Help Setting Up Home Kit

[smithdr]

Hi All:

I am having difficulty setting up Logitech Circle View to accomplish two situations. I have been able to set-up the camera and make the my Apple TV my Hub. I have also purchased an iCloud+ subscription. This is what I want to accomplish?

1) From 1 AM to 6AM I would like the camera to be able to turn on to record a clip whenever it detects a person in the home. I would also like a notification when this occurs. I do not want notifications any other time of the day when I am home.
2) Whenever I leave my home, I would like the camera to record a clip whenever it detects a person in the home and send me a notification.

I have tried several different things but I am unable to get this to scenarios to work.

I would very much appreciate some direction on how to accomplish the above.

Don

 

[smithdr]

Hi All:

If you are considering HomeKit for the above scenarios please do not. I am not certain how Apple came up with this, but surely they did not use their heads. The issue is that Recording Options/Notifications are separate for the automations.

Hence, if you want the camera to record a clip and provide a notification between the 1 AM and 6 AM you can not do this. If you set the Record Options to Stream and Allow Recordings, it ignores the automation and records whenever there is an activity regardless of what I have set up in the automation. If you set to Stream Only, then the system will never record. Same with the notifications. The notifications are set independently of the automation. I only want notifications during this time period. But I can’t set this up. Because notifications are set independently of the Automation.

Now try and couple my first automation with my second scenario Record and send me a notification when I am not home. Again, can’t do this because recording options/notifications are set independently of the automations and you only have one choice that can not be tied to a specific automation.

Then when you call Apple, none of their people seem to know anything about how HomeKit works. I had one who told me that Apple does provide support for their software--really, another who eventually just disconnected me, and another who tried to help but did not seem to understand how HomeKit and secure video works.

I have spent enough time trying different ways to set this up. I give up and will return all of these purchases.

Maybe they will fix this system next year.

Don

 

[msackey]

Can you use Shortcuts to accomplish part of what you want?

 

[smithdr]

What does a “Shortcut” do?

Don

 

[msackey]

Shortcuts is Apple’s built-in method (on iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and WatchOS) to run certain automations. Essentially they are scripts that you create to interact with various programs and they can be condition dependent.

Here’s the user guide for Shortcuts on iOS: https://support.apple.com/guide/shortcuts/welcome/ios

I’m not too familiar with HomeKit though. We do have it installed because we use a Honeywell Lyric thermostat that sets the temperature depending on our geolocation. We technically are using Honeywell’s own app to geofence and adjust the thermostat, but we can also use HomeKit anytime as a backup in the event that Honeywell’s server is down.

If you have access to a local Apple store, you might try making a reservation with them to see if they can provide you with some tips and troubleshooting. In my experience, I’ve often found the staff at local Apple stores very very helpful and friendly.

 

[smithdr]

Hello:

Thanks for writing. I have reviewed the Shortcuts Guide. It appears as though a “shortcut” is a macro. That’s OK. However, I do not see a way to set up a Shortcut that gets the camera to record a clip upon seeing a person and send a notification only during the period of 1 AM to 6 AM.

Not certain why Apple needs to have made this so difficult and/or impossible to accomplish. All they had to do was place clip recording and notification inside the automation. This is the way several non-Apple systems work.

I’ll see if a can a set up a trip to the Genius Bar. However, past experience with these folks is that they often no less than I do.

Don