Wyze Bulb Cam - How do I get control over the light

[jridder]

I purchase a Wyze Bulb Cam when they first dropped. Love the camera and thought having a 2 for 1 would be great, except….I can’t control the light portion of the device.

The light is on 24 hours a day. Haven’t been able to turn it off or change how it works. I would be fine if it turned on when it senses motion but that doesn’t work either.

I have reset the device and removed it and added it back to my home. Still the same thing. So what gives? How do I get control over the light portion of this thing?

[Crease]

@jridder

How do I get control over the light portion of this thing?

The short answer is that light control for Bulb Cam and any bound Accessory Bulbs is managed through the app. Manually, there’s an on-screen icon in the lower-left corner of the view pane when you’re viewing the Cam’s Live Stream screen that you can tap to toggle the light(s) on and off, but there are also ways to automate the lights, so I want to get a better handle on your situation with some questions:

1. What steps have you tried so far for controlling the light?
2. How do you have your schedules set?
3. What effect or goal are you trying to achieve? In other words, how are you trying to use the Bulb Cam?

@jridder

The light is on 24 hours a day.

Regarding #2, it’s important to note that Bulb Cam has two different schedules:

@Crease

•  Settings ➜ Bulb Settings ➜ Motion ➜ Schedule ➜ Start Time is where you can define the time window when you want the Bulb Cam’s light to turn on (at whatever percentage you set) when it detects motion (or Persons, Pets, etc., if you have the Cam on a subscription).
•  Settings ➜ Bulb Settings ➜ Ambient Light ➜ Schedule ➜ Start Time is where you can define the time window when you want the Bulb Cam’s light to turn on regardless of motion, and that can be at a different brightness percentage.

@Crease

As an example, this is how I’m currently using it on a Bulb Cam on my deck:

• I have motion-activated light enabled and set for Person and Pet detections with a 1-minute Lights Off Timer and a schedule of 15m after Sunset to 15m before Sunrise. That’s set to turn on the lights at 20% brightness if the camera detects a person or pet during the scheduled time.
• I have Ambient Light enabled and set to “Always ON” at 10% with a schedule of 15m after Sunset to 12:00 AM. This automatically turns on the lights at that lower level in the evening and turns them off at midnight. If a person or pet goes out the door or shows up on the deck during this time, then the light brightens to 20% (its motion-activated setting) until 1 minute after that detection ceases.

If you haven’t already done so, you can try searching the Forum for topics with the #bulb-cam tag, too, but feel free to post some follow-up and we’ll see if we can help you get this sorted.

[jridder]

I have it set to Motion On from sunset to sunrise with Smart Detection turned on for Person, Pet & Cars. Light is set to stay on for 5 minutes when triggered.

I have Ambient Light off.

I did see the on-screen icon being turned on, I guess I never noticed it there before. I have now turned it off. Maybe that was it. We will see tonight after sunset.

[Crease]

Yeah, that could be it. Good luck with the test!