Blocked activity zones not registering

@john_8d64ca​ apologies for the inconvenience, but there's an issue with the Community right now that prevents older replies from displaying correctly. Here's our response to the original post from December 2021:

Hi, sorry for the confusion. The Activity Zone feature uses the main camera to analyze the scene. Unfortunately, the Night Vision camera doesn't allow for that. So as a result, Activity Zones work only during the day - or when there's enough light for the camera to work in daytime mode.

This is a really bad limitation. Does SimpliSafe not see how irritating it is to get recording after recording on your doorbell at night because cars are driving by. In case you hadn't noticed, most doorbells face roads. There needs to be a workaround for this!

@xieu_hang​ When set to People Only mode, the Outdoor Camera is first woken up by motion, and then it analyzes the image for tall shapes that may be people. If the shadows on your driveway are person-shaped, that could explain why the camera records them; but it shouldn't record every time there is motion around it.

It sounds like your camera's motion settings aren't sticking properly. If you haven't already, I would try toggling them off, saving the settings, and then toggling them back on again.

It can also help to reset the camera by pressing and holding the button on the back for 30 seconds. Once you release the button, you will be prompted to reinstall the camera again in the SimpliSafe mobile app.

They sent me a replacement for the original doorbell we had. Guess what. It doesn't work and is just as bad. They keep asking me to just reset it.

@gunsta and @504MSD​ I'm sorry to hear about all of this trouble. I've forwarded your cases to our engineering team so they can look into this further. A member of the team should reach out to both of you soon, so keep an ear out for their call.

Same problem.  Tried reset , low sensitivity, people only,  and hard reset and blocked out all activity zones and the doorbell still picks up passing cars 

@meredithlevine319​ As a first step it can help to reset the Video Doorbell by pressing and holding the large button on the back of the doorbell for 30 seconds. After you let go of the button, you'll be prompted to set it back up in the SimpliSafe mobile app. 

@wi11iamp​ When do you notice this happen? Is it during the night only or does this happen regardless of the time of day? The Video Doorbell's Night Vision does not allow for Activity Zones, so once the sun sets and Night Vision kicks in those blocked zones will not register. But if this is happening during the day as well that is different issue.

@wi11iamp​ don’t listen to them. Return it. It’s trash. I wish I would have done my research. A simple Reddit search will show that people constantly have issues. When they finally do get fixed they tend to only work for about 6 months and then break again. 

I’m going back to my old video doorbell I had before as they have a security system as well and are cheaper per month. 

I liked the idea of simplisafe being about to look at my cameras in case there was an alarm but if they don’t work then it doesn’t matter. 

@psmcgehee​ Using the SimpliSafe mobile app, go to My System > Camera Settings > select [your camera] > Motion Detection. Then, under Activity Zone, tap the boxes where you do not want the camera to detect motion. Once you have made your selection, be sure to tap Save to lock in this setting.

Just installed my system and no matter what I set on that zones it detects everything. Are they working on a fix for this??

@Astrosteve​ What camera are you experiencing this with? While the Outdoor Camera and Video Doorbell Pro's Night Vision do not allow for Activity Zones at night, they should be working during the day.

Our engineering team is working on resolving an issue where the Video Doorbell Pro is registering motion outside of its set Activity Zones, though.

@emily_s​  Are there any updates on this? I am having the same issue with motion being detected outside my activity zones during the day. 

@drewtlo​ Suggestion: change the angle/direction of your camera, even slightly.  My house back faces due east, the front due west and an outdoor camera on each. I had an issue with the front camera similar to yours, made a small adjustment in the direction and angle, and no more erroneous alerts.  Suggest you try the same. Please post your outcome here if you do it and get a chance. Good luck.

@sgreynolds189 do you notice this happening at all times during the day? While in Night Vision, the Outdoor Camera's Activity Zones will not work, but they still should during the daytime. 

If you haven't tried this already, we would recommend resetting the Outdoor Camera and then setting those Activity Zones back up again.

@rhallman Do these motion events happen all day long, or only at night?

When Activity Zones are enabled, the Outdoor Camera and Video Doorbell Pro use their main camera to look at the scene. The Night Vision camera does not allow for that though, so Activity Zones will only be followed during the daytime. 

But if your Activity Zones are not being followed all day long, we do recommend resetting the cameras to troubleshoot this issue.

You can check your cameras' firmware in the SimpliSafe app, but we have not released any new firmware for them in the past few weeks.

Mostly at night but some during the day as well. Both cameras have always done this to a degree but not to the same degree that is happening now. Both cameras increase in activity happened at the same time and I think that rules out the issue being individual devices. IF Simplisafe developers would rethink and modify so that cameras could be reset remotely, especially the outdoor and doorbell models then I would be more receptive to resetting them. Since I can delete devices from the app then the requirement for pressing buttons on the devices serves ZERO as security feature. Re-adding from the app without requiring a visit to each device along with other tools and actions to dismount the device is a MUST for the long term viability of this system to be a major player in the market. 

While I'm on this subject, the blocking feature also needs to be more granular. Suggestion might be to set the blocks as is done today but also providing a drag feature to raise, lower or move side to side. On fixed cameras such as the doorbell, the blocks have the possibility of blocking areas you may NOT want blocked in order to block areas that you DO want blocked.

Also, IF there were a "reload firmware" option within the app, and even on the keypad that may well solve many issues as MUCH frustration and likelihood of causing additional issues occurs simply by having to take down and reset devices JUST TO GET A FIRMWARE RELOAD.

Lastly, if you can give me a link to initiate firmware loads when my schedule allows, please do so. Otherwise, I guess I'm just waiting for the issue to go away - likely the next time firmware pushes.

@rhallman​ I also want to add that the outdoor camera is in spotlight mode with an additional motion sensitive spotlight in the area, so there is plenty of light even at night. The outdoor camera is in Spotlight mode. The outdoor camera also exhibits the undesired behavior during daylight, the doorbell camera not so much but some.