Try these troubleshooting steps if your motion notifications are delayed, you're not receiving them when you expect them to appear, or if you're getting too many.
Test motion in front of your camera
While troubleshooting, test your settings to ensure you're getting the desired result. To perform a simple test, arm your system and then make a significant motion in front of your camera. Note: slow network speeds can delay your notifications.
Check if your camera or system is set up correctly
- Is your system Armed ?
- Your must Arm the camera system to receive motion notifications.
- When a system is armed, the icons for Motion Detection and Snooze appear.
- Is the camera's Motion Detection on
, or off
?
- Each camera has a Motion Detection setting. The gray running man means Motion Detection is off.
- Tap the icon to turn it on and the running man appears blue.
- You can also check your Camera Settings
to see if Enable Motion Detection is turned on
. If this is off, your device will not detect motion, and motion notifications will not be sent to your mobile device.
- Is Snooze Notifications on
, or off
?
- If it's solid blue, motion detection notifications have been temporarily paused. However, clips are saved to their designated storage location.
- Tap the Snooze icon
to change or stop Snooze and the icon turns gray.
- Sign out of the Blink app, then sign back in. This may reset some of your app settings.
- After you sign in, go back to Step 1 to make sure the Blink system is armed and your camera has Motion Detection set to on.
- After you sign in, go back to Step 1 to make sure the Blink system is armed and your camera has Motion Detection set to on.
Early Notification
When Early Notification is enabled, the camera sends the alert when motion is first detected.
When Early Notification is not enabled, Motion Alerts are sent after the Motion Clip is saved.
The amount of time 'earlier' you receive an Early Notification depends upon your Clip Length settings and other factors like network speeds.
The Early Notification option is only available for the following Blink devices:
- Blink Outdoor and Indoor (3rd Gen)
- Mini
- XT2
Early Notification is enabled by default and can't be turned off on the Blink Outdoor 4, Wired Floodlight and Video Doorbell.
Why would I use Early Notification?
A real advantage of Early Notification is being able to enter Live View if you tap the Motion Alert notification, when you're within the time frame of that clip length, or five seconds after. In this way, you can be interacting with visitors using two-way voice, or viewing whatever triggered the motion alert, within a few seconds of receiving your notification.
Note: If you pass the five second time frame after the clip has ended, you will be automatically taken to the clip list screen with no clip selected.
Can I save the Live View session?
If you have an active Blink Subscription Plan and your camera supports recording the Live View session, a "Save / Discard " toggle appears in the live view. When the toggle is set to "Save", the current session records until the timeout, or when you stop the Live View by tapping "Close".
How do I use Early Notification?
To enable Early Notification, go to the camera settings screen and select Motion Settings. Then switch on Early Notification.
Early Notification is off by default for Blink cameras, as shown in the image.
Retrigger Time
This article describes how to adjust the retrigger time for your Blink camera.
Retrigger time is the amount of time between the end a motion capture and beginning of a new motion event. During the retrigger time, your camera does not record motion events.
By default, the system will capture a five second clip, and wait for the retrigger time of 30 seconds. If motion continues, the camera will capture another five second clip. Retrigger time can be adjusted under Device Settings.
Note: Each camera in your system has an individual retrigger time setting.
Adjusting the Retrigger time
- Tap Device Settings
next to the camera you would like to adjust and select Motion Settings.
- In Motion Settings, you can adjust the Retrigger time value from 10 to 60 seconds. To increase the retrigger time, move the slider to the right and to decrease the delay move the slider to the left.
- The longer the retrigger time is set, the longer you camera is not recording between motion events. This is useful if your camera views an area where motion occurs often or if you are getting false motion notifications.
- When you have this setting where you want it, tap Save.
Test your setting
After your camera's retrigger time is set, Arm your Blink system and walk through the camera's field of view. You'll receive a motion notification on your mobile device. Continue to walk through the camera's field of view to produce a second motion notification. If the retrigger time was too short or too long between captured clips, return to Device Settings and adjust the Retrigger time.
Sensitivity
Your Blink camera captures motion based on heat moving across the camera's field. The total size of heat objects and amount of motion together cause a motion event. Your camera's Sensitivity setting adjusts how much input it takes to send you a notification.
Low sensitivity is less responsive, so a larger amount of heat and motion are needed to cause a notification. The highest setting may cause alerts from blowing leaves or even shadows.
If you are receiving too many notifications with nothing interesting, try turning the Sensitivity down two points. If that is effective, test by arming the system, and walking in the field of view when Motion Detection is on, to make sure a human sized object will trigger a notification.
Be careful if you tap the notification and enter Live View with your microphone or speakers on, significantly loud feedback may occur. Tap mute speaker in the upper right corner of the Live View.
Each camera has an individual sensitivity setting. You can find this in the Camera Settings for each camera in your system.
Choosing High or Low Sensitivity
The sensitivity setting on your camera not only depends on what is making the movement, but how long the movement is occurring.
- High sensitivity means less motion over a shorter period of time will create a notification.
- Low sensitivity means more movement over a longer period of time will create a notification.
