Apple have announced a new HomeKit feature which is to provide 'free' video recording to iCloud for compatible security cameras. This is great news on the surface. The recordings are stored for 10 days, encrypted so only you can access them and do not count towards your storage limit.
There is however a massive catch. The above might lead you to believe you can simply link it to your existing (free) iCloud account. After all if it does not count towards your storage limit then the fact your free account only has a 5GB allowance is irrelevant.
Unfortunately the 'small print' says that you need a paid for 200GB account to allow using a
single camera and a 2TB account in order to support five cameras. In other words you
do have to pay for this feature.
Whats worse is that it is not clear what happens if you have more than five cameras. I have already five (presumably) compatible cameras in that they support HomeKit and I already have plans that would involve adding another four cameras. How much would this cost me? The biggest possible plan is the 2TB one which Apple says only supports five cameras. This alone is going to cost me £6.99 a month aka $9.99 a month
at least. This is if anything
more expensive than the plans for non-HomeKit cameras.
As a comparison Amazon's Ring offers plans for £2.50 for a single camera or £8.00 for
unlimited cameras both with 30 days of storage. (Three times as long as Apple's offering.)
Clearly Apple's Secure Video feature is
not free. Apple may have strayed sufficiently beyond an honest description here to be guilty of breaking the law in terms of false advertising, or bait and switch sales tactics.
Apple's charging for iCloud has always been 'irrational' in that even if you have paid the Apple tax for multiple Apple devices you do not qualify for more storage which makes trying to backup multiple iPhones and iPads difficult unless you pay yet more.
Now I am not saying Apple should simply make this feature completely and
really free although that would obviously be welcome but I do feel they need to revise it to be a lot more honest. I would propose that they first stop trying to con people by saying it is free - clearly it is not and claiming it is free as mentioned could be breaking the law. Secondly they should revise the offerings, they should have say a basic level supporting one camera - presumably at the 50GB iCloud fee level, a middle level supporting between two and five cameras at the 200GB level, and an
unlimited number of cameras at the 2TB level.
This would then be fair, honest and competitive compared to other brands whilst still providing I believe a similar level of revenue to Apple.
Note: Compatible cameras would not only include outdoor cameras but the new HomeKit compatible smart doorbells (with cameras) and of course indoor cameras. Hence it is much easier than Apple perhaps considered to exceed a total of five cameras.
