I’ve had a couple of v2s on Cam Plus for a few years. Recently picked up a v3 Pro and was surprised to see that Alexa support hasn’t progressed at all. This is what I see when I try to add an action to an Alexa routine:
I had to purchase smart plugs in order to shut my cameras off when I’m home because I can’t do that via Alexa like I do everything else. When something says it supports Alexa I think most people expect that it will, at a basic level, allow you to turn the device off and on. Why isn’t that the case here? I’ve dug around and couldn’t find a reasonable explanation for this.
Tried using the geo trigger with the Wyze app itself and that didn’t work. I set the smart plugs to have them on all the time and I used the app to turn the cameras off. Then I set a geo rule to turn them on when I left and turn them off when I got home. After several tests it was clear that that was not working (full location permissions allowed, etc.). I believe this was the case years ago too.
The workaround was always to use IFTTT but they have restricted it so much that you can only have two applets with one action each for free, then it’s a min. of $40/yr to get more and they push that subscription hard (I get it).
But it looks like IFTTT Alexa integration is going away anyway:
Plus I just got an email from IFTTT saying as much.
So I move into my new house this weekend and had planned on buying at least four more cameras for the exterior and several for the interior. I specifically had them install two junction boxes for the Wyze Flood Pro (just installed this for a buddy, it’s a great system!). But now I’m rethinking all of this because I’m tired of having to buy additional equipment to get Wyze cameras to do what I want them to do.
There are other problems too but almost complete lack of Alexa support irks me the most.
I see this wishlist topic but it doesn’t look like any progress has been made in years. Are we going to get better - or any really - Alexa support? I think Wyze should update the marketing to remove mention of Alexa support or at the very least indicate that the only thing that they support is a video feed on Alexa devices with screens and nothing else.
They don’t have on/off capabilities in Alexa, no.
They do have Streaming, and motion, person, and other triggers. No actions though. I stream them to Alexa every day and that works great. The top three of the following are V3Pros and work pretty well for streaming, and trigger routines, etc through Alexa:
But if you’re looking for on/off actions, then I wouldn’t expect that to be added any time soon, but you could pop over to the AMA event and ask the founders about it if you post before they start answering on Friday:
Or notifications on/off, or motion detections on/off, battery notifications, etc. If you don’t have an Echo Show they don’t appear to support anything but person detection notifications which for me is redundant as the app already does that.
Looks like the first two questions relate to this and there’s a third one specific to Alexa already. I will probably look for a new platform at this point to be honest.
Wait, the app also supports turning the camera on/off or notifications on/off and motion detections on/off and battery notifications on/off, so if they added that to Alexa, wouldn’t that also be making those redundant as well? If you’re willing to use the app for person detection notifications, why not just use the app for those other notifications? Isn’t it virtually the same thing?
I mean, don’t get me wrong, I think Wyze should add ALL of those features to Alexa and Google. I fully support that, and am pushing that too. But if you’re okay using the app for those things (since Alexa would make it redundant), that functionality is there for you. You can absolutely do all that right now with Wyze.
Two separate things. One is push notifications which the app does a little too well. It’ll easily blow my phone up with notifications. The other is automation. Yes, I can turn the cameras on/off with the app, but I can’t do so automatically in an Alexa routine even though they advertise Alexa support. That is the issue.
FYI, the Wyze app DOES let you setup schedules and routines and triggers to turn the cameras on and off automatically.
By Alexa support, they mostly mean you can stream to it on Alexa like almost all camera companies offer. Other things are pretty hit and miss between companies. Wyze does have motion/person triggers to get alerts or other routines. I have some camera companies that don’t offer person triggers, so Wyze does offer more than some…but certainly there are others that offer more than Wyze too.
Yes I know, and if you see my original post, you’ll see that I tested the geo trigger and it doesn’t work. I’ve tested this numerous times over the years and it simply does not work reliably or at all really. I don’t need schedules or anything else the app provides.
