Logitech Circle 2 Wired Home Security Camera Updated With HomeKit Support

[MacRumors]

Logitech's recently released Circle 2 Wired home security camera is today gaining support for HomeKit, which will allow the device to interface with other HomeKit apps, send notifications, work with Siri voice commands, and be controlled through the dedicated Home app on iOS devices.

"HomeKit truly complements the simplicity of setting up and using Circle 2," said Vincent Borel, director of new ventures at Logitech. "We're focused on building experiences that let you easily and securely control your Circle 2 camera, while expanding its capabilities. Whether you're checking on the kids from another room with your iPad or looking for extra peace of mind while you're away, HomeKit makes Circle 2 work even smarter for you and your family."

The new Circle 2 Wired camera was introduced in June and began shipping out to customers in July, but Logitech had not yet implemented HomeKit support. The camera is designed to let you keep an eye on what's going on in your house while you're not there with features like high quality 180-degree video, cloud uploads, night vision, an adjustable ball joint, and various mounting solutions.

With HomeKit, the Circle 2's motion detection features can be used in scenes to do things like turn on HomeKit-connected lights in the house, and the camera stream itself can be viewed directly in the Home app. With an Apple TV or iPad set up as a Home hub, HomeKit connectivity is also available when you're away from home.

Logitech also offers a wire-free version of the Circle 2, but that product is not compatible with HomeKit because HomeKit requires always-on connectivity to work with camera accessories. HomeKit works with the Circle 2 Wired camera by itself and when the camera is attached to either the Plug Mount or Window Mount.

HomeKit connectivity is available starting today. Existing Circle 2 users will need to follow the instructions on the Logitech website to enable HomeKit support.

The Logitech Circle 2 is available from the Logitech website for $179.99. It will also be coming to Apple Stores and the Apple online store in October.

Article Link: Logitech Circle 2 Wired Home Security Camera Updated With HomeKit Support

 

[ImperfectLion]

Logitech products are really good. But the crazy lack of support and outdated software from seemingly uninterested developers is what stops me from buying their stuff.

 

[IKAR0S]

Way too expensive.
The D-Link Omna 180 Cam HD Camera
costs less on the Apple Store.
I have one. No big complaints since last firmware/software update.

 

[gnbio]

Most disappointed that it wasn't made clear in initial marketing that HomeKit was to only work on the Wired version and not the Wireless version when permanently plugged in.
I now see it's a HomeKit restriction but very irritating nonetheless!

 

[davidrichter]

Hardly any of these cameras has some kind of cover panel that opens only when you're not at home. Even if I trust, that it does not record me, I would feel so much more comfortable if the lens gets covered with a little closing mechanism. I wonder why such a solution is so rare to find.

 

[downpour]

I'm really happy with this camera. IP cameras tend to have notoriously bad software and very unstable apps, but the Circle 2 has been seamless for me so far. The interface is genius and loads video clips in seconds, even on a slow connection, the time lapse of the whole day is also brilliant for quickly reviewing what has happened.

The only negative is that at night, moving objects tend to blur and leave trails, like a long exposure image, so you couldn't really identify someone unless they are standing still. I imagine this is probably the case for most of these systems though, so it's not that much of an issue. In the day the image is very good.

Motion detection is accurate and the free service should be all most people need. The whole thing is so easy to use you can just forget about it once it is set up. Overall a very Apple-like product. It just works.

The HomeKit firmware doesn't seem to be available for me yet, so I can't comment on that.

 

[IKAR0S]

.

 

[cerote]

Hardly any of these cameras has some kind of cover panel that opens only when you're not at home. Even if I trust, that it does not record me, I would feel so much more comfortable if the lens gets covered with a little closing mechanism. I wonder why such a solution is so rare to find.

If that paranoid then a closed network solution would better for you. Some ip camera and NVR setup.

Neither of my cams have access outside network. I vpn into my router to get access to my network to check cams.

 

[beanbaguk]

Still not getting why HomeKit is an advantage for a camera....I get lights, temperature monitors and those kind of things but not getting the camera functionality.

Sadly I have a couple of circle one cameras but I can say they are fantastic with great quality and very easy to use and setup.

 

[dannys1]

Again - still see now real reason to have a camera link to Homekit.

