Email sent to all … hopefully they will read… Im not too hot at twitter so agree with somebody starting a hashtag but I font have any followers so it would be better if somebody with loads started this one. I will keep up pressure on email front.
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tweeted them using #ditchblink
Just sent an email to all 3!
Has two replies from Blink Support …One conforming they are blocking Smartthings and to use IFTTT which is now available … and the other saying that IFTTT is only available in NA
You can image my reply to both emails …!!!
You’re likely correct.
With due respect, folks here seem to think they actually have an influence on these companies. What a dream world you all live in.
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+1 on leaving Amazon reviews. Give a subject that will get the attention of the non-ST community- I am considering “Avoid Purchasing for Now”. Politely explain that the company has recently changed their business model and has abruptly disabled 3rd party integrations, and left a significant customer base with reduced or no functionality. If a few of these float to the top, buyers will figure it out quick.
I once had a subscription to a piano lesson online service that I did not use for 2 years at $20/month. 24 months X $20 = $480.
So, I contacted the owner of the service and offered they add the organ lessons for a a total of $30/month and made the argument that I hadn’t used the services only but a small amount of times since I had subscribed.
He said that he could not do that I told him that if he couldn’t then I would have to cancel altogether.
He gave a similar response as above…Guess he figured $30 wasn’t worth it…
That was about 6 years ago. Hmmm… 72 months X $30 = $2,160. Plus all the other refferals that he lost (say 20) = $43,200
Also with an attitude like that I wonder how many others jumped ship? (Say 400) = $864,000
Yeah, that small number might not mean anything to them now but over time, it sure can add up.
I’m sure Blink expects to grow into a company with annual revenue of $ tens of millions.
Yes… “$864,000” is a likely a drop in the bucket. In other words; as I mentioned above; Blink is making strategic decision here that may not be optimal for them or their Customers, and more power to y’all for trying to change it. Just don’t be surprised if they don’t.
For example, it has been mentioned that their grand plan may be to get monthly monitoring fees and need to act quickly to make sure that can’t be subverted (Kuna already does this…there is no API, and the fee is $60/year to have 7 days of storage; otherwise you can only view the past 2 hours).
Kuna is not a hardware company … net margin on the sconce + video camera is likely < $100… The bulk of their income comes from this recurring subscription fee.
@RBoy, So looking to the future, what is the best way to remove the Blink integration from SmartThings and can it be done after Blink kills the connection?
Hoping Blink won’t, just covering bases if they do.
Thanks,
Polen
Dang, I hate being a Peon. 
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They have already killed it as I am on the latest version of the app and device handler and live logging clearly shows the connections to Blink are being blocked.
I wouldn’t mind if they released an alternative but to just cut customers off is so bad and one people will remember when friends ask for recommendations.
Bet Blink wont ask me for feedback on how they handle the support calls !!!
Interesting - I just got a follow up email from Blink support asking for some more details -
Hi Jay,
Can you explain the features you are use the integration for so we can better understand the integration that SmartThings users are looking for?
Best,
The Blink Team
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Umm
Enable/Disable each camera’s motion detection/alerts independently from SmartThings (DONE!)
Control the monitoring system at sync module level from SmartThings (DONE!)
Take a Picture from each camera independently and show in it SmartThings (DONE!)
Get the Temperature reported by each camera (DONE!)
Get the camera to sync module link signal strength for each camera (DONE!)
Get the sync module WiFi signal strength (DONE!)
Expose interface as a Camera device (take command) (DONE!)
Expose interface as a Temperature sensor device (DONE!)
Expose interface as a Switch to control each camera’s motion detection on/off (DONE!)
Expose interface as a Motion Sensor to report motion events (DONE!)
Expose interface as an Alarm to take a picture and turn on motion detection when turned on (DONE!)
Expose interface to turn on/off system (sync module) via CoRE (monitorOn/monitorOff) (DONE!)
