I’ve tried to set up 4 G100 cameras but the Aqara app modes and control of alarms/push alerts is not exactly intuitive. Thank heavens I’ve got HomeKit.
Good afternoon @server_montbretias , thank you for joining the forum.The Aqara Home app is constantly being improved, and more intuitive interaction methods are being added.
Describe any difficulties you’ve encountered and suggest any solutions; they may be considered by the Aqara team. Thank you.
Hi Raman and many thanks for the very rapid response. I’m glad to hear that the GUI may be improved in the future… I’m reasonably computer-savvy but the Aqara app is beyond me. I have just bought four G100 cameras as they so well priced and have the ability to connect to HomeKit as well as rtsp for a third-party I am using (Sighthound). Set-up was extremely easy and - apart from the awful sound quality - these cameras are impressive. I’ve decided on trying to set up local recording and change out some of my Ring cameras after the AWS crash last week: I’m not too keen on flakey clouds that don’t even allow LAN connectivity when they go down. So, with the G100 cameras I now have local recording as well as HomeKit secure video recording… so I don’t need the Aqara app except for software, updates but even so I thought I’d give it a whirl. This is where I’ve got stuck: the modes:
- I don’t understand the concept of ‘Basic Guard’ and it’s function isn’t explained
- ‘Home’ & ‘Away’ are OK, this makes sense
- ‘Night mode’ - I get the concept but the timer to decide what is night is very confusing: there is also the possibility to set up a timer as an automation which just adds to the confusion.
- I’ve tried to turn off the awful ‘critical alarms’ and just opt for the ‘normal’ alerts, but I don’t understand the difference (other than the noise). I note too that critical alarms have to be acknowledged… what a pain!
- The ‘normal’ alerts just record motion and seem much too sensitive - why can’t I choose People or Vehicles?
- Now I’ve set it up, I can’t find out how to stop the alerts and have had to turn off Aqara notifications in my devices as the only way to stop them.
My requirements are like most people’s to protect their homes and I don’t understand why the app cannot supply just a simple arm/disarm function. This is not specific to Aqara, I can argue the same against Apple HomeKit and Ring. Here are my requirements (and it’s the same for many other frustrated camera security owners irrespective of the brand, I’m sure): - ability to arm/disarm all the cameras when leaving/returning the house… OK, geofencing is a nice idea but often my wife forgets to take her phone with her, and sometimes we leave the children behind. A manual one-button global arm/disarm is what is needed.
- configurable schedule for arming the cameras at night, even when we are at home - and the scheduled morning switch-off needs to be suppressed when all occupants are away and then the system needs to be armed 24/7 (so I suggest a ‘suppress schedule’ button)
I can’t find any app - Aqara and HomeKit included - that will allow a simple manual arm/disarm and allow a nightly ‘arm’ period that can easily be overriden to allow 24/7 arming when away on a trip for a few days.
Lastly, excuse the strange email address, but I have a lot of smart devices so decided to give my house its own email. I’m Nick.