Blinkforhome?

Forum rules

Questions about hardware that can be controlled by Indigo (but not through the interfaces and plugins listed). If Indigo doesn't support some bit of hardware you're interested in, and you don't find a 3rd Party Plugin for it, add it to this forum. Be sure to include links to as much information as you can find about it.

Note: adding it here does not mean we're going to add it - in fact it's possible one of our 3rd party developers may decide to write a plugin for it. We add hardware/features based on a lot of different factors beyond just having a request for it.

Posted on
Mon Dec 07, 2015 1:37 pm
simdude offline
Posts: 51
Joined: Apr 03, 2006

Blinkforhome?

Anyone playing with the Blink cameras yet? For those unfamiliar, they are wireless cameras. TOTALLY wireless. They are claimed to have a 1 year battery life. I ordered one to play with:

http://blinkforhome.com/

They also have motion and temperature sensors. The manufacturer is claiming they will have an open API once the first production run is moving along. Device sounds a bit too good to be true and yet, I still took a chance and have one on order......

Posted on
Thu Dec 24, 2015 9:27 am
jalves offline
Posts: 744
Joined: Jun 16, 2013

Re: Blinkforhome?

I looked at these devices today after reading a review in the Boston Globe. Sounds interesting and I'll be following along for the ability to integrate into Indigo.

Running Indigo 2023.2 on a 24" iMac M1), OS X 14.4
Jeff

Posted on
Fri Apr 01, 2016 7:46 am
simdude offline
Posts: 51
Joined: Apr 03, 2006

Re: Blinkforhome?

Just wanted to post a quick update on Blink. I purchased a 5 camera pack and have been using them for almost 3 months now. I have to say I'm really impressed. These cameras are completely battery powered and in 3 months, the battery level has not even started to drop (assume the battery meters are accurate).

The are super fast at catching and recording motion when you arm them. I have found them to be slow bringing up live video if I want to look in to the house often taking 30+ seconds to bring up live video and audio.

I'm still waiting for the developers to release an API and, hopefully, an outdoor camera in the next year or so but, so far I love them. And happy I grabbed them at the pre-release price. ;-) Although $300 for a wireless, 5 camera system with HD video is still pretty cheap.

I will provide updates as time goes on.

Posted on
Wed Oct 05, 2016 12:27 pm
Woetjes offline
Posts: 117
Joined: Apr 04, 2016
Location: Belgium

Re: Blinkforhome?

Hi,

Do you have an update on the cameras - still happy?
If I'm not mistaken - I don't think they released a public API but there seems to be integration with SmartThings so maybe we could add this also into Indigo in the future...

Hope they will also release an outdoor camera soon..

Thanks,
W.

Posted on
Thu Sep 21, 2017 5:00 am
dstrickler offline
User avatar
Posts: 340
Joined: Oct 08, 2010
Location: Boston, MA

Re: Blinkforhome?

I've been using the outdoor camera under my porch (semi-protected from the elements), and it's working great. Indigo integration should be slick, mostly to turn it on/off for alerting, so it won't go off when I'm home.

Dave

Posted on
Thu Sep 21, 2017 8:20 am
norcoscia offline
User avatar
Posts: 1206
Joined: Sep 09, 2015

Re: Blinkforhome?

I have a few Arlo Pro cameras set up and I handle arming / disarming using stringify

https://www.stringify.com

since no plug in for indigo exists - they have rechargeable batteries in them and they last about 6 months before needing a recharge. Not sure if Stringify supports your HW but for me it works great - when I exit my block stringify arms my cameras as I approach my house they disarm. As it starts to get dark (even if I'm home) stringify arms them for the night...

I hope someone writes a plug-in for Arlo, fingers crossed!

_______
Norm

Posted on
Thu Oct 31, 2019 10:39 am
markmiller66 offline
Posts: 20
Joined: Dec 30, 2018

Re: Blinkforhome?

Just an update. I've been using blink cameras for about 3 years now and they have remained reliable. The claimed battery life of over a year is accurate in my experience. I think they actual claim up to 2 years now which is probably possible but I use the live view a lot so I change mine yearly.

As far as a public API, I've seen nothing. I suspect since Amazon bought Blink, we won't see them opening up the API anytime soon. Amazon also grabbed Ring (which I also have). My only question is, why didn't Apple, with all their cash, grab some of these better camera companies? Would have been nice to expand their Homekit market.

Perhaps someone with a higher skill set than myself with analyzing ethernet data might be able to come up with a Blink plugin one day........

Posted on
Thu Oct 31, 2019 1:10 pm
dstrickler offline
User avatar
Posts: 340
Joined: Oct 08, 2010
Location: Boston, MA

Re: Blinkforhome

There's an API that's been reverse engineered on GitHub. It's not public or sanctioned by Blink, but it works pretty well.

https://github.com/fronzbot/blinkpy

Dave

Page 1 of 1

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests