eufy Wireless Cameras and HomeKit

Anker has a home security subsidy, eufy, that has jumped into the home camera business with both feet. I like and trust Anker. I have been buying their stuff for years, so I was interested in their eufy camera offerings from the beginning.

For several years, I have been using the Canary camera system. I was a paying subscriber and generally happy when I first started using Canary products. But over the past few years, my love has waned. The cameras have begun failing me regularly for no explicable reason. When I would check them, they would be offline. If I power-cycled them, they would start back up and sometimes reconnect, but not always. Had the Canary company been willing to embrace HomeKit, I may have looked into upgrading the cameras instead of moving on. But alas, beyond some early broken promises, Canary has shown no interest in HomeKit, and I was ready to move on.

eufy was very much of interest to me. At this point, eufy does not have a subscription service where you pay them to store security video online for you. Instead, they have integrated storage in their hardware so you can keep your security footage locally. Because they are not motivated to sign you up for their subscription service, they have also embraced Apple’s own HomeKit Secure Video service with a growing list of their cameras.

I bought a few of eufy’s battery-powered cameras including the eufyCam 2C and the eufyCam 2 Pro. Both are battery-powered wireless cameras that connect to eufy’s hub, which contains 16GB of internal storage. The cameras stream to the hub, and you can monitor the hub from the eufy app. The internal storage holds the streams until it runs out of memory, and then it starts deleting older footage to make room for new footage. It all works fine, although I wish they made the storage via replaceable SD card.

Moreover, the eufy hub can connect with HomeKit and turn footage from these cameras over to HomeKit. For a reasonable price, you can have wireless cameras feeding straight into your HomeKit, which you can also connect to HomeKit Secure Video.

This whole system is far better than my Canary system, and it has been a great upgrade. Comparing the 2C vs. Pro cameras, there are a few items of distinction:

eufyCam 2C

eufyCam 2 Pro

Recording Fidelity The 2C records at 1080p. The Pro records at 2K. I can’t tell much of a difference between the two.

Battery Life eufy, like most hardware manufacturers, must not be testing these cameras under normal conditions. They claim the 2C battery should last six months. I get about a month out of one, and I get about two weeks out of another. (The second one is near a place of high activity, so it goes off much more often.) They are easy enough to plug in and recharge, but it is a thing, and it has me thinking about bringing in an electrician to hardwire a few spots around my house. The eufyCam2 Pro has been getting better than double that in battery life for me.

Cost There is a significant jump. You can get two 2C cameras plus a base station for $220. The same rig with two eufyCam2 Pro cameras goes for $350.

Either way, this was a significant upgrade in my home security system, and the rest of my family loves that they can now see the cameras in the Home app. I am taking full advantage of HomeKit Secure Video. I have also gone further down the Eufy rabbit hole as I have added some more of their wired cameras, which I will be covering over the coming weeks.

The First Apple Silicon Laptop(s)

Mixed signals are coming out of the rumor mill about the first Apple Silicon laptops. There are two reliable sources, one stating Apple will start with a 13″ MacBook Pro, another saying Apple will bring back the 12″ MacBook with Apple Silicon and a truly killer 15-hour battery life. Jason Snell summarized it all and weighed in at Macworld, speculating that both rumors are probably correct and the question comes down to timing.

I know I’m wish-casting here, but wouldn’t it be nice if Apple could ship both new Apple Silicon laptops before the end of the year. After all, Apple did start as a computer company, and they’ve got plenty of expertise in making computers. What a great flex it would be if they could give buyers two options, one with killer processing power and impressive battery life, and another with impressive power and killer battery life.

The thing that none of us on the outside know is just how long Apple has been preparing for this. They could be ramping up slowly with the MacBook first and then the MacBook Pro later next year. But they could have just as easily been planning this for years and holding back a new 13 (or 14!) inch MacBook Pro so it could be one of the first Apple Silicon Macs. None of us know, but a nerd can dream.

Course Corrections

When looking at yourself and how you get through your day, it’s easy to get hung up on big things, but so often the big things don’t happen overnight. They take time, planning, and money. And that is assuming you have any control over the big things.

