@ourmessages - I agree. Although, the Rule Engine is one of my favorite features of Wyze and 1 that I think rivals a lot of other things in terms of automation. Not perfect, not “the best”, but also, not even close to the worst.
But overall, I would say that a gutting/do-over wouldn’t be a bad idea in a sense, but what that means to engineers/UI/Engine coding might be too much for Wyze to bite-off right now.
I will push-back a little and ask what makes it SO horrible as compared to Google Home or Alexa, or other apps that are used to control, automate, and get notifications related to their status? I would say a majority of the checkboxes are covered in terms of what it does:
The app gives access to control, update, and get information about the device. And this is quite robust in terms of the settings and Event Viewing.
I am able to organize my devices and create a page that boils down my “most used” devices for easier access (Thank you 3.0 for this).
The Navigation within the app is pretty standard overall. You can argue button placement, colors, and some appearance; but it looks like just about every other UI in the world. Landscape/Portrait switching is an issue on iPads.
I can automate everything quite extensively. And all the things work together and can trigger off of one another. This automation can be used by triggers (open/close a door, motion, person, button pressing, thermostat changing etc.), schedules, Sunset/Sundown, or geo-fencing. Of course, the rule engine could be expanded and polished (that can be said of every piece of software in the world, Microsoft is STILL trying to figure out how to make an Operating System that doesn’t look horrible).
It integrates with their store, their support pages, their support chat, log submission, firmware updates, and overall status of your account.
Overall, it seems to do what every app in the world does. It doesn’t do everything perfectly; there are bugs. But, let’s keep our feet grounded and put it into perspective of how much you pay a year to make all this happen. It’s a $30 camera with a small subscription if you want bonus features. And yes, $120 a year is something… BUT, you spend that on Amazon Prime, Netflix, Carwash, and many other subscriptions in your life. If you buy Starbucks coffee’s on the regular, then I don’t want to hear ANYTHING about Wyze Subscriptions.
If you still feel like it’s horrible and unusable with all that being said, I would then have to ask; “Why are you still using it then?”. Go buy into another EcoSystem and see how you make all that work together? How much would it cost you? Does it automate the same? Same features overall? There are some strong opinions about the “garbage/trash/terrible” Wyze cameras/apps but it seems those folks just want to hang in the Wyze universe just to complain. And no, harsh complaints about product feedback is not a motivator for a company to change. Take your dollars somewhere else if you really want to affect change.
You are still applying the definition incorrectly. Just because in your mind it’s that, it’s not. The definition literally says it uses TOO MUCH resources and is unusable.
By your definition, Windows is just bloatware because it’s still using code from 25 years ago that they just polish and try to improve. Using a word incorrectly to fit your narrative is not a genuine argument / complaint. It’s quite disingenuous.
Whether this deserves a version 3.0 vs. 2.6 stamp is a developer argument and really doesn’t amount to anything in terms of what we are talking about here. Version numbers may be suggestive to some. But most don’t give a hoot.
No, it’s not. Friendly Faces has removed all of my cameras that were already approved for this and will not let me add any. Enabled devices shows no devices, but also says no devices are available to enable.
Well, so far so good. At least it works, can’t say the same for Beta1. I can’t believe it was this hard to get to this page. I have spent the better part of 3 weeks trying to make Beta1 work, with nothing but continued lack of functionality. I can’t wait to see if this version is any better. Beta2 is not perfect. The Friendly Faces section is not working. Says I have no devices enabled but that I have no devices I can enable either. At least so far I can see my cameras and the event list. Beta1 had a nasty habit of internally crashing every couple of days, and preventing server connection to Wyze.
Friendly faces says not available in my area, but my cameras and me aren’t in states where this would be prohibited or restricted. July 1 enacted a a facial recognition law that applies to police which prevents them from using facial recognition to track someone in real time. But that’s not applicable anyone but LE.
This was not my experience at all on Beta 1. No app crashing (except when trying to change Wyze Switch Additional Control). Seems like the current issues still happening on Beta 2 are:
Friendly Faces not working
Portrait / Landscape is goofy on iPad’s
I can’t edit the Wyze Switch “Additional Controls” section without the app crashing. I can see the selections but if I click the “Double-Press” section to change what happens, the app crashes.