Some people have tried to argue with me but the only reason for Homekit is the siri control. Granted you can get some simple home automation going on it now if you don't have anything like SmartThings or a Z-Wave controller in your home but in this case i'd just use the Cameras built in software and apps to give notifications and the like.

Perhaps using it as a motion sensor could be useful occasionally and save you having two devices to do the same thing.

I'm really looking forward to 8k external cameras - not to film in 8k, to film in 1080p by zooming into the 8k video. I know someone has done it with 4k sensor successfully and 8k would just make it even more flexible - it worked really well in scanning the area and when seeing a human zooming into them and keeping that crisp 1080p quality.

 

[beanbaguk]

Again - still see now real reason to have a camera link to Homekit.

Some people have tried to argue with me but the only reason for Homekit is the siri control. Granted you can get some simple home automation going on it now if you don't have anything like SmartThings or a Z-Wave controller in your home but in this case i'd just use the Cameras built in software and apps to give notifications and the like.

Perhaps using it as a motion sensor could be useful occasionally and save you having two devices to do the same thing.

I'm really looking forward to 8k external cameras - not to film in 8k, to film in 1080p by zooming into the 8k video. I know someone has done it with 4k sensor successfully and 8k would just make it even more flexible - it worked really well in scanning the area and when seeing a human zooming into them and keeping that crisp 1080p quality.

1080p uses quite a bandwidth as it is. I'm lucky as I have a 300Mbps fibre line at home so it doesn't affect me but most people will have to stream at 720p to get smooth video. I simply don't see 4K or even 8K being feasible when you take this into account.

Moreover, if you want a movement sensor, Elgato Eve do one for fifty bucks which is a hell of a lot cheaper than a logitech circle 2. Just saying.....

 

[dannys1]

1080p uses quite a bandwidth as it is. I'm lucky as I have a 300Mbps fibre line at home so it doesn't affect me but most people will have to stream at 720p to get smooth video. I simply don't see 4K or even 8K being feasible when you take this into account.

Moreover, if you want a movement sensor, Elgato Eve do one for fifty bucks which is a hell of a lot cheaper than a logitech circle 2. Just saying.....

You've misread what I said - the stream would be 1080p (and this would be LAN not over the internet, I really don't see the point in web based cameras - they can record to a hard drive) the sensor is what would be 8k. It would effectively enable 8x zooming at still keep 1080p sharpness.

See the Nest Cam, that's how it works - Nest Cam IQ: Security Camera + 4k Sensor?

 

[VforVelveta]

Question for those that have a Circle, one of the features I'm really interested in is silencing notifications when I'm home based on a geofence. My question though is does the geofence support multiple users? As in, notifications are only sent if all of the people in the house are outside the geofence?

For my specific circumstance, my wife is a stay at home mom, so as far as I can tell that means I'd be getting notifications all day while I'm at work, since the Circle would see me as "away" but there still would be people at home. It'd be nice to have it send notifications only if both me AND my wife are out of the house. Anybody know if the Circle can do this?

I'm debating between the Circle and the Netatmo Presence, which offers facial recognition to keep from sending unwanted notifications, but hardware-wise I prefer the Circle. Any suggestions?

 

[whtrbt7]

Unfortunately for me, there weren't any HomeKit solutions for IP cams when I first purchased so I'm locked into NestCam for now. Does this HomeKit integration now mean that the Circle 2 can be scheduled to be on at certain times or certain conditions? I'm confused as to how HomeKit integration is being integrated. I direly want out of my NestCams since they are not HomeKit but right now they offer me the most convenience and the least lag out of the 4 different IP cams I've tried.

 

[twistedpixel8]

I returned the Circle 2 almost immediately. It was such a disappointment because of one crucial flaw: the delay from pushing "live view" and actually seeing the feed was over 30 seconds. Add that to the time to find the app, open it, wait for it to load... you're up to nearly 45 seconds. Literally watching a loading spinner for 30 seconds, that's what happens.

I can't confirm if this happens with the wired version but the problem is basically that in order for the wireless version to get the claimed "months" or battery, it essentially shuts down and only activates the IR sensor. So any time you want to watch the stream (someone knocks your door, you hear a noise, etc.) the thing has to basically boot up!

Such a shame because the hardware was clearly excellent. Very well built, great build quality, video quality, etc.