In contrast, little course corrections can happen every day. They are easy to implement, and they take little effort to put into action. Best of all, small course corrections, even just a 1-degree turn, make a big difference over time.

Whenever I feel stuck and unable to move the icebergs in my life, I try to step back and start making little course corrections, so the iceberg is no longer a problem.

Focused 107: The Bullet Journal Method, with Ryder Carroll

Bullet journal method founder Ryder Carroll joins Mike and me on this episode of Focused to talk about taking time offline, asking the right questions, and finding the balance between style and substance in getting the right things done.

This episode of Focused is sponsored by:

Squarespace: Make your next move. Enter offer code FOCUSED at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase.

Mac Power Users 551: Writing Music for the Picture Business, with David Metzger

On this week’s Mac Power Users, Stephen and I are joined by orchestrator and composer David Metzger, whose resume includes Frozen, Muppets Most Wanted, The Avengers, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and more. He shares his setup, which includes multiple Macs networked together, numerous music applications, and (eventually) a full-blown orchestra.

This episode of Mac Power Users is sponsored by:

TextExpander from Smile: Get 20% off with this link and type more with less effort! Expand short abbreviations into longer bits of text, even fill-ins, with TextExpander from Smile.
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Stephen Touches All the Laptops

Would you like to smile this weekend? Then watch this.

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Automators 57: Automating Meetings

In the latest episode of Automators, Rosemary and I talk about how you can automate various aspects of meetings, from invitations to notes, and more!

This episode of Automators is sponsored by:

The Uptake, from Microsoft: A new show on all things tech and community from Microsoft.
Mint Mobile: Cut your wireless bill to $15 a month.
DEVONthink: Get organized — unleash your creativity. Use this link for 10% off.

Apple’s Troubles and MacSparky Coverage

Lately, Apple has been dealing with several percolating problems. Governments, at home and abroad, are interested in their business practices. Troubles between the United States and China are now threatening Apple’s business in one of its biggest markets. Big and small developers are now finding ways to exert pressure against the existing App Store model.

I have had several readers/listeners write in asking me to cover these topics more, but to be honest, I’m just not that interested. For those Apple enthusiasts who are worried, settle down. Apple has more money in the bank than most banks have money in the bank. They have a lot of smart people in control, and given Apple’s size, this scrutiny is expected (and probably appropriate). I do feel like it is going to get uglier before it gets better for Apple, but eventually they will figure it all out.

I am much more concerned about all of the families that have lost loved ones and all of the people out of work due to this pandemic than the troubles of a $2 trillion company.

My coverage on this blog, the podcasts, and Field Guides all try to lean more toward the how-can-I-help-you-to-get-your-work-done-and-enjoy-life-more category of Apple stories. That’s not changing.

TextExpander for Teams FTW (Sponsor)

This week MacSparky is sponsored by TextExpander. TextExpander is my text replacement weapon of choice for so many reasons. It’s fast, it’s powerful, and it can run scripts. But did you also know you can run TextExpander with your team?

With TextExpander for Teams, your team can do more with the same resources: Less repetition, fewer errors, and greater consistency will have your team feeling like they’ve hopped off a bicycle and into a Ferrari. With your team on TextExpander, you can keep your most important text consistent, accurate, and current. You can also work faster and smarter with TextExpander abbreviations not only for text, but also fill-in fields, dates, and more.

I have been a TextExpander for Teams subscriber now for two years. My virtual assistant and I share a TextExpander library that makes things like branding and customer support so much easier. One of our snippets includes a web link that changes monthly. My assistant updates the link and it syncs to our shared library, so when I use the snippet, it just works!

So if you have a team, get TextExpander, which works on Mac, Windows, Chrome, iPhone, and iPad. Best of all, with this link you’ll get 20% off your first year and make me look like a rock star. Go check it out today.

Last Call for Tomorrow’s Keyboard Maestro Webinar

I’ve been hard at work this week preparing for tomorrow’s Keyboard Maestro webinar. If you’d like to join in at 10AM pacific (or later get a link to the recording), sign up now.