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Security Camera Snapshots in Home App Failing to Refresh for Some Users
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An employee named Siri walks over and switches the lights off.
Use Homebridge ffmpeg with a couple of Wyze Camera running rtsp and I just noticed this started happening. I can view the live feed but the snapshot image is from Dec. 31st and no attempt to reresh the image. At least on my iPhone. On my iPad and Home App on Mac with Big Sur where homebridge is running, the same cameras are up to date and I see the countdown until the next image refresh. Thought it was homebridge, but its actually a homekit bug. Interestingly enough I use the Eve homekit app on the same phone and its showing an updated still with a countdown, but it seems to be 30s unlike the 15s default of the home app.
Thanks. Me too.
Many of my cameras won't update or sometimes show a preview from another camera.
My Mac works fine but my iPad doesn't work.
Very strange and highly annoying!
Many of my cameras won't update or sometimes show a preview from another camera.
My Mac works fine but my iPad doesn't work.
Very strange and highly annoying!
My Logitech Circle 2 isn't refreshing and I'm not even using Secure Video. Could be a bug in either iOS or Apple TV OS that runs the home server.
I rebooted my MacBook today after re-adding my cameras yesterday, and they are still updating on the Mac. Promising so far.
It isn't related to HKSV at all. I have a mix of cameras that support HKSV and some that don't, and they were all affected exactly the same.
It isn't related to HKSV at all. I have a mix of cameras that support HKSV and some that don't, and they were all affected exactly the same.
I've got this issue with my Netatmo Video Doorbell and it's been really annoying me since Christmas. I hope this will kick Apple into gear to get a fix rolled out.
I'm affected by this refreshing thumbnail issue too.... We got snow about 2 weeks ago and every time I go into the Home app, I see snow on the thumbnail and get all excited! Snow is long gone though... Oh well, hope they fix it soon. I could think of a ton of other worse things that can be stuck showing on my camera thumbnail...
I really hope so. With Matter slated to launch later this year now would be the perfect time for Apple "re-launch" their home automation efforts.
What do you mean by HomeKit power points? I agree you shouldn’t need to use this workaround but I’m desperate for a solution as well.
This has happened ever since I got my Eufy cam - the Home app shows a split second of live video, then blanks out. Feels like it happens more than half the time.
I wonder if that is something not working correctly with the 'Homekit' part of the system (i.e. storage in the cloud, or whatever), or if it is the fault of the cam and it's interface and software not pushing the video to the cloud so that it can be stored and kept available?
It's not clear in the OP where the fault might be occurring. I didn't check the thread on the apple support website that @scottlitch posted earlier, possibly the discussion there is adding some illumination to what is causing these issues?
It's HK. All but one of my cams (Aqara) are Eufy. Tried a few others and just not worth the cost for what you get with Eufy. Have a love hate relationship with them.
Thank you MacRumors for shedding some light on this for me and other affected by this.
I have a Logitech Circle View doorbell and the thumbnail has definitely been off for a few weeks.
I’m just glad I haven’t bothered troubleshooting it yet. I’ll let Apple and Logitech work on this.
Hopefully a fix come soon.
Update:
Just wanted to report that iOS 15.3 has resolved the issue.
I have a Logitech Circle View doorbell and the thumbnail has definitely been off for a few weeks.
I’m just glad I haven’t bothered troubleshooting it yet. I’ll let Apple and Logitech work on this.
Hopefully a fix come soon.
Update:
Just wanted to report that iOS 15.3 has resolved the issue.
Last edited:
I get the impression that it might be some kind of bad timestamp on the thumbnail image, causing HomeKit to not fetch a new image. When I'm on-network, it will refresh every 10 seconds. But when I'm away/on cellular, it's at least 60 seconds between refreshes. When broken, it just always said "now".
I wonder if the timestamp somehow got passed back from the cloud incorrectly set so far into the future that it now thinks it has "up-to-date" thumbnails for weeks, if not months or years. It might very well be stuck until January 19, 2038 unless Apple takes some corrective action, or you sign out/in of iCloud or remove/re-add the cameras.
It's very confusing when the preview claims to be updated "now" but it shows a daytime scene when it's night time... or vice versa! Not sure if it's related but I've also noticed HomeKit Secure Video going down very often recently. I'm using Eufy cameras and Eufy's own EufySecurity local storage works even when Apple's HomeKit Secure Video goes down...
Because they (typically) have very wide-angle lenses on them that give them that "fisheye" look.
Yes, I've noticed this too with my Logitech Circle2 camera. The issue also happened to coincide with all 4 of my Lifx lightbulbs repeated failing to stay connected. Even after uninstalling and re-installing the Lifx bulbs, each of them became disconnected within a couple hours. They still connect to the native Lifx app - just not Homekit. In short, I believe these issues are software issues and not hardware issues.
A growing number of iPhone users across the MacRumors Forums, Apple Support Communities, Reddit, and Twitter have reported that security camera snapshots in the Home app have failed to refresh over the last few weeks.
HomeKit Secure Video cameras added to the Home app each have a thumbnail that provides a still view of recent footage, and normally these thumbnails automatically refresh on a periodic basis. However, users on multiple iOS versions are experiencing an issue with the thumbnails failing to refresh and showing outdated footage as a result. The issue appears to extend to the Home app on the iPad and Mac for some users.
Importantly, the cameras still function properly when viewed live, but the thumbnails not updating is proving to be an annoyance for affected users.
While users have attempted to come up with temporary workarounds, such as the tedious process of signing out of their Apple ID account and then signing back in on affected devices, the issue appears to resurface for many over time. We've reached out to Apple to see if it is aware of the issue and/or planning a fix, and we'll update this story if we hear back. Users can also report the bug via the Home app feedback page on Apple's website.
Article Link: Security Camera Snapshots in Home App Failing to Refresh for Some Users
Whoa. You’ve had this happening too? I’ve been dealing with this since December 28, before my cameras stopped updating. I’ve re-added these bulbs to HomeKit no fewer than 10 times each over the past week. They seem to work for almost exactly 24 hours before one of them will show “updating” indefinitely.
What is so odd is that the bulbs aren’t losing connectivity, and are fully controllable through the LIFX app. I can also see the _hap.local mDNS multicasts from the bulb when it refuses to respond in HomeKit, too. Assuming they had failed, I even replaced two of the bulbs with brand new, sealed bulbs and they both had the same issue.
You really have me wondering now if there isn’t a bigger issue at hand… I just can’t imagine what changed that is affecting these bulbs. I’m on iOS 15.2 and the latest corresponding macOS, tvOS, and audioOS; and have been since before this started. Nothing has changed in my environment that I can identify. It’s so strange…
I plugged the camera into a Merross Smart plug, and then into the wall - so I can remotely turn the power to the camera on and off when it stops working.