[DEPRECATED] Blink Camera Device Handler with Motion Sensor, Live Video Streaming, Integration with SmartThings/SHM, Temperature, Signals and Push Notifications

[RBoy (www.rboyapps.com - Making SmartThings Easy!)]

blink and SMARTTHINGS UPDATE

I want to thank everyone for sending in your comments and making yourselves heard. Blink has heard you all and has decided that they will continue the SmartThings integration with Blink. There will be NO service interruption on January 27th and you can continue to enjoy the integration between SmartThings and your Blink cameras. I would like to thank Blink for their continued support and commitment to the SmartThings community.

###For now the only the latest version of the RBoy Blink ST Client (SmartApp v05.08.00 and Device Handler v05.04.00) will continue to work and be supported. If you are not on this version, please upgrade to this version immediately. We are working with Blink on moving this towards native integration with SmartThings as a long term solution which would make this integration even easier and free for everyone. More updates to follow.

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PLEASE NOTE: In order to address Blink’s concern over security and stability, only the Blink approved client (RBoy Blink Client SmartApp v05.08.00 and Device Handler v05.04.00) will be allowed to integrate/communicate with the Blink server. Under the revised terms, anyone found using a modified or unauthorized version of the client could have their account blocked/suspended/disabled. This is done for the safety and protection of the Blink and SmartThings infrastructure. Once we move towards native integration these security/safety concerns would be addressed in a more holistic manner. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

RBoy and Team

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FAQ: Can I continue with the old version for now?

• The older versions will no longer work and to ensure smooth operations Blink is requesting customers to upgrade to the latest version. It is highly recommended to update your code immediately as accounts who aren’t on the recommended version are being monitored due to safety/security concerns.
  If you are unable to upgrade to the latest code immediately, PLEASE UNINSTALL the OLD versions of the SmartApp/device handler and then reinstall the latest version when you need access to the integration. This will avoid any disruption to the accounts/service and help protect the infrastructure.

@RBoy

BLINK and SMARTTHINGS UPDATE

As you may be aware Blink has decided to block access to all non approved Blink clients as of yesterday (it does not apply to the latest version of the RBoy Blink client, see posts above). Unfortunately Blink has had a series of outages over the past month with another major outage recently, that was attributed to a small bunch of users who were using these non approved ST clients to repeatedly slam the Blink server (as often as a few times a second for the past few months). I also want to take a moment to thank the SmartThings staff who had offered to help us isolate some of these situations.

While we have worked hard with Blink over the past year to build a stable Blink client for SmartThings, that had been approved by their engineers and marketing team, there are concerns within Blink’s Management and technical teams about people hacking the code to bypass the protections we have built into it to protect, both, SmartThings and Blink’s infrastructure.

While the RBoy Blink client continues to work for now, in light of these concerns and the recent issues, Blink’s management is considering shutting down access to SmartThings in totality.

Given the great success of this program within the SmartThings community and in order to preserve the user experience I have offered to Blink’s founders an option to consider allowing us to submit this RBoy Blink client to SmartThings for native integration into their platform. This would address Blink’s security concern of code access to ST end users and also provide the ST community with a seamless (and free) Blink integration experience.

I have not heard a decision from Blink’s management team regarding my proposal. In light of my last conversation with them I would like to point out that they are considering stopping access to the SmartThings platform and the RBoy Blink client on 27th January 2017. Needless to say this is has been very frustrating for us and Blink’s technical team who have worked extremely hard over the past year to build custom integration and a great user experience.

If you would like to continue using the Blink client to integrate with SmartThings I would urge you to click here and write to Blink support to ask their management to consider my proposal for native integration of the RBoy Blink ST client with SmartThings. Many of you have written to us to voice your concern that this integration was the primary reason for you to purchase your Blink cameras. Do share your feedback and future plans/impact as well with Blink’s support team so they can pass the feedback onto their management…

There are over 5,000 Blink cameras that are currently integrated into ST’s environment, if Blink were to hear from the owners of these 5,000 cameras and how it may affect their future business, it may convince them to continue the ST program. Do note that they will point you to their recent integration with IFTTT as a potential alternative, however, it will not be able to replace your current ST setup and experience.

Thank you all for your support and we look forward to continuing our work with this awesome community,RBoy and Team