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HomeKit HomeKit Security Cameras
- Thread starter Mack813
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I don't think it is Apple who isn't investing more, I think it is the actual companies like Ring for example. Companies do not want their products to support Apple HomeKit as they want consumers to use THEIR own apps and such, and not HomeKit.
I believe Apple tries to work with companies on supporting HomeKit, but companies want no part of it.
Same reason why Walmart does not support Apple Pay in stores. They created "Walmart Pay"....their own version. Nothing but competition of who does what better, and what company enables this feature first...
Just my opinion.
I believe Apple tries to work with companies on supporting HomeKit, but companies want no part of it.
Same reason why Walmart does not support Apple Pay in stores. They created "Walmart Pay"....their own version. Nothing but competition of who does what better, and what company enables this feature first...
Just my opinion.
Man if only i had the funds to start off a new webcam because all the app based ones with cloud storage and monthly plans honestly suck
Apple has been doing more to foster HomeKit adoption. Lowering of barrier to developing HomeKit-compatible devices, such as providing software authentication, is one of such efforts. However, it’s ultimately up to the manufacturers to actually invest and make the devices compatible.
That being said, the number of compatible security cameras have been increasing... slowly. We currently have:
D-Link Omna
Logitech Circle 2 (Wired version)
Netatmo Presence
Netgear Arlo Baby
Netatmo Welcome (in Spring 2018)
Other than that, Apple’s HomeKit page lists Kidde RemoteLync Camera and several variants of Somfy cameras as having announced future support. I generally wouldn’t hold my breath for this, though.
That being said, the number of compatible security cameras have been increasing... slowly. We currently have:
D-Link Omna
Logitech Circle 2 (Wired version)
Netatmo Presence
Netgear Arlo Baby
Netatmo Welcome (in Spring 2018)
Other than that, Apple’s HomeKit page lists Kidde RemoteLync Camera and several variants of Somfy cameras as having announced future support. I generally wouldn’t hold my breath for this, though.
When I have the funds I would like to get one of the Logitech Circle 2s, seems like the best option for a camera to watch the exterior that is HomeKit compatible.
I'm so in the Apple ecosystem I've told myself I just won't buy products that aren't HomeKit compatible. Every light switch in my entire home (30+) are Lutron Caseta. My thermostats are Ecobee. Everything is HomeKit. I really want to add cameras inside and out and Ring has IMHO the best "system" out there but their promises of HomeKit compatibility are now nearly TWO YEARS OVERDUE and they have no updates other than it is "coming." I'm so reluctant to spend a lot of money on a system only to be told later that sorry, it won't work with HomeKit.
You can use homebridge (https://github.com/nfarina/homebridge) to add many non supported devices and cameras.
I have one of these in an all-Apple Home/HomeKit. It works well and the built-in motion sensor can be used to trigger HomeKit scenes as well as recordings.
But is it just me, or are video cameras not getting extremely pricey rather than cheaper?
Another vote for Homebridge here, it opens up a huge world of otherwise incompatible devices to use with HomeKit. I wouldn’t be without it.
For less that $25 my Nest cameras cover my house with 3 cameras and my office with 1 camera. It is a bargain for me. I cancelled the security service who DID honestly suck!
Most of my cameras are Arlo but I decided to cancel my Arlo subscription, the free plan allows 5 cameras (I have 4) and 7 days of cloud storage. Which to be honest is plenty.
I can’t really think why I’d want months worth of storage, in the (hopefully) unlikely event that there’s something I’d like to keep longer than the 7 days, I can just download it.
I think I only have a week, too. Plenty for me. The Nest cams allow you to record and keep clips. I just want to know when someone is at my property as house and office are less than 5 minutes away. Monitored security for both properties was over $100 per month and they would call me and the police. Police would never show up so me and Mr. Glock would walk the premises.
But again the Arlo isnt homekit compatible or you guys are saying to use home bridge to make your arlo system homekit compatible?
