I think they removed the Cam Plus Lite for brand new accounts around April 2024.
The playback button greyed out issue was first reported as early as February 2024. This was also around the time when Wyze started making significant changes to their backend and users with Cam Plus Unlimited could not switch to Cam Plus Lite. Then there’s another bug in which users with already activated Cam Plus Lite license can’t assign their V3 cameras. Of course this is just my guessing and it could be pure coincidence, but the dates do kind of lineup.
iOS App - 2.49.2 (2) (February 7, 2024)
Optimized backend metrics
Wyze Web Portal - 2.4.7 (February 7, 2024)
Optimized the experience for customers with many devices
Thanks for that! I haven’t tried to track down the timing of everything, but this is really seeming like a [illegitimate child] of a problem to try to pinpoint with so many different things happening at once. I’m sure I could’ve chosen better phrasing before. I guess the main thing I was trying to say is that I haven’t had a subscription, and I believe I’m experiencing this issue on a Pan v3 (I don’t have any regular v3s).
I really wonder what kind of testing the engineers do and if any of this discussion helps them to isolate these kinds of problems. I’m aware this is primarily a user-to-user forum, but one can hope. I really feel like a lot of people who participate here do some admirable work with their own troubleshooting.
I haven’t seen any progress on this puzzling event, which is disturbing.
I found the only cure was a complete replacement under warranty.
I am in the minority on a possible cause. We both have the same software and firmware yet mine works fine. Why patch my software? I believe there may be a defect in the cam. Maybe the firmware sees the activation date and decides to not work? Who knows.
A friend returned his for a new v3 and used the same sd card with no further issues.
Just out of curiosity, can you ask your friend what is his V3 activation date in Settings > Device Info > Activation Date ? There are now multiple reports in the forum with the same issue and they are all recently activated regardless of when it was purchased which may rule out hardware issue.
I checked the last v3 I activated on 1/2/2024 & it works. That was 1 of 2 of a double pack. The 2nd one from the same double pack was activated on 6/01/2024 & event playback does not work (claims no sd card, but can view sd card with live view).
So yeah. based off other reports, definitely seems like Wyze did something around February or so this year.
Perhaps they may be secretly trying to inconvenience CamPlus Lite users to subscribe - considering I just found out today that my CamPlus Lite subscription ends in 2035 (according to Services tab in the newest version of the app).
In any case, digging around, someone suggested downgrading firmware. I just tried that with two of the additional v3 cams I tested & no luck. Even on super old firmware from 2021, re-adding them to my account & onto CamPlus Lite, the app still says sd card not found for that v3.
So as of now, I have 4 v3s - all activated this month (purchased in 2022-2023 from different retailers, all with different firmware) where the event playback button does not work.
I’m 99% confidant that this is not a camera hardware issue as the ones I have are from completely different batches, but this issue is something server, app, and/or CamPlus Lite related.
That’s a really interesting comment, and I can imagine how something like that could be the case if Wyze were being devious. If that’s what’s actually happening, then it’s definitely not limited to targeting cameras that are actually eligible for and compatible with Cam Plus Lite, because this seems to be the issue that’s also affecting one of my Cam Pan v3s, a camera which was never eligible for Cam Plus Lite.
Now this is odd. He only installed the cam last month. He told me the activation date lists May 11, 2023. WTH?
Maybe Amazon sold him a used cam?
All of my cams, v2 and v3 have the dates of when ‘I’ activated the individual cams.
When he encountered the greyed-out playback button I recommended he return the buggy cam and order two cams to double his chances of getting an operable cam. He was lucky, both work as expected.
I just asked him for the second cam’s activation date.
What exactly does the “plugin version” mean under device info?
My V4, V3, and V3 pro all have 2.50.0.24
The Battery Cam Pro has 2.50.0.2 and my V2 camera has 2.50.0.9
I have two brand new V3 cameras in the box.
I hesitate to deploy them with this uncertainty about the locked playback button.
The V4 I deployed for testing worked pretty flawlessly, but I prefer the V3 playback interface to the V3 Pro/V4 interface. The V3 cameras seem to connect MUCH faster in live view too.
I realize that this is off-topic, but I’m going to ask anyway.
What exactly does “Activation Date” mean? I would’ve expected it to refer to the date that I first added a camera to the Wyze app and completed setup, but that doesn’t always seem to be the case. For example, here are four cameras I currently have connected to my app:
Like I said, I know this is off topic. I’m just wondering if this data will help shed any light on the apparent timing issue of when this problem cropped up. I really don’t know.
I was under the impression that date was the first time I attached a device to the Wyze network.
All of my v2 and v3 cams show my first login date. In my friend’s case, Amazon may have sold him a used device. His second device shows March 15, 2023 which is the first day he connected his second camera.
Once set, I believe this date cannot be reset or changed.
I understand why you’re saying that, but, as I said before, the Activation Date that shows in the app for that product is before that product was even available, so I’m not convinced by your statement. That’s why I’m so confused about what “Activation Date” in the app actually means. Maybe it means different things for different products.
I might have to start a different topic or open another ticket with Support….
I don’t think that’s entirely accurate. I’m on Android v2.50.7.487, and this is what I see on individual camera settings Device Info screens:
Device
Plugin Version
Cam OG
2.50.0.4
Cam Pan v3
2.50.0.24
Video Doorbell v2
2.50.0.24
My best guess at this point is that “Plugin Version” refers to some app component (maybe a library?) necessary to communicate with a given camera type and is related to the overall app version, or perhaps it’s a firmware component necessary for the camera to communicate with the app, but I’m not a developer and that’s just a guess.