V4 as a chime

Cameras
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1

why the v4 does not work as a chime it is really not correct

2

The weird thing is, last I checked, different Video Doorbells allowed different camera models to act as as a chime.

For example, my Duo Cam Doorbell DOES allow using V4 cameras as a chime, so V4’s DO actually support working as a chime as you wished. But there are some doorbell models that do not list them as options to work as a chime.

Which model do you have that isn’t allowing your V4 to be selected?

3

What inconsistency between WYZE products? Who would have thought?
:rofl:

4

Yeah. I think the general rationale is that when it was first launched, early doorbell models received support for the most popular cameras at the time that got support for it first.

Then as newer doorbell models launched, some of the newer flagship camera models received support for chiming too but they were only added to video doorbells that launched after them.

So generally speaking, newer doorbells should support more and newer camera models. But the older doorbell models plug-in page may not have received the updated support of newer cameras that came later.

However, in my experience it has not seemed to be as consistent as all that. Instead of copying over plug-in code from the latest doorbell model so each successive model inherits all the features from the next most recent, it seems that in some cases they might copy code from older models’ plugins that are missing some later added support.

The solution would be to simply update all of the doorbell plugins whenever they add new features so there is complete consistency and feature parity, particularly for external features that aren’t really using local edge resources for the device (a doorbell causing other cameras to chime isn’t using up the processor, RAM or storage of the doorbell, so there is no reason not to let it support letting newer doorbells chime for it).

I am not speaking for Wyze and can’t say the following is why they really don’t create feature parity, but I suspect one reason to only add new features to new releases is to give an incentive to update to the new model so they get more hardware sales. If they added all features to already existing models people would have less incentive to upgrade to the newer models. A company would PR rep would likely point out that is not the main reason they don’t add new features to old devices though. They would likely say it’s following reasons:

  • Sometimes older models have resource limitations where adding new features can actually damage the functionality and reliability of the device that was previously working fine by causing it to use more processor, ram, etc.
  • If a device is working relatively stable right now, it’s best practice to leave it alone and avoid adding new features and code. Any update of any kind increases the possibility of adding new security vulnerabilities or functionality issues that could send device maintenance into a never ending cycle of patching new bugs, so the standard is to leave it alone, even if a feature could add value or even if it has known minor bugs… As long as there is nothing with a high severity bug, it can be better just leave a device on reasonably stable firmware for as long as possible even if there are fewer things supported.
  • I had a couple of others in mind but already forgot where I was going with this :sweat_smile:

Anyway, having been on both sides of the consumer/QA-testing/business-owner side of things, I understand all sides, but I think the primary reason is generally demonstrable to be an encouragement to upgrade over time. But that’s just my opinion. Still, it’s possible to call this a bug or unintentional in some cases, especially if we can compare against other VDB models and see older models support the V4 when a newer model doesn’t, or if the VDB in question was released after chime support for V4s first came out. This is why I asked which vbd model was missing the option to see if I could develop a good narrative or rationale for why it should be considered a bug or unintentional or within reasonable expectations to resolve it while overcoming predictable objections (or prepare for what they may be).

Not saying I could help, but information helps, and I’ve gotten a lot done by being able to present the request in the right way. :innocent: