As another post here recently Wyze made a bad decision to not include video for Cam Pan v3 unless we pay for a subscription
Before this capitalist move, users can still see video events with 5 minutes cool down. Why?? I mean as a legacy user, I’m not okay with this as it doesn’t add any value to the current decision. I have subscriptions on few on my cameras despite the service having bug and issues.
Not to mention, as a Canadian, the price is much higher after conversion. The unlimited cameras annual subscription USD $99 is CAD $135 plus tax and that’s a lot of money.
I really hope Wyze revert back to their decision that’s add no value to the current service. Otherwise, I have to backout as their loyal longtime customer and I’m not the only one.
We had to charge something for it or put it behind a paywall because we couldn’t sustain losing millions of dollars a month in cloud costs for our cameras.
As for Unlimited cost. Yeah $99 is not cheap, but it is cheaper than our competitors and it’s a heck of a lot cheaper than any other traditional security companies. Not even close.
Unlimited isn’t for everyone, but for those who do take advantage of it… it’s such a great deal.
This was not something recent. The 12-second videos with a 5-minute cool down are only available on non-doorbell cameras released before 2/1/2021. You can however put a microSD card in the Wyze Cam Pan v3 and get event or continuous recording on that.
I use Cam+ primarily as an “index” to my SD recordings, meaning without Cam+, I’d be playing my SD card files at 1X speed looking for interesting stuff. With Cam+ and Smart Detection, I can skip things I’m not interested in and only examine important footage.
That expensive video is redundant in my case. I only need a a still photo and a “pointer” to my SD recording. That’s essentially Cam+ Lite, without the cooldown. If Wyze can offer that “service” even for a fee, that’s very advantageous for everybody. Wyze doesn’t have to store all that video and more people will be subscribing to that service; people who otherwise would not subscribe to Cam+.
If I may add, all that code is already there (it’s Cam+Lite), you just remove the cooldown. And possibly migrate all the legacy Cam+ Lite users. That’s a huge drain on Wyze, I imagine.
I think it’s a disingenuous argument to fuss over $100 a year subscription. I’m guessing everyone who posts these type of arguments already pays some form of subscription in their life…extra data on their cell phone plan, Amazon Prime, Hulu/Netflix/Disney+/HBO Max, Office 365, Google Cloud, Apple Cloud, Cable/Home phone bundle, Spotify/Pandora/Apple Music, Doordashes regularly, Carwash subscription, you pay for the insurance on tech equipment at Best Buy, etc, etc.
My point is… If you’ve bought a new camera in the last 3 years, CamPlus Lite is not on your radar. You should have known going in that the subscription is the only way to get the most bang for your buck out of the camera. If not, you did not do your homework, that’s on you.
If you are using these cameras for security or some form of Home Monitoring, then your lack of wanting to spend more money means you AREN’T putting your money where your mouth is. Security/Monitoring isn’t as important as Netflix.
Go write down ALL your subscriptions and prioritize them… Then you will know what matters.
Additionally, please go read up on how a service like this is actually delivered and optimized. It’s not free. They have to charge. The Internet of Things (IoT) requires back-end hosting and computation. It’s how the magic happens.
It’s simply an old complaint. It does not reconcile with the tech involved for this stuff to happen (ALL in the cloud and hosted) and is not even a realistic expectation compared to ALL the other things in your life that you pay monthly to have. #Starbucks
I have unlimited Cam+. That doesn’t mean all my cameras are on Cam+ whether I need it or not; some of my cameras are used to check up on things in real time. I also don’t want to pre-judge people about them not subscribing to Cam+. I don’t know their financial status or whether they have Hulus, etc.
You can afford all those things, that’s nice, but give people a choice. It’s their money.
I’m not pre-judging people… I’m trying to point out disingenuous arguments concerning function, price, and expectations.
If you have money to buy cameras for security, you have money for Cam+. It’s simple money. It’s not judging whether someone lives in a nice home, or drives a nice car, or has an Apple Pro Vision… It’s literally $8.33 a month for unlimited (or $20 a year per camera).
If you are sitting here on the internet, typing in a forum, across a cable connection or a cell phone connection… You will never convince me that you don’t have $8.33 per month.
To think someone bought this camera or 2 and THAT was their budget… no more $$$ to spare, is the disingenuous part. If you are buying cameras to monitor things, then you are able to spare more. Especially if you are buying them to protect or watch something you care about.
$8.33 a month or $.28 a day (as Sally Struthers used to remind us). That’s it.
You are judging people by your standards, which is disingenuous. You can never know how or what others base their decisions on. You can only know what you do. Just because you can’t fathom it, doesn’t mean it’s fair to assume it applies to others. For a fact, it is not true that because somebody bought 2 cameras they might not have more money to spare. Clearly true for you, but not necessarily true for everybody else.
If the MaxDrive was still a thing, I am sure that would be a great alternative too. Every company has its growing pains, and with Wyze gaining popularity, it is completely understandable why a small fee is needed. The level of communication between Wyze and its users definitely makes up for it though. I would rather pay a small fee to a company that gives its users a voice when it comes to feature development and product design, than to be stuck paying into some monopoly and not have much of a say at all. I know Wyze is not the only business out there that is really involved with its users, but they are definitely among the best that are. In my opinion, Wyze is still in its infancy with it only being 7 years old. Just like with any kid, Wyze is still learning as it grows, and us as users should take that into consideration when certain features or functionality aren’t as great as we want them to be yet. That is why we have forums like this one and other platforms, so we can voice our opinions and bring new ideas to the drawing board. I hope it doesn’t seem like I am calling anybody out, as this is meant to be neutral, and provide a better understanding from my own experience. Keep up the great work Wyze!
Edit: I would also like to add to the fact that considering the cost of other competitors and DIY options, Wyze is among the cheapest, while still providing a quality product. If you do not like the idea of a monthly subscription, there are plenty of DIY options to choose from to host this type of setup at home, but the thing is, you are more than likely going to pay more for the equipment, and operational expenses (Power consumption, etc.) than you would just paying the few dollars a month to have a company like Wyze do the hard work. On top of this, you may not get the same level of support as you would paying for a service that handles this for you. For some, this may not be an issue, whereas for others, it is more beneficial financially, or in terms of simplicity. Trust me when I say this because I am that DIY type of guy. I have setup NVRs, and other self-hosted services, as well as run a business that hosts cloud services for users.
