Amazon-owned Ring is one of the largest providers of smart home cameras and security products, but anyone trying to get free service is likely to jump ship quickly. According to a notification sent out by Ring, the company’s cameras and security systems will lose several key features in the coming weeks, forcing people who buy the hardware to pay a monthly fee just to have the devices work as they have since launch.
The Ring Video Doorbell is its most popular product, but it also offers a range of other smart home cameras, all of which support end-to-end encryption. All these devices will be downgraded on March 29th. On that date, Home and Away modes will only be available to paid subscribers. For the uninitiated, all smart camera systems have some version of this feature. In home mode, your camera knows you’ll be there, possibly lingering in the security camera’s feed from time to time. Therefore, it won’t bother you with notifications. In away mode, the cameras will make sure you know if they see something.
Home and Away functionality is a core part of the experience and has been included with Ring hardware since launch. Similar functionality is free on competing systems from Google, TP-Link and others. Ring also limits the camera’s Alexa functionality unless you pay for a subscription.
Ring’s Alarm security suite is also losing functionality for free users. Starting on the same day, March 29, the new Ring Alert system will not allow switching between Home and Away modes from the app or Alexa. Instead, you have to use a physical keyboard. This feature is probably more important for a security system than for a camera, but there’s a small bummer here. Alert changes only apply to newly purchased systems. Current users won’t lose app functionality, at least for now.
Of course, Ring’s customers weren’t happy with the changes, with many promising to ditch the brand and switch to competitors. However, that’s easier said than done when you’ve spent hundreds of dollars on Ring hardware. Those who choose to continue using Ring products may have no choice but to pay for a Ring Protect subscription, which starts at $4 per month for a single camera. The $10 per month plan includes multiple cameras, and the $20 plan adds professional surveillance for Ring Alarm users.