Apple Rumored to Launch Smart Home Doorbell With Face ID and More

[steve09090]

Love my Ring cameras and doorbell. Why continuously record? They do a great job of detecting motion and or humans. Great products! You have no clue what you’re talking about.

Get a real camera and doorbell then. Then you don't have to give your videos away AND have to pay for the privilege. At least with Eufy (if you insist on getting a wifi version) you can use Apple Secure Video. Or do better and get a PoE camera (wireless or not) and store it on an NVR. There are still options if you insist on paying someone else to store it for you.

Maybe it's just lack of knowledge in the space or maybe it's getting caught up in the Ring hype? But it's your money.

As far as quality goes, I have 24/7 4k streaming and recording! AI, notifications and PTZ tracking. And no-one sees it unless I want them to. Ring... pffft....

 

[groove-agent]

Hard to believe Apple entering the SmartHome device arena but It would be great if you could use your iCloud storage for the videos. I hate paying yet another monthly subscription for a doorbell camera.

 

[steve09090]

Hard to believe Apple entering the SmartHome device arena but It would be great if you could use your iCloud storage for the videos. I hate paying yet another monthly subscription for a doorbell camera.

There are cameras already that use HomeKit Secure Video

 

[psylence2k]

Seems like a cool concept, but I’m currently rocking Reolink PoE cameras and doorbell that are attached to my 16 channel NVR that I have running through Scrypted on a M1 Mac mini. I get all of the features of HomeKit Secured Video and 24/7 video recording as well. This wouldn’t be a product that I would personally buy. I also have three Schlage Encode locks for my doors that work very well in HomeKit along with HomeKey for my watch or phone.

How is the latency/connection speed in relation to booting up the live feed/notifications on that Reolink POE in homekit compared to other homekit doorbell cameras ?? (not sure if you've used any others but just asking).

What's the difficulty level to install and set up scrypted on a R-Pi or Mini ? Does scrypted require any on-going maintenance or fixes after you set it up ? No issues with the connectivty or camera feeds going down ?

Also the main thing I keep hearing about the Reolink POE is the low speaker volume even on max setting. How has audibility been in your experience ? On both the doorbell and user/phone side ?

 

[TheDrakeMan]

How is the latency/connection speed in relation to booting up the live feed/notifications on that Reolink POE in homekit compared to other homekit doorbell cameras ?? (not sure if you've used any others but just asking).

What's the difficulty level to install and set up scrypted on a R-Pi or Mini ? Does scrypted require any on-going maintenance or fixes after you set it up ? No issues with the connectivty or camera feeds going down ?

Also the main thing I keep hearing about the Reolink POE is the low speaker volume even on max setting. How has audibility been in your experience ? On both the doorbell and user/phone side ?

The only other doorbell I’ve used was the Logitech circle view. Compared to that, the Reolink cameras and doorbell are far more faster going into live view compared to some of the native HomeKit cameras I’ve used in the past, like Eufy and Arlo. I used to experience problems when the circle view disconnecting and going offline a lot, but not with my Reolink cameras. Plus, with Scrypted, you still get access to the push to talk feature so you can speak to the visitors through the doorbell in HomeKit.

Scrypted is incredibly easy to install on a Mac mini. Just follow the step by step guide on the website and it’s a walk in the park. No additional maintenance or anything besides upgrading the node.js, Scrypted server and plugins whenever a new update comes along and that’s it. The only time I’ve experienced camera issues has been when my own network was experiencing issues. Nothing related to Scrypted as far as I am aware, and I’ve been using the service for well over a year now running about 12 cameras in total.

It may depend on the type of camera you go with. I’m using the WiFi video doorbell and the CX410 color cameras for my outdoor cameras. The audio for me is pretty good in the Reolink app and HomeKit. I can hear clearly and the two-way video talk through the doorbell is pretty clear as well and loud enough for the visitors to hear without having to step in closer to hear better.

 

[johnsawyercjs]

So if you're wearing a mask of Richard Nixon when you walk up to a Face ID doorbell, will it tell the people inside that the 37th president of the US is at the door?

 

[TheDrakeMan]

So if you're wearing a mask of Richard Nixon when you walk up to a Face ID doorbell, will it tell the people inside that the 37th president of the US is at the door?

