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On Hold: Discussion Open

Ring Doorbell image snapshots?

Krypto69 6 years ago in Media Tiles / Images updated by Eric Wright 5 years ago 6

Hi

Got my Skybell connected (thanks). It now shows the camera icon and when I push it it says "capturing image". This is great but all I see is the default camera icon. It never showst the image from the camera. 

I thought actiontiles showed me the captured image on the dash? I don't have an image just an icon. I know skybell won't send actiion tiles a live feed video. 

Answer

Answer
On Hold: Discussion Open

Capability "Image Capture" has been removed from SmartThings's published list of Capabilities, so the slight optimism we may have had regarding getting the image from SmartThings is completely off the table.

We have no indication whatsoever that Ring will open an API for small developers to grab the image either.

Researching

Hi Krypto, 


We currently do not have a feature to pull images based on the Capture function. This isn't easy to implement because of the limited Camera API provided by SmartThings but we'll do more research.


Thanks,

... Terry.

Thanks Terry. Oh okay. I would have thought you could pull it directly from the Smartthings App/API? The skybell capture is already rendered in Smartthings. I would think it would be a simple call through the ST app, so you would not have to use the Camera's api? I thought that how you guys were getting all the info to the dash..? each tile has it's own call? I assumed all the dash data was pulled directly from ST. 

Are there any cameras that you can see the capture in the dash?

Yes... The SmartThings Camera API provides functionality for a DTH to store images and possibly retrieve them, but our preliminary research indicates that there is no standard specification for images and thus it is difficult to determine how to process the image data. I would like to be optimistic, but we have learned to tackle new features very cautiously and not get customer's hopes up until we have proof-of-concept confirmed.


Please see this similar Feature Request to grab images from Blink brand of cameras: http://support.actiontiles.com/forums/12-actiontiles-forum/topics/1933-blink-camera-integration-feature-request/


In the meantime, any camera that serves a .JPG image using a plain HTML URL can be used in a Media Tile, along with a refresh rate. Start with this FAQ: How do I use Media Tiles to view my Video Cameras?

Any update to this? Or is Ring Video Cameras still a no-go?

Answer
On Hold: Discussion Open

Capability "Image Capture" has been removed from SmartThings's published list of Capabilities, so the slight optimism we may have had regarding getting the image from SmartThings is completely off the table.

We have no indication whatsoever that Ring will open an API for small developers to grab the image either.

BAHH...yeah, Ring pretty much shot themselves in the foot with that move of closing their API. Seems Nest Hello is the route to go, but no way I can afford to purchase that anytime soon. Sucks, oh well.