Amazon is shutting down its smart home camera, Cloud Cam and accompanying applications, the company informed customers via recent email. Launched in 2017, the nearly five-year-old Cloud Cam was one of Amazon’s first Alexa home-connected security entries, arriving just before the acquisition of retailer and camera maker Blink, and soon after this intelligent ring manufacturer Ring. Amazon now says it is focusing on Ring and Blink, so it no longer intends to support Cloud Cam.
“With your help over the past five years, Cloud Cam has served as a reliable internal security camera and hub for Amazon Key-compatible smart locks that work with Alexa,” an email to existing customers said. “As the number of Alexa smart home devices continues to grow, we are focusing on Ring, Blink and other technologies that make your home smarter and simplify your daily routine.
The email further informs customers that from December 2, 2022, they will no longer be able to use Cloud Cam or related applications. Until then, users will still be able to download their videos. But from the date of shutdown, the entire video history will be deleted and the service will no longer work.
Fortunately for affected customers, they won’t just be left with a useless device as a result of the shutdown after paying more than $ 100 to buy their Cloud Cam smart camera. Instead, Amazon is doing the right thing in this case by offering a free replacement device. The company says it will provide Cloud Cam users with a free Blink Mini and a one-year Blink Plus subscription plan. The Blink Mini is an internal security camera with 1080p HD video, 2.4 GHz Wifi connectivity, night vision, motion detection, two-way audio and, like Cloud Cam, works with Alexa devices.
These specifications are similar to Cloud Cam, which also offered 1080p HD video, night vision and two-way audio. However, Cloud Cam’s subscription plan differs from Blink’s. Today, Cloud Cam users can choose from three price levels of $ 6.99, $ 9.99 or $ 19.99 per month, based on how many cameras they have (three, five or 10) and how long they want to store videos – week, two weeks or month respectively. Meanwhile, Blink subscriptions include a free level with no video history or a paid plan of $ 3 / month or $ 10 / month – Basic or Plus – each offering a 60-day unlimited video history. But only the Plus subscription allows more than one camera.
Amazon said it would send a separate email before stopping Cloud Cam to inform customers how to request their free replacement device.
Meanwhile, Cloud Cam users can archive their videos from the “Saved Videos” section in the top right menu of the app. They will need to click on each video and then click on the download icon to save the video. They can also delete entries from here or from Amazon’s online “Manage your content and devices” hub.
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