Wyze is almost certainly doing something funky with the output when using the Share feature from the event view, though I don’t have enough knowledge in this area to know exactly what or why it’s failing. I can just share observations from my use with the v3.3.0.609 Android production app.
If I navigate to the Events tab, select an event, view it (in the app), and then Share it, the app shows me a message that it’s downloading the video and then presents me with sharing options. The recipient of the share (in my testing, I’m using Bluetooth to transfer the file to another Android device) receives a file called wyze_product_share_[6 digits].mp4. When I try to play that from Android’s Files app, I see the slider progressing as if the video is playing, but the video doesn’t actually display (the screen is black). If I try to play the same video using Google Photos, the app shows me a stark message: “Can’t play video.”
If instead of sharing as above I use the Download option from the event view and save it to my phone, I get a local file called [13 digits]_[24 hex digits]_[6 digits].mp4. I can then do the same kind of Bluetooth transfer, this time using Share from the Files app. The same file shows up on my recipient phone and plays normally.
This is what MediaCompare says about the files from the Cam v4:
| Filename | wyze_product_share_085347.mp4 | 1738073485467_80482C2DCD38131738073485_085455.mp4 |
|---|---|---|
| General | ||
| Format | MPEG-4 | MPEG-4 |
| Format profile | Base Media | Base Media |
| Codec ID | isom (isom/iso2/mp41) | isom (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41) |
| File size | 6.52 MiB | 2.48 MiB |
| Duration | 15 s 150 ms | 13 s 187 ms |
| Overall bit rate mode | Constant | Variable |
| Overall bit rate | 3 610 kb/s | 1 578 kb/s |
| Frame rate | 20.000 FPS | 20.020 FPS |
| Writing application | Lavf58.20.100 | Lavf58.45.100 |
| Video | ||
| ID | 1 | 1 |
| Format | MPEG-4 Visual | AVC |
| Format profile | Simple@L1 | High@L5 |
| Format settings, BVOP | No | |
| Format settings, QPel | No | |
| Format settings, GMC | No warppoints | |
| Format settings, Matrix | Default (H.263) | |
| Codec ID | 20 / mp4v-20 | avc1 |
| Duration | 15 s 150 ms | 13 s 187 ms |
| Bit rate mode | Constant | Variable |
| Bit rate | 3 567 kb/s | 1 530 kb/s |
| Width | 2 560 pixels | 2 560 pixels |
| Height | 1 440 pixels | 1 440 pixels |
| Display aspect ratio | 16:9 | 16:9 |
| Frame rate mode | Constant | Variable |
| Frame rate | 20.000 FPS | 20.020 FPS |
| Color space | YUV | YUV |
| Chroma subsampling | 4:2:0 | 4:2:0 (Type 0) |
| Bit depth | 8 bits | 8 bits |
| Scan type | Progressive | Progressive |
| Compression mode | Lossy | |
| Bits/(Pixel*Frame) | 0.048 | 0.021 |
| Stream size | 6.44 MiB (99%) | 2.41 MiB (97%) |
| Writing library | Lavc58.35.100 | |
| Format/Info | Advanced Video Codec | |
| Format settings | CABAC / 1 Ref Frames | |
| Format settings, CABAC | Yes | |
| Format settings, Reference frames | 1 frame | |
| Format settings, GOP | M=1, N=40 | |
| Codec ID/Info | Advanced Video Coding | |
| Maximum bit rate | 1 600 kb/s | |
| Minimum frame rate | 20.000 FPS | |
| Maximum frame rate | 20.408 FPS | |
| Color range | Limited | |
| Color primaries | BT.709 | |
| Transfer characteristics | BT.709 | |
| Matrix coefficients | BT.709 | |
| Codec configuration box | avcC | |
| Audio | ||
| ID | 2 | 2 |
| Format | AAC LC | AAC LC |
| Format/Info | Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity | Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity |
| Codec ID | 2 / 40 / mp4a-40-2 | 2 / 40 / mp4a-40-2 |
| Duration | 13 s 120 ms | 13 s 120 ms |
| Bit rate mode | Constant | Variable |
| Bit rate | 45.6 kb/s | 45.6 kb/s |
| Channel(s) | 2 channels | 2 channels |
| Channel layout | L R | L R |
| Sampling rate | 16.0 kHz | 16.0 kHz |
| Frame rate | 15.625 FPS (1024 SPF) | 15.625 FPS (1024 SPF) |
| Compression mode | Lossy | Lossy |
| Stream size | 73.0 KiB (1%) | 73.0 KiB (3%) |
| Default | Yes | Yes |
| Alternate group | 1 | 1 |
| Maximum bit rate | 128 kb/s |
This is the comparison of two similar files (Share and Download) from a Cam OG Telephoto when I do the same test. All four videos I used (two from each camera) are from the same event captured from two different cameras that are near each other.