I also dont feel to secure on having my personal camera feed being fed and stored using a third party. Alot of these cloud storage plans are most likely storing your data in some foreign country. Even tho they claim highest security being used but we all know with time and effort anything can be cracked.
I want local storage that is expandable and under my control and would like to view my live streams remote thru homekit app.
Is that even possible?
I also dont feel to secure on having my personal camera feed being fed and stored using a third party. Alot of these cloud storage plans are most likely storing your data in some foreign country. Even tho they claim highest security being used but we all know with time and effort anything can be cracked.
I want local storage that is expandable and under my control and would like to view my live streams remote thru homekit app.
Is that even possible?
That you can do, with varying degrees of simplicity/flexibility.
Arlo, isn't fully working yet, though we are working on it.
However, using Homebridge I had connected a Spigen WiFi security camera to HomeKit. It gives a live feed right in the Home app and as far as storage goes, it uses a Micro-SD Card. So you can have as much local storage as you like, at least up to several hundred GB anyway. Which can give you hundreds of hours of recording.
When the camera detects motion, it records directly to the SD card, which you can then access via a web browser, or the SD card itself. Should you wish to permanently save any of the recordings.
You can go even further and integrate it with IFTTT to have the camera perform multiple actions when it detects motion.
That, for me, is the beauty of Homebridge. It gives you a lot more flexibility in what you can do with your HomeKit and otherwise non-compatible "smart" devices.
thanks for the info. You are obviously a well rounded person when it comes to tech.
But lets be honest is your average user who doesnt understand how to code is really going to go thru all that work?
I know i can do it and looked at link provided for homebridge and will look into the spigen camera but man does it sound like alot of tinkering
Aye you’re not wrong, there’s definitely a lot of tinkering when you go down the Homebridge route. Albeit it’s actually really simple to set up, even for a novice. I’m a tinkerer anyway so I personally don’t mind.
There’s plenty of tutorials and helpful hints and tips and a visit to NPM gives you all of the plugins and instructions for using them that you’d ever need.
And of course there’s people on here who are happy to help out if people need it.
But it’s not something your average user will likely ever even be aware of.
The good thing is, now that Apple have finally switched to a software based security and identification system for HomeKit, we’re likely to see a lot more products getting in on the HomeKit game than there were previously.
It’s not been that long since they made the switch, but I reckon this year will be the start of a bigger flood of HomeKit compatible devices starting to hit the market. And even some older devices being updated to include HomeKit support.
In the meantime, Homebridge is cheap, easy and even a bit fun. Plus you can use ridiculously cheap WiFi cameras from Amazon or eBay, or wherever for about £20 plus the price of an SD card, you’ve got a HomeKit security camera.
never even heard of that website will look into that aswell
So you are basically saying any wifi camera like this one i can configure for homebridge?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078PF7HJ...5n&pd_rd_r=XZEV3BHNT7HREN7S4AYB&pd_rd_w=6nWyl
I cannot find the spigen camera you speak of.
Another issue i have with installing these wifi camera is when i place them at lets say the height of my wall that meets the ceiling there is no place to plug them in outside or inside the house and if i do the power cable is vulnerable. Just another hurdle im trying to get over.
good to know there are lot of potential new cameras coming out now that this update was done.
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It’s not every camera, but if you check NPM and just type Homebridge and either the model/make/chipset after it, you’ll find if it’s compatible. Most of the WiFi cameras on Amazon for instance, list their Make or Model in the description, many of them are just re-badged from the same manufacturer.
With mine I just used a power extension cable, again they’re cheap on Amazon and if you’re worried about exposing them to the elements, there’s plenty of small outdoor watertight boxes available to protect the connections.
You’ll also find some battery powered ones so they are truly wireless. They tend to be a bit more pricey, but they have some big benefits.
I’ll pop a link in here in a bit to cameras I’ve used or setup, if they’re still available that is.
Sorry, don’t know if you’re in the UK or not, but there’s currently 1 (and only 1) of the Spigen cameras available on Amazon Warehouse right now for just under £14. Bit of a bargain.