Dark Mode pages throughout the app (not a bug, but really should be completed before stamping v3.0 done)
Lag when seeing camera streams on the Favorites page (this needs tested by more people for Beta 2, seems fine to me so far)
I didn’t even see the screen about facial recognition legal limitations this time. But I do know that there is no problem for my area. What is happening however, is that it says I have no cameras enabled for facial recognition, and that there are no cameras available to enable. I have 11 cameras that have been previously enabled for facial recognition.
I see the “not available in your area” but what does that even mean. I have cameras in Fl, TN, VA, MD and I’m in Va, but my IP says I’m in WV. Where is it getting its “not available” from. There’s nothing I can find anywhere that clarifies. Is it by IP, Location of app, location of device, location of camera?
Heh, in that case, I can play games too. I’m about to set my Home Address as the Wyze HQ address I only use HMS in test mode anyway, so might as well as I don’t need police sent to my house. It would be funny if that was everyone’s go-to workaround to fix Face detection.
Friendly Faces will only work if you are in an area where it is allowed. The list of areas is getting longer of places it is not allowed as states pass laws. We have also moved from a system of just informing the user it should not be used in their area to actively not letting it be used in an area where there are laws against it.
That’s fine as far as it goes. But as of last week and I am certain as of today my area has no such restrictions. Why don’t you do the right thing and provide a list of blocked locations? Honestly, the way that Friendly Faces loaded in the Beta2 app today when I installed it did not behave the way it has in the past. It does not make sense that I am told have no enabled cameras when I just re-enabled them 2 days ago, and that I also have no cameras to enable. I am in New York state, there are 62 counties here, and there has been no statewide ban that would affect Friendly Faces. I can’t speak for the other 61 counties, but even if bans were enacted that’s not where I live.
@WyzeJasonJ - Did something change in Indiana that you are aware of? Laws go into effect on July 1st in Indiana so I’m wondering??
I can’t find anything in my local news or Google that talks about anything like this.
Additionally; my cameras are STILL performing facial recognition. I have tested this now and it’s recognizing faces and logging events. So 1 of 2 things is happening here… you guys are breaking the law in Indiana (I don’t think you are) or there is a bug in Beta 2. I’ve got my bets on Friendly Faces having a bug in Beta 2.
@Simple - Go into the Devices Tab and take the STAR off of it to remove from Favorites. Can you get into via the Devices Tab in Beta 2? What you are showing there is the Favorites Tab.
I can’t speak to your state specifically, nor can I speak for Wyze, but I do know that in some of the other states and cities that wyze prohibited use of face detection, some laws were only for commercial/business or only for residential or may have had special requirements such as posting a sign about using face detection, some things like that, And it seems like they have decided that it’s easier to just prohibit it all together because they can’t control whether or not somebody follows the rest of the requirements like posting a sign. So I wouldn’t be surprised if in many cases people may be using it legally, but it gets banned simply because there’s a risk somebody could use it illegally in that state, and just doing a blanket ban protects them from litigation in being a responsible party because now they can show that they went far out of their way to prevent misuse that they didn’t even have control over, and thus get dismissed from any lawsuit related to it.
So, if it’s legal for residential to use but not commercial, they might ban it for everybody in the state because there’s no way for them to know whether somebody’s using it for their house or an office or small business in that state for example.
In some other cases, I read some of the laws of other states and cities and their laws were somewhat ambiguous in certain ways A blanket ban protects Wyze from a rogue prosecutor or greedy lawyer trying to exploit unintended loopholes and technicalities in poorly clarified statutes. It’s just not worth the risk to companies until legislators add clarification that protects them from such shenanigans.
In other words, it may be that wyze tries to block use of face detection from many people, but if some of them get through a loophole, it doesn’t mean that it was illegal that the person was using it. In some cases it could have been legal because they were residential, or because they had a sign up, or because the law was ambiguous and Wyze was just being careful.
I looked at what I have and if I get approval I will share it, but I see no blocker for New York state at this time but I do see one on New York City. If you re not in New York City you may be experiencing a bug. My statement was made because many have been submitting Friendly Faces bugs only to find they are in an area that does not allow it.
I only use HMS in test mode anyway, so might as well as I don’t need police sent to my house. It would be funny if that was everyone’s go-to workaround to fix Face detection.