Not to mention that Logitech Support in the U.K. is practically nonexistent. They must have one guy that works 1 day a week on the forums, no telephone support or live chat: just email and it takes several days for anyone to respond.

Not sure what happened to them because Logitech used to be a leader in great hardware. Quite sad.

 

[mooeymoose]

I have the wired logi 2 and it has worked well. Live feed is only a 2-3 sec delay. I have it in the garage and will use it in HomeKit as a trigger for lights.

I got the HomeKit update and turned it on. I can see the camera in HomeKit to add but I do not have a 8 digit HomeKit code to actually add it to HomeKit

Other real advantage with HomeKit is to have all your cameras even of different makes in one location.

Two things I want is the option for local recording. I am thinking is a smart thief breaks in my house the first think he would do is cut the internet. Also, I want an all black version
[doublepost=1504834770][/doublepost]

Again - still see now real reason to have a camera link to Homekit.

Some people have tried to argue with me but the only reason for Homekit is the siri control. Granted you can get some simple home automation going on it now if you don't have anything like SmartThings or a Z-Wave controller in your home but in this case i'd just use the Cameras built in software and apps to give notifications and the like.

Perhaps using it as a motion sensor could be useful occasionally and save you having two devices to do the same thing.

I'm really looking forward to 8k external cameras - not to film in 8k, to film in 1080p by zooming into the 8k video. I know someone has done it with 4k sensor successfully and 8k would just make it even more flexible - it worked really well in scanning the area and when seeing a human zooming into them and keeping that crisp 1080p quality.

Two reasons I see to have HomeKit integration for camera. 1) like you said, using motion as a trigger.
2) having all your cameras from many manufacturers in one location including from doorbell. This can be done with many different programs but for people that want to use HomeKit. Apple also needs an Apple TV app for HomeKit. One day when your doorbell rings a live feed should come up as a pic in pic on your tv.

 

[Rick Smith]

Question for those that have a Circle, one of the features I'm really interested in is silencing notifications when I'm home based on a geofence. My question though is does the geofence support multiple users? As in, notifications are only sent if all of the people in the house are outside the geofence?

For my specific circumstance, my wife is a stay at home mom, so as far as I can tell that means I'd be getting notifications all day while I'm at work, since the Circle would see me as "away" but there still would be people at home. It'd be nice to have it send notifications only if both me AND my wife are out of the house. Anybody know if the Circle can do this?

I'm debating between the Circle and the Netatmo Presence, which offers facial recognition to keep from sending unwanted notifications, but hardware-wise I prefer the Circle. Any suggestions?

Yes there is a Smart Location feature but it works by turning off notifications when you are home. So the answer to your question is no; the Circle app will not stop notifications based on if you are away or both away. The official Logitech support page says, "Smart Location lets you set a “geo location” and disables push notifications when you are in the same location as your camera. This way, you won’t get unnecessary notifications when you are home, but notifications will resume once you leave the area." I hope this helps.

However, my SO and I both have my user signed into our Logitech Circle app on iOS. I haven't tried to setup two users or see if I can change the one user's settings differently on both iPhones. As of right now I lock the user and it's settings in the Circle app so that the settings can't be changed, like microphone, speaker, LED, notifications, etc. I love the Circle 2 cameras and app. They are awesome and I highly recommend them. Window mount doesn't support IR night vision which is fine, obviously IR doesn't work through glass so its not the cameras fault. The night vision still captures ambient IR when in "window mode" so theres still a moderate amount of night vision capability. I just installed dawn till dusk Passive Infrared (PIR) light bulbs on my back patio and front porch where I use the window mounted Circle 2 cameras. Works like a charm, lights come on when there's movement, camera sees just fine and alerts go off. My garage Circle 2 camera does however get to use IR night vision and it is freaking awesome, it can see in complete darkness.

The HomeKit addition that was updated today does however have bugs. I tried adding one camera and ended up removing it because of an error when viewing live view "Camera is being viewed by someone else" but nobody else was viewing it and the Smart Home Integration switches aren't working in the Circle app. I flip them to pair but nothing happens, they just flip back. I shall wait for the next update and/or firmware and try again. I don't see much benefit using it in HomeKit because the Circle app is just fine. My lights and garage door do work great in HomeKit and I'm happy with everything up to this point.

