Skip to main content

Alexa can play smart home camera video recaps on Echo, Fire devices

As of today, Amazon Alexa devices with displays can play video stream recaps from select smart home cameras, Amazon announced.

Alexa customers in the U.S. who have home security cameras from Ring, August, Arlo, Cloud Cam, and Logitech can view camera history feeds on Echo Show, Echo Spot, Fire TV, and Fire Tablets.

With one of the supported cameras, you can say, “Alexa, show the event that just happened at the front door” to see the most recently recorded video from that camera.

You can also say, “Alexa, show the latest event from the [add your configured camera name].”

Whether you configure your Alexa-connected cameras by location, camera name, a number, or whatever, the last clip will play on your Alexa-compatible display in response to either of the requests above.

If you have an Alexa-compatible smart home security camera that isn’t among the list of those already supported, you may need to wait a few days before the new feature is included. Amazon’s Alexa skill development team added the Cameras Recap API (application programming interface) to the Smart Home Skill API so developers can enable the video history feature for additional cameras today.

Alexa doesn’t store the video files from smart home cameras, just the media metadata, which is the equivalent of a table of contents entry or a restaurant menu item. When a customer asks to see a specific video recap from a specified camera, the video’s availability depends on the smart home camera’s storage features. If, for example, your camera stores events from the last seven days, you won’t be able to review footage from eight days ago. Cameras may also have various subscription models that limit access based on time or storage capacity.

In the future, Amazon plans to make the video feed replay feature “even more useful and delightful for customers.”

Developers in the U.S. get the first crack at the new Alexa skills feature, but Amazon plans to add support for international locations soon.

If you are a developer or are working with the Alexa Skills Kit, you have to use the Smart Home Skill API V3 (version 3). The V3 authentication model gives your skills the ability to send asynchronous events to Alexa.

There are additional smart home camera security and performance requirements to work with camera feed skill. Those requirements and additional information for creating Alexa skills are on the Alexa developer’s blog.

Editors' Recommendations

Bruce Brown
Digital Trends Contributing Editor Bruce Brown is a member of the Smart Homes and Commerce teams. Bruce uses smart devices…
Wyze camera breach allows strangers to peer into others’ homes
A Wyze smart camera.

Wyze has built a following by offering reasonably priced smart security cameras and other gadgets for the home, and the company generally enjoys a good reputation among its customers.

But another security breach, this one in recent days, is sure to test some customers' trust in the company. The latest incident involved around 13,000 Wyze customers receiving images and video from Wyze cameras that didn’t belong to them.

Read more
Should you buy a wired or wireless video doorbell?
A Eufy video doorbell installed near a door.

Video doorbells come in a variety of styles, but they typically fall into one of two categories -- wired or wireless. You'll find both categories available from big names like Ring, Arlo, and Google, making it easy to snag a great product regardless of which style you prefer.

But should you buy a wired or wireless video doorbell? It's not easy making that decision, as both installation types come with various advantages and disadvantages. Here's a comprehensive look at both types of video doorbells to help you decide.
How does a wired video doorbell work?

Read more
How to prevent your Ring smart camera from being hacked
Ring Indoor Cam on a table.

Ring smart cameras are remarkably popular. The lineup includes a variety of indoor and outdoor cameras as well as an industry-leading catalog of video doorbells. However, the cameras aren't without their faults. A few years ago, a class action lawsuit was filed claiming that Ring hadn't done enough to protect users from hackers -- allowing them to gain unpermitted access to video feeds.

Digital Trends reached out to Ring about these old hacking incidents. Here's what they had to say.

Read more