOU use it?

I’m wondering if there’s any intent to better integrate the components over time or if they’re going to remain more discrete utilities, each with their own features and drawbacks. A notification links to the full Event in the Event list - could it display the Event in the multi-view timeline, instead? Actually, even that’s not true. When I view a linked Notification it shows me the corresponding full Event, but it’s not really in the Event list: I can’t swipe forward or back to the next vide…

[peepeep]

@Loki

I think consistency of the interface across camera models is much more important than the placement of any one particular control. That would be my priority.

Anyone know if Wyze intends to do this? An AMA statement or something committing to it?

I just used the ‘modern’ cam interface (represented by the OG) for the first time. Are there just two main versions - ‘legacy’ and ‘modern’ - or are there cam-specific more?

[habib]

@peepeep

I just used the ‘modern’ cam interface (represented by the OG) for the first time. Are there just two main versions - ‘legacy’ and ‘modern’ - or are there cam-specific more?

I think there are cam specific interfaces (not 100% sure though) from what I’ve seen around the forum. For one I have V3 and V4 only cameras and the interfaces are totally different. If I remember correctly the OG interface is different as well as V3Pro. Not sure about the rest. Then again, I might be wrong, but for sure V3 and V4 are night and day apart.

[redsilkRob]

I voted for Center Bottom for the following: 1) so as to not cover the on-screen Wyze logo (just cleaner that way) and 2) If on the Menu Bar won’t it disappear when menu is swiped right-to-left to see the other menu options? If the flood light on/off button is a major function of the flood light camera, I’d want quick access to it all the time…

[Crease]

@redsilkRob

If the flood light on/off button is a major function of the flood light camera, I’d want quick access to it all the time…

That’s a totally valid point, and I could see someone making the same argument for the siren. It makes me wonder what (if any) data Wyze has about how often these features tend to be enabled by users, because I would expect that to factor into UI design considerations.

[WhiteOaksProperties]

In terms of location of controls, it is better that it is moved into menu bar. Why?

First, it clutters view of main window… can impede usage, especially if more controls for specific device.

Second, it does not need to be accessed often

Third, should be grouped with other controls.

A consideration is FULL SCREEN (rotated) mode where the controls “disappear” and then get represented by three ellipses (…)… make sure new control is accessible here.

As a standard, controls should be located in the menu bar IFF they don’t need to be used regularly in main window.

Now, ellipses (..) under controls is UI standard showing can scroll right/left for more controls… but you could add right arrow “>” to right edge when can scroll right, and similarly left arrow “<“ at left edge if can scroll left (after scrolling right and/or if allow wrapping and scrolling left to end of controls list)

Make sense?

Thanks for asking for our input!

[peepeep]

They’re in kind of a fix because if they do standardize the UI across cam models, they’ll get blowback from people hard-accustomed to what they have. Tough call, maybe.

[Crease]

As much as I’d like to see consistency to give the UX a more unified feel—and I’ve argued for that here for quite a while—I think you’re right. I recognize my own bias in this, because my oldest camera is a Cam Pan v3, so I don’t have any hands-on experience with Cam v3 or older, though I’ve read compelling reasons about why it’s “better” in some ways (and I recognize how subjective that view is).

From my perspective, and when I write about it in the Forum, I generally put quotes around “old” and “new” when referring to the “‘old’ UI” (which I think of as roughly Cam v3 style and earlier) and “‘new’ UI” (which I think of as roughly Cam Pan v3 style and later, and I include Cam OG in that even though its UI has some additional differences and quirks). That’s probably not the most accurate way to describe them, but it seems like a useful way to broadly categorize my awareness. Someone with a larger collection of cameras—say, 50+—across the full range of the product spectrum could certainly provide more specific detail.

I don’t think any solution is going to be ideal or please everyone, especially not going back and “fixing” the “old” UI that so many users seem to prefer (even if I’m habituated to and generally like the “new” UI), but enhancing consistency across “new” UI cameras seems like it would improve the UX and perhaps even unify some of the coding to make app and backend maintenance easier and more efficient.

Anything that makes the app feel less fragmented and compartmentalized (like universal Dark Theme and true landscape mode) would be an improvement going forward, I think.