 

[mooeymoose]

The HomeKit addition that was updated today does however have bugs. I tried adding one camera and ended up removing it because of an error when viewing live view "Camera is being viewed by someone else" but nobody else was viewing it and the Smart Home Integration switches aren't working in the Circle app. I flip them to pair but nothing happens, they just flip back. I shall wait for the next update and/or firmware and try again. I don't see much benefit using it in HomeKit because the Circle app is just fine. My lights and garage door do work great in HomeKit and I'm happy with everything up to this point.[/QUOTE]
[doublepost=1504845674][/doublepost]Rick

How did you add it to home kit. When I tried to add it I needed a 8 digit homekit code that I do not have.

 

[Rick Smith]

The HomeKit addition that was updated today does however have bugs. I tried adding one camera and ended up removing it because of an error when viewing live view "Camera is being viewed by someone else" but nobody else was viewing it and the Smart Home Integration switches aren't working in the Circle app. I flip them to pair but nothing happens, they just flip back. I shall wait for the next update and/or firmware and try again. I don't see much benefit using it in HomeKit because the Circle app is just fine. My lights and garage door do work great in HomeKit and I'm happy with everything up to this point.

[doublepost=1504845674][/doublepost]Rick

How did you add it to home kit. When I tried to add it I needed a 8 digit homekit code that I do not have.[/QUOTE]

It's on the back of the camera itself, laser etched, look for "Setup:###-##-###".

Be careful removing the power plug part and the rubber white camera shroud, there's a softer plastic area below the lens that's easily scratched.

 

[Daranx]

Yes there is a Smart Location feature but it works by turning off notifications when you are home. So the answer to your question is no; the Circle app will not stop notifications based on if you are away or both away. The official Logitech support page says, "Smart Location lets you set a “geo location” and disables push notifications when you are in the same location as your camera. This way, you won’t get unnecessary notifications when you are home, but notifications will resume once you leave the area." I hope this helps.

However, my SO and I both have my user signed into our Logitech Circle app on iOS. I haven't tried to setup two users or see if I can change the one user's settings differently on both iPhones. As of right now I lock the user and it's settings in the Circle app so that the settings can't be changed, like microphone, speaker, LED, notifications, etc. I love the Circle 2 cameras and app. They are awesome and I highly recommend them. Window mount doesn't support IR night vision which is fine, obviously IR doesn't work through glass so its not the cameras fault. The night vision still captures ambient IR when in "window mode" so theres still a moderate amount of night vision capability. I just installed dawn till dusk Passive Infrared (PIR) light bulbs on my back patio and front porch where I use the window mounted Circle 2 cameras. Works like a charm, lights come on when there's movement, camera sees just fine and alerts go off. My garage Circle 2 camera does however get to use IR night vision and it is freaking awesome, it can see in complete darkness.

The HomeKit addition that was updated today does however have bugs. I tried adding one camera and ended up removing it because of an error when viewing live view "Camera is being viewed by someone else" but nobody else was viewing it and the Smart Home Integration switches aren't working in the Circle app. I flip them to pair but nothing happens, they just flip back. I shall wait for the next update and/or firmware and try again. I don't see much benefit using it in HomeKit because the Circle app is just fine. My lights and garage door do work great in HomeKit and I'm happy with everything up to this point.

I’ve successfully added the Logi circle 2 to the Home app but have the same problem with “camera is being viewed by someone else”.
I also see that the live view is cropped somewhat compared to the stream available in the Logi Circle app.

So far I don’t see the benefit of using HomeKit with this particular camera but hopefully when everything is finally working we will see more benefits for having this integration.

I got one am glad that Logitech are keeping to their promise of bringing HomeKit to their camera and hope they can improve it in the near future.

 

[twistedpixel8]

I have the wired logi 2 and it has worked well. Live feed is only a 2-3 sec delay.

When you say 2-3 second delay, do you mean 2-3 seconds behind what's actually happening or do you mean a delay from tapping the Live button and being able to see the feed? I'm interested because while I returned the wireless one because 45 second wait time, if the wired version is not plagued by this, I could be tempted.

Also, does the cable detach from the camera? I live in the U.K. where we don't have power plugs outside so I'd need to pass the wire through the wall.