Expose interface to turn on/off individual camera motion detection/alerts via CoRE (enableCamera/disableCamera) (DONE!)
Support for SmartTiles117 to take/show pictures (DONE!)
Motion Detection Actions from within Smart App (turn on lights with timeout option, turn on alarm, etc) (DONE!)
Support for multi user SMS notifications and push notifications (DONE!)
Queue and retry commands if server is busy (DONE!)
Integration with Smart Home Monitor (SHM) (DONE!)
Detect and show if Sync Module is offline (DONE!)
Support for Push Notifications (DONE!)
Support for Multiple Sync Modules per Account (DONE!)
Support for Multiple Accounts (DONE!)
Support for worldwide regions (DONE!)
Support for changing video recording length (DONE!)
Support for setting video recording length via CoRE (setVideoLength(x)) (DONE!)
Support for setting motion sensitivity via CoRE (setMotionSensitivity(x)) (DONE!)
Support for setting retrigger time via CoRE (setRetriggerTime(x)) (DONE!)
Support for changing the LED modes (DONE!)
Support for changing LED modes via CoRE (ledOn/ledOff/ledAuto) (DONE!)
Support for forcing a sensors update (temperature, signal strength, battery etc) via CoRE (forceSensorsUpdate) (DONE!) (Caution: It drains the battery)
Support for Live viewing of the camera (video + audio) (DONE!) (Caution: It drains the battery)
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Interesting… Be good to see what they say once you have provided details.
I think keep it simple… They wont give us a shopping list so either the ability for RBoys app to carry on working maybe with some security changes maybe to limit the issues they have seen
Or if not then just the ability to arm/disarm in ST as any other device, so routines can be used for when leaving or returning home… most other things are covered in Blink app
This is my current situation: as IFTT isn’t accepting login I have to manually enable/disable all cameras using the Blink app. Result?
3 cameras triggering intrusion alerts when my daughter came home from school until I was notified and manually could disable all cameras.
ST notified me when she left, and had to manually enable the cameras again.
4 cameras triggered when I got home (phone was on silent so didn’t notice the alerts).
Let’s count here: If this would continue I would rack up 7 x 760 kb/day.
Add the discomfort of no longer being able to monitor doors at night (nightwalker in the family) and the extra cost of having to get separate motion sensors.
Maybe we all should happen to leave the systems on to max out on available storage space, and let Blink take the hit on scaling out their cloud storage space.
I did think of that one but as they only keep 7 days worth it probably wont amount to much !! Based on 5000 users at 1mb (to make maths easy) each per day for 7 days still is only 35GB …or there about’s … not going to cause a dent.
And all we want is ST to arm or disarm with the routines … cant see thats much to ask for !!
Does anyone know another way to do this ?
Just thinking of a technical way around this - not sure what @RBoy thinks about this (or if its even possible?)
Is there a way for the SmartThings RBoy Blink app to talk back from the local hub not the cloud to make the connection to the Blink server? This would mean there would be no way for Blink to block the connections as it will look like a normal connection? It doesnt need to run the app locally, just the web calls?
Or I’m more than happy to donate several servers which could act as a “proxy” for the web calls - so it’d be
ST Cloud —> Proxy —> Blink
Its a bit back handed, but i’m seriously annoyed with Blink over this.
I’m not in anyway good with Groovy, but I am a IT Engineer so know enough about how Blink are blocking this etc
Kraeg
The idea isn’t to bypass what we’ve built along with them, I appreciate the sentiment (trust me I do), they can block it very easily even if you do and it would end up on the same bucket as what the other non approved DH did leading to loss of trust etc.
Everyone here is on the right track, you’re buying the cameras, that’s how they make money for their investors. Tell them what you need to continue buying the cameras and my job is to work with them to create a stable, reliable working environment (which right now with the latest DH/SA it’s there). Things are looking a lot better on their end. So really it comes down to the business case for them.
With you on this one… …I’m IT as well so if I can help I will but I don’t have access to any spare servers … that said lets see whats possible first