API to Arm/Disarm Cameras

[SteveV]

I'm currently trialing the Pro Version and everything is working pretty well with the exception of cars being frequently detected as people. I'm using regions to get around this and I'm pretty happy with the way SH is working overall.

One thing that I find annoying is that the isn't a way to easily arm/disarm the cameras. I'm using a Hubitat Elevation home automation hub to manage presence and would like to be able to disarm the cameras when someone is home during the day. As it is now, there's no easy way to do that and I'm getting constant motion alerts when I'm working in the yard or in the garage. It seems like this has be requested many, many times but SH still doesn't have this capability. SH is very expensive compared to BlueIris, which provides the ability to do this. I like SH but this lack of functionality despite it having been requested years ago has me thinking that SH might not be the right choice. What's the current status with this and is it likely to ever be released?

[jimbo]

I was told in an email that it is coming in V7 which would be available at the end of the year, which is very close...

[SteveV]

Great to hear -- thanks.

[Kbond]

Hello,

While we were planning on releasing the beta for Sighthound Video 7 before the end of the year, we did find some bugs that needed to be addressed before we started building this version. This is why we released a 6.1 beta last month. This version did prove to fix the bugs that were relevant in version 6. We are planning to go over what features we would like to add in Q1. I will be sure to mention this feature. We really appreciate the input of our users. If you have any other questions or concerns about this, please feel free to email support at support@sighthound.com. Thank you!

-Kevin

[SteveV]

Thanks for the update. Since it sounds like the enable/disable feature doesn't exist yet I'd like to throw in my $.02; I've hacked together an MQTT solution that executes a python script to disable or enable the cameras. This allows be to use my home automation system to call an HTTP endpoint to disable or enable the camera based on presence; when either my wife or I are home the cameras are disabled. If we're both away (or if it's after 9 PM) the cameras are enabled.

This works well enough but obviously the cameras don't record when they're disabled. What I'd really like is the ability to enable/disable notifications. This would allow the SH to continue to record motion events but suppress alerts when we're home. I can think of countless scenarios where this would be useful:

missing package deliveries, vandalism, theft, just to name a few.

[SteveV]

I really think that adding the ability to both completely disable the cameras and the ability to disable alerts but continue recording motion events would give SightHound some incredible exposure with the Home Automation crowd. For many of us into HA being able to automatically control what happens when we're present and when we're away is extremely important and there are very few options available. I'm happy to sing SH praises but frankly, other than decent people detection, the cost is a hard sell. Having an API that allows control over the camera would help most to justify the cost.