Moved into a new house and brought all of the same cams, cables and settings with me. Everything is working great, except ONE of the V4’s. No matter what settings I change, the spotlight will not come on automatically. I CAN manually turn it on from the app, but for some reason can’t get the spotlight to come on automatically with either smart detection or motion detection.
I remember the OG spotlight attachment would sometimes have an issue with third party usb cables. Could this be the issue possibly? I am using a 25ft usb cable, as this is my driveway cam. The cam works perfectly otherwise, and I’ve got another in the back with the same brand cable & it’s working fine.
You wouldn’t think it would work manually if it was a USB cable issue. Is it the same length of cable you were using before?
Someone else was reporting that when they toggled the auto spotlight feature on in the app it was turning back off. Is that happening to you (the toggle in the app, not the light itself)?
Also could just be a matter of factory resetting and re-adding the cam, something may just have gotten corrupted in the settings.
The only other thing I can think is these cameras rely heavily on internet for automations, and technically the auto spotlight is an automation, just a built in one. I don’t believe the logic is in the camera itself (though I could be wrong), so maybe it is having trouble sending the motion and getting the trigger back to turn on the light. I actually have auto spotlight disabled since my cam never goes into night mode (street lights), so I created an automation that from midnight (when my outdoor lights shut off) to dawn, it turns on the light for 1 minute when motion is detected. That particular cam is in a fringe wifi signal area, and occasionally I’ll find the light stays on, so the command to shut it off after 1 minute doesn’t make it to the cam every now and then. I suspect the command to turn it on probably doesn’t work every now and then, but that wouldn’t be as noticeable since the light wouldn’t be shining to alert me to it.
You mentioned that the spotlight won’t turn on at night… Have you tried to set a schedule from Sunset to Sunrise? That’s what I was using previously and it was working fine with the same cable… But now I’m wondering if maybe the street light is causing an issue. The new house does have a street light near the driveway, but you would think that it would still respect the custom schedule. I’m going to try the original cable and a different power brick and see what happens… If no change then I’ll do a factory reset
I suppose signal could also be the issue… I understand that the camera has to first “detect a person“ and then send that information back in order to even trigger the spotlight in the first place… Although the camera does load pretty quickly, almost immediately actually with the new beta version for iOS… But I guess you never know
OK you’re using an automation which definitely makes me think it could be an internet connectivity issue.
The automatic (built in) auto-spotlight feature only works when the cam is in night mode, and mine never switches to that, hence the need for an automation, basically same reason as you.
The street light should not interfere with your automation, since that works based on time and not the mode the camera is in.
I would also make sure your camera’s time is synched correctly and that you have the right zip code, since both are used to determine when to fire the rule (i.e. when sunset and sunrise are).
A more powerful brick can help compensate for cable length to a certain extent, but if everything else is working and that’s the same length cable you had before, seems unlikely to be the problem. Though who knows, maybe the cable puts you right on the edge of functionality and the new house has a bit lower voltage. Seems unlikely though.
Since this is an automation, you can try going into the app and doing “clear cache”, maybe that will refresh the settings on the cam. But factory reset and re-add the cam may do it too. I’d actually delete it from the app first, while that means you’ll have to re-do all the settings for the cam, it will ensure it doesn’t download some corrupted data potentially. But you could try just re-adding it first to see.
#bumpdate. Well, I turned OFF my front porch light, and, the V4 spotlight is auto-triggering back ON. I guess my new front porch light bulb is marginally brighter than the old bulb.
I just noticed our garage door light was off and guess what? Pulled into the driveway and BAM, spotlight turned on. Unreal. If the settings are “turn on from sunset to sunrise when a person or vehicle is detected” this should happen EVERY TIME. Apparently there is some sort of algorithm in place for the ambient light level outside. Very bizarre !!!
I just discovered this as well. At my old house, the V4 spotlights would still turn on after sunset, even if the porch and garage lights were on. At my new home, with the outside lights on the V4 above my garage will no longer turn on at night, no matter what settings I choose. Just now I realized my garage light was off and noticed the V4 spotlight kicked on when my wife came home.
[Removed] A! Apparently there’s some sort of lumen light level built in, to where if the camera thinks it’s not dark enough outside, the spotlight just won’t trigger. This is honestly insane, considering that the ONLY settings are either for it to come on with AI detection, or to come on during a schedule…or both. Yet neither of these work if the camera thinks it’s too bright outside. I’m pleased that this finally works when my garage light is off, but honestly if I am telling the spotlight settings to turn on when a person is detected during sunset to sunrise, this behavior should ALWAYS happen, regardless of the perceived light level outside. I am telling it to turn on during sunset to sunrise, but it won’t happen unless the light above my garage is off.
If you use the built in spotlight “auto” setting it only happens when it is in night mode (black and white/infrared). If you want it to happen regardless of camera mode, you need to create your own automation for that. Easy to do, that’s how I have mine set up. Dusk til dawn, if motion detected, turn on for 1 minute. Works regardless of the mode the camera is in.
“Auto” spotlight in the settings means when there isn’t enough light for it to get a color night vision view, that’s by design as far as I know.
Mine is in colour vision all the time and the spotlight turns on when my porch light is off only. I have my porch light set to come on at sun down and off at 11:00PM. The spotlight is set on auto dusk to dawn and only comes on after 11:00PM. I have enogh ambient light for colour night vision but not enough for the spotlight.
Interesting - this is the same exact issue I’m having. I don’t remember it always being like this, and it’s very frustrating tbh. That little light does provide both a sense of security, as well as a bit of extra light for things like license plates. The camera just completely ignoring the rules bc it thinks it has enough light already, is insane !
Only issue here is that it will trigger when the trees blow in the wind. Ideally I’d like it to only go off when a person is detected, from sunset to sunrise - as the rules are defined within the app. But this simply does not work if an exterior light is also on outside. It’s maddening
I don’t have cam plus so you’d need to test this out - but if you have your motion detection set to “person” (and de-select other motion), then set the spotlight to manual and use an automation for “when motion is detected” does it use the person detection? Seems like it probably would but I can’t confirm.
Auto night mode = when too dark for color night vision
Auto spotlight = same thing
One thing to keep in mind, person (and other AI) detection is less reliable when light is low, whether it be in color night vision (night mode off) or IR night vision modes. So it might not fire a rule regardless of whether you’re using “auto” or an automation.
You can also look at detection zone to try and block out the trees and/or sensitivity levels. Mine with a detection zone works exactly how I want it to, and since it never goes into night mode, bugs aren’t attracted to it. There is almost never a false detection that causes the spotlight to turn on.
You sir, are a genius! It worked!!! It’s not dark enough outside after sunset for the IR to kick on, but apparently it’s still too bright for the spotlight to kick on when using the “turn on when person detected” setting. I’m guessing this is bc there’s a street light on the corner of this new house. It’s still pretty dark tbh.
Anyway, using an automation WORKED! Simple automation; turn spotlight on when person detected between sunset to sunrise for 2 minutes.
Glad it worked, wasn’t sure how it would interact with “person” since mine is just “all motion”.
It should be pretty in synch with the night mode switch, but since there are two options for night mode on most cams (dusk and dark), I guess in theory there could be a third that the spotlight uses (but that you can’t change). Would seem odd though.
I don’t see an automation to fix this . Will only turn on with motion when I cover the light in the background. I can’t turn it off and I want the light as a warning
Change the spotlight to manual mode. Then create an automation for “when motion detected” “turn on spotlight for x minutes” and set the times you want (or sunset to sunrise, or a combo).
as you. It was WAD wyrkin’-as-designed for many months.