Damn mobile site isn’t letting me add a link for some reason, so I’ll PM you.
[doublepost=1519756207][/doublepost]Oh, I should also say as far as the cameras are concerned. So long as you’re using an ipcamera and it does an
rtsp stream.
Then you can use it with Homebridge, regardless of make/model or whatever. So there’s literally hundreds of those in varying types available.
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For those with a Ring, they have been promising HomeKit compatibility for the past year, but were just acquired by Amazon: https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/27/17059664/amazon-ring-acquisition-smart-home-security-cloud-cam
Hoping they’ll still deliver on this promise, but with the Amazon acquisition I’m not holding up hope. I do already have the Nest connected via HomeBridge, but haven’t been able to figure out how to link up Ring, and even then not sure if the backend API support for HomeBridge would continue with the Amazon acquisition.
Hoping they’ll still deliver on this promise, but with the Amazon acquisition I’m not holding up hope. I do already have the Nest connected via HomeBridge, but haven’t been able to figure out how to link up Ring, and even then not sure if the backend API support for HomeBridge would continue with the Amazon acquisition.
Speaking of keeping promises, I'm eyeing on Netatmo at the moment. Much of their products are HomeKit compatible, but the security cameras were an exception.
Netatmo announced upcoming HomeKit compatibility of its Presence and Welcome cameras on August 31, 2017.
A little conflicting information between Netatmo's page and what's reported here, but it seems that Presence was intended to get the support around October-November, while Welcome was targeting December-January, optimistically speaking. So what came of it? Let's look at AppleInsider's January 18, 2018 article.
So as expected there been a bit of delay - Presence got the support on December 29, which is about 2 to 3 months' slip. Same with Welcome, if the "end of March" expectation is met.
Interestingly, Welcome would become the cheapest HomeKit supported camera on the market, if the current price of $120 on Amazon.com will hold. Omna is $150 at Apple and $160 at Amazon. Arlo Baby is $200. Circle 2 is $180. Presence is a whopping $300. The reviews of Welcome is unflattering, but it's mostly about the app. If the HomeKit support is reliable enough, that would be fine for me.
Netatmo announced upcoming HomeKit compatibility of its Presence and Welcome cameras on August 31, 2017.
A little conflicting information between Netatmo's page and what's reported here, but it seems that Presence was intended to get the support around October-November, while Welcome was targeting December-January, optimistically speaking. So what came of it? Let's look at AppleInsider's January 18, 2018 article.
So as expected there been a bit of delay - Presence got the support on December 29, which is about 2 to 3 months' slip. Same with Welcome, if the "end of March" expectation is met.
Interestingly, Welcome would become the cheapest HomeKit supported camera on the market, if the current price of $120 on Amazon.com will hold. Omna is $150 at Apple and $160 at Amazon. Arlo Baby is $200. Circle 2 is $180. Presence is a whopping $300. The reviews of Welcome is unflattering, but it's mostly about the app. If the HomeKit support is reliable enough, that would be fine for me.
wow im impressed by the netamo products especially this one and price. I will wait until i hear homekit support has been announced. Putting this one on my radar.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00X5X1XPU/ref=s9_acsd_hps_bw_c_x_2_w
I see it says you can use an FTP server. I wonder if my apple time capsule can be used for that?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00X5X1XPU/ref=s9_acsd_hps_bw_c_x_2_w
I see it says you can use an FTP server. I wonder if my apple time capsule can be used for that?
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That part is especially important for me, as I'm not paying a subscription to have video stored in the cloud. I'm in no rush and Netatmo's cameras went on sale for black Friday last year, so I may buy one or two later this year. Netatmo is also coming out with a HomeKit smoke detector I'm interested in as well.
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I’ve got more faith in Netatmo adding HomeKit than some others at the moment. They said they’d add it to their thermostat and they did. I’m loving their thermostat to be honest, might not be as flashy as some but it does everything I need it to and does it well.
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