Haha. That should work if you had a photo saved under facial recognition with the name “37th president”. That would be pretty funny.

 

[parameter]

if it did happen, apple doesn’t have enough of the supporting product to justify making the switch for me. My ring doorbell works with all the other ring security products I have. Also who wants indoor security cameras? I’d say the majority of security cameras sold are outdoor yes?

I'm not saying that I'd go with Apple's solution but are you happy with your Ring doorbell? I had one but ditched it due to Amazon's increasing and incessant need to continue increasing subscriptions and also sneaking in "features" into the doorbell, like with what they did with Amazon Sidewalk on Alexa and so many other instances.

I canceled and changed a couple years ago so was just asking if you're truly happy with Ring now?

 

[Brien]

Apple had the perfect device to expand into home automation 10 years ago but the discontinued it. The Airport was amazing. It would have made the perfect home hub with Apple Silicon. It could handle Siri requests locally for HomePods, Time Machine backups and even have the ability to have local iCloud storage. It could download, store and push updates for all connected Apple devices. If they do make cameras it could store local backups better than most other systems right now that charge for it. Apple would never do this but if they allowed external hard drives to be connected to operate as a NAS, it would be absolutely amazing.

An in house Unifi type deal would have been an instant-buy for me.

 

[drumcat]

That'd be nice, but they're very late for me. Can't keep waiting for Apple to get back to innovation.

 

[Ifti]

Rather then recreate things that are already in existence, when will Apple actually create something 'new' and entirely their own idea?

 

[steve09090]

That'd be nice, but they're very late for me. Can't keep waiting for Apple to get back to innovation.

The C1 chip isn’t innovation?

 

[steve09090]

Rather then recreate things that are already in existence, when will Apple actually create something 'new' and entirely their own idea?

Like what? And when have they ever done that? Name a single product that was not reiterated from another product? They mostly just do it better than others.

 

[Ifti]

Like what? And when have they ever done that? Name a single product that was not reiterated from another product? They mostly just do it better than others.

Like everything. Every 'new' feature is copied from others who get there first. A doorbell?? It's been done. Periscope Camera? It's been done. Folding Phone? It's been done.
Apple need to innovate and create their own new products instead of taking competitors ideas and implementing them as their own by 'sugar coating'.

 

[phrehdd]

Like everything. Every 'new' feature is copied from others who get there first. A doorbell?? It's been done. Periscope Camera? It's been done. Folding Phone? It's been done.
Apple need to innovate and create their own new products instead of taking competitors ideas and implementing them as their own by 'sugar coating'.

I see your point and while I agree with them needing to be innovative, I also believe people shouldn't re-invent the wheel but improve upon it. Apple should revisit what they left dangling and fix it. Homekit is mediocre at best and nothing that makes it a stand out other than it barely competes due to limitations of offerings and useful software.

A device that can do audible (doorbell), offer visual (cam) and perhaps other features that ties in would be welcome to a home system. Just do it right.

 

[steve09090]

Like everything. Every 'new' feature is copied from others who get there first. A doorbell?? It's been done. Periscope Camera? It's been done. Folding Phone? It's been done.
Apple need to innovate and create their own new products instead of taking competitors ideas and implementing them as their own by 'sugar coating'.

I asked when have Apple ever created a product that has been so unique, it has become the first of anything? Ever?

However, they have absolutely innovated. Sooo many things. They are probably the tech leader in innovation. Just not creating a genuinely new product. I could definitely list about 20 of them right off the cuff.

So I will ask my questions again.

• When has Apple ever created a brand new, unique product?
• And what do you want them to invent?

 

[bmark]

Hard to believe Apple entering the SmartHome device arena but It would be great if you could use your iCloud storage for the videos. I hate paying yet another monthly subscription for a doorbell camera.

You can bet Apple is only entering this space to have a subscription service for the doorbell camera!

 

[phrehdd]

You can bet Apple is only entering this space to have a subscription service for the doorbell camera!

Just for that or to make an entire army of devices that require subscriptions? Doorbells, additional security cameras, house lights indoors and outdoors, pet monitors...list goes on. However, they will give you 50 gigs more cloud space (grin).