From an email received 9/2020:
From now through October 9, you can sign up for Wyze Person Detection for 12-second motion events. This opportunity is exclusively available to you, as one of our earliest Wyze users. And you get to name the price you pay for it.
For those that are not aware of what has been going on with Wyze Person Detection, let’s start with a quick recap.
Click to expand
**deep breath in**
Back in January of 2019, Apple acquired the company we were partnered with for on-device person detection. Because of this, we had to temporarily remove person detection until we developed our own cloud-based option. We promised all of you in an email at the end of November 2019 that person detection would remain free to all of you when we released our version. We launched person detection as a pilot/beta program available for everyone (which is what many of you have been using for the last few months). Starting October 9th, person detection will only be available as part of Cam Plus for $1.99. But we told you it would be free so we’ve created this new pay-what-you-want option exclusively for our early customers who received that promise.
***exhale the little remaing air still in lungs***
Why are we doing this?
First, because person detection makes Wyze Cam notifications more useful, which makes the user experience so much better. We want all Wyze users to have that experience, regardless of their ability to pay for it.
The reality is this premium feature requires us to pay high, recurring fees every month to keep it running. We can’t absorb these costs from the margin we get on a $20 Wyze Cam. We need help to cover or at least subsidize the ongoing expense.
Second, this is an experiment. We operate in an industry obsessed with subscription fees. Ring, for example, won’t even let you see motion events without paying at least $3/month (we offer this service for free). We need to compete to make sure we’re here for the long run to support your Wyze devices. But we don’t want to do it like the rest of the industry, we want to do it on terms set by our users, the way friends would do business with each other.
If “Name Your Price” works for 12-second person detection with this small test group, we may roll it out to all users. Eventually, our dream is to make it the default for every premium feature we ever build, including Cam Plus. That vision starts right here and now with this first trial run.
We need your help to build the most unique, user-friendly premium service model in the smart home industry. Let’s do this!
- Your friends @ Wyze
FAQs
What is the difference between this and Cam Plus?
This program only enables person detection for your 12-second alert videos. It enables it on all Wyze Cam v2s and Wyze Cam Pans. It adds a ton of value, but not what you would get with Cam Plus. Cam Plus not only includes person detection but also removes the 12-second recording limitation and the 5-minute cooldown period between recordings. It captures all motion and detects people while doing it. There are also more advanced features in the works that will be added over the next year. If that sounds like a better fit for what you need, you can sign up for Cam Plus here.
Who is qualified to sign up for 12-second person detection?
This opportunity is only available to Wyze users that created an account before November 26, 2019. Wyze users who created accounts after November 26, will not be able to see the 12-second person detection option in the list of available services. Users from before Nov. 26, 2019, qualify because we told them in an email on that day that when we launched our in-house person detection, it would be free. That was before we were hit with tariffs and COVID, and while this isn’t exactly what we had in mind back then, this program allows you to pay $0.
Why do I have to sign up before October 9?
We want to keep it simple. Having a defined time period that users can join helps us limit risk and accurately measure the results so that we can determine our next steps. We’re not going to be crazy strict on this, contact our support if you miss it by a few days or something.
What if volunteer contributions don’t cover the cost? What will happen to Person Detection for 12-second Event videos?
We don’t know yet. We are going to evaluate the results of this experiment after a few months and see if we have enough contributions to at least subsidize the cost. If it doesn’t work, we will come up with a new plan, but it is possible that free 12-second person detection will be discontinued.
But wait, why do I already have Person Detection?
If you already have Person Detection on your camera, you signed up to be a beta (pilot) tester. Beta testing for person detection is ending on October 9, after that date you will no longer have access to it without going through the official sign-up process.
Can I change the amount of my donation?
Yes, you can adjust it whenever you want