Enabling your mobile device microphone

Before using Two-Way Audio, check your mobile device to ensure the Blink app has permission to use the microphone.

iOS - See the If the microphone doesn’t work in a specific app article for instructions on enabling your mobile device microphone.

Android - See the Use your camera & microphone article for instructions on how to enable your mobile device microphone.

What if I don’t see the Blink app listed on my mobile device Microphone Permissions list? 

• Go to your camera’s Live View in the Blink app and tap the greyed out Mic Disabled button at the bottom of the screen. 
• A ‘Microphone Access’ message displays. 
• Tap Go to Settings and turn on the Microphone setting for your Blink app. This allows your Blink camera to access your mobile device microphone so you can talk and hear through the Blink app.

Indoor and Outdoor (3rd Gen), Mini and XT2

Note: Two-Way Audio isn’t available in the XT and Indoor (1st Gen).

1. Tap Live View for any of your eligible cameras.
2. The Hold to Talk button is at the bottom of Live View.
3. Press and hold this button while you speak. 
   • A small animation appears above the button indicating that your mobile device microphone is active and that your audio will be played through your camera speaker.
   • Release the button when you have finished talking, and the microphone will mute itself automatically. The audio can be heard through the camera speaker at the other end.
4. After 5 minutes, your Live View will stop and you must return to the Home screen to start another Live View session.

Note: With a Blink Subscription Plan or trial, you can use Extended Live View on the Mini camera. Extended Live View provides up to 90 continuous minutes of viewing.

Mini 2, Outdoor 4, Wired Floodlight Camera and Video Doorbell

1. Tap Live View for any of your eligible cameras.
2. While you’re in Live View, press the Tap to unmutebutton. The button will turn blue. 
   • A small animation appears above the button indicating that your mobile device microphone is active and that your audio will be played through your camera speaker.
3. When you’ve finished talking, press Tap to mute.
4. After five minutes, your Live View will stop and you must return to the Home screen to start another Live View session. 

Note: With a Blink Subscription Plan or trial, you can use Extended Live View on the Wired Floodlight camera. Extended Live View provides up to 90 continuous minutes of viewing.

Echo, feedback or sudden repeated squeal noises

When the camera picks up sounds coming from the Blink app and transmits them back to the Blink app, ‘feedback’ is created. Feedback is a repeating sound that increases in pitch and volume. It can occur when you have the Live View of a camera open in the Blink app and you are within hearing range of the camera.

• To avoid feedback, ensure that your mobile device accessing the Blink app is at least 10 feet away from your Blink camera. 
• To stop existing feedback or unwanted noise, tap the Mute icon to silence the camera speaker. You can also stop the Live View session or switch out of the Blink app entirely.

Chirping, digital noise or robotic sounds

Blink cameras convert audio into a digital stream so it can be heard for Live Views and recorded clips. During this conversion, extra sounds can sometimes be heard. These sounds may sound like a cluster of noises, scrambled distortion, chirps or clicks when accessing a Live View or playing back a recorded clip.

The upload speed of your network plays an important part of your digital stream. When network speeds change quickly, your audio may be distorted. Blink devices require at least 2 Mb per second of available upload speed for each Blink device, even when multiple users are online.

Device placement recommendations

Placing your camera near hard surfaces may produce unwanted sounds. Because a hard surface reflects sound, the camera microphone may pick up both the original sound and the reflected sound.

Placing the camera on an enclosed shelf or wall, or set back from a table edge near or between other objects, may create a boxed-in environment that can affect the audio quality of the camera microphone and speaker.

For ideal placement, avoid placing your cameras near dense materials like brick, stone, concrete or metals. Also, avoid placement near other electronic devices and confined spaces.