The motion can be a big or small object, or a lot of small objects. Motion detection depends on where the object is in relation to the camera lens. For example, a bird flying close to the camera can be perceived as bigger than the person walking on the sidewalk in the distance. A person walking directly toward the camera will produce less motion than a dog walking left to right across the camera's field of view. It's about the amount of motion that's occurring within the detection zone of the camera and not necessarily how large the object is.
Testing sensitivity for your home camera
- From the Blink app main screen, tap
Settings above the camera thumbnail and then Motion Settings.
- Then select Motion Sensitivity and move the slider two or three points to the left towards L, for Low. Tap Save to save this setting and walk out of the frame of view of this camera.
- From the main screen of the Blink app, set your system to Armed to enable Motion Detection.
- Test the camera sensitivity by introducing movement.
- People, packages, and pets are what home cameras are for.
- If the sensitivity is not successful, reduce the slider more, save, and try again.
- If you have adjusted the sensitivity to your liking, proceed to test with a larger moving object, such as yourself. Walk in front of your camera and check to see if the setting gives the desired motion alert.
- If the lowest sensitivity continues to cause an unwanted Motion notification, you may need to create an Activity Zone instead. Learn more about setting Activity Zones.
Related articles
Check your mobile device settings
Is your phone on Mute or Silent?
- Android: Change volume, sound, & vibrate settings
- iOS: How to put your iPhone on vibrate, ring, or silent mode
Is Do Not Disturb enabled?
- Android: Limit interruptions with Do Not Disturb on Android
- iOS: Use Do Not Disturb with Focus on your iPhone or iPad
Check for app conflicts
- Certain virus protection, file optimizer, ringtone, and battery saver applications can interfere with receiving Motion Alert notifications. Learn more about apps that can conflict with the Blink app.
Check your device's notification settings
- Your mobile device has system-level settings to control notifications overall, and also can be selected for each application.
Delete the Blink app from your mobile device
- Delete the Blink app, then re-download it from the Google Play Store, iOS App Store, or Amazon Fire Store.
- Your onboarded cameras and systems you have created are not affected when you delete the Blink app.
- Open the Blink app and sign in to your account.
- You may have to update your app store to find the latest version of the Blink app.
Turn your mobile device off and on
- Turn your mobile device off, and then back on.
- Open the Blink app, and sign in.
Check if your mobile device's OS needs to be updated
In order to run the latest version of the Blink app, it's important your mobile device meets the minimum system requirements.
How to auto update your mobile devices
The easiest way to keep the app version of your mobile device current is to turn on the Automatic Update option in your device settings:
- Learn more about how to turn on or turn off automatic updates on the Apple's Support page.
- Learn more about how to update all Android apps automatically on Google Play Help.
How to manually update your mobile devices
- iOS devices can also be updated manually, which may be necessary if the auto update hasn't occurred yet. Learn more about manually updating your iOS device.
- Learn more checking and updating your Android app version.
My camera is sending me notifications when there isn't any motion.
If your camera is sending motion notifications to your mobile device, but when you go to Live View or look at the clip, no movement occurs, you may need to adjust the camera or its settings. Consider these factors for optimal motion notifications.
- Thermal detection. The motion sensor detects changes in temperature in the camera's field of view. Big sources of heat or cold could cause false triggers. Try moving the camera to a different location. This will isolate any environmental factors that may be triggering the motion sensor.
- Retrigger time. Increase the Retrigger Time to 15 seconds. Learn more about Retrigger Time.
-
Location. Is your camera located where it will get the view you want?
- If your camera is placed outdoors, it will be more prone to false motion alerts. When it is outside, the changing temperatures or moving objects (at slightly different temperatures) can trip the motion sensor.
- Angle the camera to avoid viewing random motions, bright spots from reflections, blowing trees or high traffic areas.
- Learn more about how to properly place your cameras for motion detection.
-
Sensitivity. Each camera has a setting to control how responsive it is to motion.
- Low Sensitivity means the camera is less responsive to motion, so it takes more motion to trigger an event.
- High Sensitivity will respond to just about any motion like blowing leaves or rain.
- Set the sensitivity so that your movement is detected, then use Activity Zones to block out areas of random motion or reflections.
- Learn more about adjusting sensitivity for your Blink camera.
-
High motion areas. Is there a regular source of motion in the camera view?
- Active roads, moving shadows, flocks of birds, and neighborhood pets can all cause a motion event.
- Activity Zones can be set to block out motion in a certain area. Learn more about Activity Zones.
- Network. If the camera has a weak connection to your wireless router, it may cause the camera to record false motion clips. Increasing the Retrigger Time should resolve this issue. You can also move the camera closer to your wireless router.
- Power cycle. Power cycling the camera may also resolve this issue. Try removing and then reinserting the batteries or the USB cable connection.
Delete
Why is my Alexa device not announcing a doorbell press?
When you setup a Blink Video Doorbell for Alexa, you have to turn on Announcements for Doorbell Press and Motion Detection in the Alexa app.
Click to learn more about Using Alexa devices with the Blink Video Doorbell.
DeleteRename your mobile device
In some cases, renaming your mobile devices enables motion detection alerts to be sent to your phone. Use the following steps to change the name of your mobile device.
- Change the name of your iOS device.
- Change the name of your Android device.
- Navigate to your phone's Settings > About Phone > Edit and then type in what you'd like your device to be named.
If none of the above resolves the issue, please contact Technical Support.