I've seen people asking the question "Can Wyze cameras be used with Alexa?" and "What can Alexa do with Wyze Cameras?"
They also want to know what are the limitations, so I decided to write about that.
Wyze Camera devices integration
Yes, Wyze cameras can be used with Alexa. It's possible to stream live video to Alexa devices that have a display just by using voice commands.
These are the Alexa supported devices:
Besides the fact that you can just ask Alexa to show your camera on some of these devices, there are some integration limitations.
Wyze Cam and Alexa limited integration
Here are some of the Wyze Cam/Alexa integration limitation.
You can't turn the camera on/off
It's not possible to ask Alexa to turn the Wyze cameras on or off.
Alexa users usually ask the home assistant to turn on the lights, adjust the temperature, open the door, and things like that but when it comes to controlling security cameras there's no turn on/off features available.
Some users see that as a partial integration and consider that Alexa is not completely integrated with the Wyze Cam however if we consider that a security camera must be on 24/7 there's no reason to ask Alexa to turn it off.
The way I see is that Alexa should be able to stream the video on any device as fast as possible when asked so we don't miss an important event in front of the camera due to the latency to display it on a device.
Time-limited video streaming
There's a 10-minute limitation for the video stream.
You can't ask Alexa to show the camera on a device but 10 minutes later you have to do it again because the video simply stops displaying.
If you are sitting at your office desk looking at your kids or pets on an Echo Show it's annoying to keep asking Alexa to show the camera but if that's not your case perhaps this 10-minute limitation wouldn't bother you at all.
Camera voice commands
Once you have your Wyze Cam v2 or Wyze Pan installed and working with the Wyze app, you just need to link the Wyze Account with Alexa and it's done.
Unfortunately, the Wyze Cam V1 can't integrate with Alexa
After that, it's possible to give commands such as "Alexa, show the front door camera" and seconds later the live video shows up in the device.
Video display delay
Yes, usually it takes 3 to 5 seconds to display the video on a device.
I'm using Alexa dot linked to an Amazon Fire TV stick and most of the time it takes 5 seconds to have my office camera displayed after Alexa here's the command and says "OK" to confirm shes is working on it.
Advanced integration is not available
You can't use advanced integration such as IFTTT (If this, then that) to interact with smart home devices such as thermostats, light bulbs, door lockers, etc.
The camera name
Sometimes I make a mistake and ask Alexa to show a camera that doesn't exist and then she offers me the right one my asking "Did you mean office cam?". I just say "yes" and she pulls the camera video to my TV. Pretty cool, huh? 🙂
So, even if you make some mistake, Alexa will notice that because she has the information about all the devices that are connected and can give you the choice to correct the command. Indeed, she is a pretty smart girl.
Integration problems
Sometimes things don't work as expected and you can have an integration problem. Don't worry most of the time this is easy to fix.
The Wyze Cam/Alexa integration issue is usually related to some problem with the link between the accounts and you can fix it yourself with a simple configuration.
If you have a problem like this, please read the article:
Conclusion
Your Wyze Cam integrates with Alexa and you can have the video displayed on the devices, features such turn on/off are not available and you can't integrate with smart home devices using advanced automation such as IFTTT.
This camera is an inexpensive model and in my opinion this intregration is enough.
For more information visit the Wyze Cam website.
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