I want to be able to say “Alexa, I’m leaving” and have my cameras turn on. Wyze cameras don’t support that even though they advertise Alexa support as I’ve said repeatedly. I want to be able to say “Alexa, I’m home” and have the cameras turn off motion detection or to turn the cameras off entirely but I can’t do that either.
Yes that is obvious to me now but none of the marketing etc. tells us that. Again, I think most people are going to see “Alexa support” and assume that at the very least you can turn the device on and off.
Take this wifi air purifier I got that advertises Alexa support. It allows me to turn the device on/of, set the speed, and a number of other cool things. This is what I and I believe most people would expect. What good would it do me if it advertised Alexa support and all I could do was say turn the LED lights on the device on/off but nothing else? That’s the deal we’re getting with Wyze I think.
I’m with you on the lack of automation progress thru Alexa routines using the Cams. Don’t know why this is, but I have also been discouraged with how stale the Wyze Alexa Skill has become and how little they have included to support cross platform automation. The phrase “Does not play well with others” comes to mind.
It seems intentional. I’ve gotten the impression that I am being nudged towards using the Wyze app itself for this sort of thing. This kind of makes sense from a business perspective if you think about it, especially when you consider how hard they push Cam Plus even to Cam Plus subscribers like me. The cameras probably make little to no profit so it’s all about that monthly revenue.
I’m already an unlimited Cam Plus subscriber but even if I wasn’t, I would gladly upgrade to get better Alexa support, more configurable notifications, etc. Oh and DARK MODE in the app, which is long overdue. All of these fun things could easily be under the umbrella of Cam Plus.
Such a shame too. I have always liked Wyze cameras. There is so much wasted potential here.
I’m not sure the intention is being applied all from one side. If I were to use a wider angle lens, I would be hard pressed not to find fault with Amazon and Alexa. They are still struggling to make it profitable and monetize her existence. I believe both sides have abandon the development of integration automation until they can figure out a way to charge for it.
Yes. It has been embarrassing for them. Scuttlebutt around the water cooler is that they developing some sort of proprietary IoT Gateway Hub which will open the door to subscriptions for cross platform automation compatibility. They just gave IFTTT the boot so it may be that they are cleaning house of cross platform automation compatibility competitors in preparation for that.
Well I guess with IFTTT going away, this will just speed up my moving to something else. I hate that. I was using IFTTT to work with Home Assistant but I guess they don’t want me to. So I might have two V2 cameras and one flood light camera for sell here soon. Anyone interested?
I don’t think IFTTT is going away. Alexa is just severing their integration compatibility with what is essentially a competing Multi-Ecosystem Automation Integration Platform. I suspect that Amazon is gearing up for a significant expansion and monetization of the Alexa Automation Integration Platform with the introduction of new hardware and subscription based access.
I think some one fails to understand the way this works… ain’t happening!
I am only very very very VERY BEGRUDGINGLY using the Echo Show I picked up on a whim CHEAP to may be a solution to something, ie: DOORBELL DISPLAY and ALERTS…
But if they think I am paying for their SPYING device or their prime con… They are sadly truly deluledly mistaken!
The Alexa division of Amazon posted a $10 Billion, yes… Billion with a B, loss in 2022 alone. They have been struggling to make money on Alexa since inception. I have Prime and numerous Alexa Smart Devices, but I control the settings and that which is shared with Amazon. Amazon figured out long ago that it couldn’t keep offering premium services under the single Prime subscription. Amazon Music Premium is an example of the response to recoup losses. Integrations with Home Security Systems is also an example. Hence the introduction of Alexa Guard Plus. Flexibility in cross-ecosystem iOT Automation is next. Look for Amazon to introduce a Premium Automations subscription paywall if you want Routines for ecosystems outside of Amazon Smart Devices or if you want to program more than a handful.
Oddly enough, IFTTT beat them to this step when they castrated the Free plan down to two Applets.
Yeah. Totally misread that. I thought it was saying Wyze working with IFTTT was going away and not Alexa. Still wish Wyze worked directly with Home Assistant though.