 

[Rick Smith]

When you say 2-3 second delay, do you mean 2-3 seconds behind what's actually happening or do you mean a delay from tapping the Live button and being able to see the feed? I'm interested because while I returned the wireless one because 45 second wait time, if the wired version is not plagued by this, I could be tempted.

Also, does the cable detach from the camera? I live in the U.K. where we don't have power plugs outside so I'd need to pass the wire through the wall.

I have a 2-3 second delay when I press live and the app updates the feed. But once live, it's real-time. I tested it on LTE and watched a car drive by simultaneously on both my iPhone and in-person.

The cable does detach from the camera but their is a funnel shaped cone piece that attaches to the back of the camera still left on the cable. You should be able to see the funnel size in the product images. It definitely is not small enough to pass through a small hole if I'm correct in assuming that's what you're attempting.

 

[twistedpixel8]

I have a 2-3 second delay when I press live and the app updates the feed. But once live, it's real-time. I tested it on LTE and watched a car drive by simultaneously on both my iPhone and in-person.

The cable does detach from the camera but their is a funnel shaped cone piece that attaches to the back of the camera still left on the cable. You should be able to see the funnel size in the product images. It definitely is not small enough to pass through a small hole if I'm correct in assuming that's what you're attempting.

Ah right, good to know the long delay is only with the wireless version.

Yeah that's what I was planning but I've noticed it's a standard USB plug at the other end that goes into the mains adapter so I might be able to drill a 20mm hole to pass that through. Not sure I really want to though...

Cheers anyway!

 

[Daranx]

Since updating yesterday and trying to get this camera working with HomeKit, I've had intermittent success. I was wrong about the viewing angle being cropped, it's just the thumbnails in the alerts/notifications that are cropped, but when viewing it live (when it decides work) it's in all its 180 degree glory.

Quality isn't as good as viewing it on Logi Circles native app and the delay starting the feed is slightly longer (again; when it decides to work) but I do like the screen shots of what triggered the alerts being displayed in the notification.

Motion detection alerts seem to be much faster than the Logi app and much closer to real-time, but the downside is that you can't yet (as far as I'm aware) edit motion detection zones so it will trigger every time there is ANY movement - which can be annoying as I have my camera outside the front of my house and it picks up every car driving past.

What's amazing for me is the live view on my Apple Watch (yet again; when it decides to work).

The problem I'm having is that, as mentioned above, the connection is intermittent and I keep getting "camera not available - this camera is being viewed by someone else" when it's not being viewed by anyone else. If I turn restart the camera then there's a good chance that it will work for a while, but it's not yet useable. Just waiting now for a fix.

 

[Rick Smith]

Ah right, good to know the long delay is only with the wireless version.

Yeah that's what I was planning but I've noticed it's a standard USB plug at the other end that goes into the mains adapter so I might be able to drill a 20mm hole to pass that through. Not sure I really want to though...

Cheers anyway!

Yeah I contemplated drilling a hole and mounting the cameras to exterior facia boards for my two window mounted cameras to gain the IR night vision feature. But I'm in a home owner association that controls everything and didn't want to get fined.

Since updating yesterday and trying to get this camera working with HomeKit, I've had intermittent success. I was wrong about the viewing angle being cropped, it's just the thumbnails in the alerts/notifications that are cropped, but when viewing it live (when it decides work) it's in all its 180 degree glory.

Quality isn't as good as viewing it on Logi Circles native app and the delay starting the feed is slightly longer (again; when it decides to work) but I do like the screen shots of what triggered the alerts being displayed in the notification.

Motion detection alerts seem to be much faster than the Logi app and much closer to real-time, but the downside is that you can't yet (as far as I'm aware) edit motion detection zones so it will trigger every time there is ANY movement - which can be annoying as I have my camera outside the front of my house and it picks up every car driving past.

What's amazing for me is the live view on my Apple Watch (yet again; when it decides to work).

The problem I'm having is that, as mentioned above, the connection is intermittent and I keep getting "camera not available - this camera is being viewed by someone else" when it's not being viewed by anyone else. If I turn restart the camera then there's a good chance that it will work for a while, but it's not yet useable. Just waiting now for a fix.

You can set Smart Alerts for zones if you log in through the Circle website app. You also have to have a Circle subscription to do that. You paint in the zones you want it to alert, multiple painted zones for alert notifications are availability as well for the same camera.