| Filename | wyze_product_share_085609.mp4 | 1738073483741_GWGC2D03F2778D365011738073483_085656.mp4 |
|---|---|---|
| General | ||
| Format | MPEG-4 | MPEG-4 |
| Format profile | Base Media | Base Media |
| Codec ID | isom (isom/iso2/mp41) | isom (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41) |
| File size | 2.29 MiB | 1.76 MiB |
| Duration | 14 s 0 ms | 11 s 994 ms |
| Overall bit rate mode | Constant | Variable |
| Overall bit rate | 1 374 kb/s | 1 232 kb/s |
| Frame rate | 20.000 FPS | 20.010 FPS |
| Writing application | Lavf58.20.100 | Lavf58.45.100 |
| Video | ||
| ID | 1 | 1 |
| Format | MPEG-4 Visual | AVC |
| Format profile | Simple@L1 | High@L5.1 |
| Format settings, BVOP | No | |
| Format settings, QPel | No | |
| Format settings, GMC | No warppoints | |
| Format settings, Matrix | Default (H.263) | |
| Codec ID | 20 / mp4v-20 | avc1 |
| Duration | 14 s 0 ms | 11 s 994 ms |
| Bit rate mode | Constant | |
| Bit rate | 1 343 kb/s | 1 197 kb/s |
| Width | 1 920 pixels | 1 920 pixels |
| Height | 1 080 pixels | 1 080 pixels |
| Display aspect ratio | 16:9 | 16:9 |
| Frame rate mode | Constant | Variable |
| Frame rate | 20.000 FPS | 20.010 FPS |
| Color space | YUV | YUV |
| Chroma subsampling | 4:2:0 | 4:2:0 |
| Bit depth | 8 bits | 8 bits |
| Scan type | Progressive | Progressive |
| Compression mode | Lossy | |
| Bits/(Pixel*Frame) | 0.032 | 0.029 |
| Stream size | 2.24 MiB (98%) | 1.71 MiB (97%) |
| Writing library | Lavc58.35.100 | |
| Format/Info | Advanced Video Codec | |
| Format settings | CABAC / 1 Ref Frames | |
| Format settings, CABAC | Yes | |
| Format settings, Reference frames | 1 frame | |
| Codec ID/Info | Advanced Video Coding | |
| Minimum frame rate | 19.231 FPS | |
| Maximum frame rate | 22.727 FPS | |
| Codec configuration box | avcC | |
| Audio | ||
| ID | 2 | 2 |
| Format | AAC LC | AAC LC |
| Format/Info | Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity | Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity |
| Codec ID | 2 / 40 / mp4a-40-2 | 2 / 40 / mp4a-40-2 |
| Duration | 11 s 648 ms | 11 s 648 ms |
| Bit rate mode | Constant | Variable |
| Bit rate | 33.1 kb/s | 33.1 kb/s |
| Channel(s) | 2 channels | 2 channels |
| Channel layout | L R | L R |
| Sampling rate | 8 000 Hz | 8 000 Hz |
| Frame rate | 7.812 FPS (1024 SPF) | 7.812 FPS (1024 SPF) |
| Compression mode | Lossy | Lossy |
| Stream size | 47.1 KiB (2%) | 47.1 KiB (3%) |
| Default | Yes | Yes |
| Alternate group | 1 | 1 |
| Maximum bit rate | 96.0 kb/s |
Other observations:
- I’m able to play all four videos in VLC on my PC after transferring them via USB from the recipient phone, even though I can’t play the shared Cam v4 video in a default app (Files, Google Photos) as I would expect to on the recipient phone (the main problem here).
- While the shared video from the Cam v4 wouldn’t play on the recipient phone (as noted above), the shared video from the Cam OG Telephoto played without any difficulty on the same phone and showed the “Captured by Wyze Cam OG Telephoto 3x” tag at the end.
- The video length of the shared file is ~2 seconds longer than the video length of the comparable downloaded file. This is because the file generated using the Share method has the additional “Captured by Wyze Cam v4” (or “Captured by Wyze Cam OG Telephoto 3x” or whatever, depending on the camera model’s name) tag at the end. Files obtained via Download don’t have this tag (and also don’t seem to have any problems with playback).
- While the Cam OG Telephoto’s shared file size is roughly 30% larger than the downloaded file (2.29 vs 1.76 MiB) for these short clips, the Cam v4’s shared file size is 163% larger (6.52 vs 2.48 MiB). I don’t know why there’s such a huge discrepancy or exactly how that figures into this issue. (The “Overall bit rate” is also significantly [>100%] larger for the Cam v4’s shared file, as well.)
I don’t know if this is helpful to anyone or what all the data means, and I have other things on my plate that prevent a deeper dive into this at the moment. (Someone with a better background in video codecs might be able to identify the problem immediately. I don’t know.) I just hadn’t seen this presented anywhere else before, so I thought I’d share it in case it sheds any light on the situation, which I believe is related to (if not the same as) an issue described by iOS users. (I don’t know if another Android issue is related or not.)
Someone could certainly use a third-party viewer (e.g., VLC) or re-encode the files before sharing, but that shouldn’t be necessary and is something that an average user shouldn’t be expected to do. The purpose of the Share feature should be to make sharing a clip quick and easy, not require extra work on the users’ part. This is something Wyze should definitely explore and fix.