Introducing Mini from Blink

We are excited to announce Mini – the latest smart home security camera from Blink. Mini is a 1080p HD indoor plug-in security camera that lets you view, listen, and talk right from the Blink app on your smartphone. 

Mini is mighty – but tiny which means you can plug it in anywhere inside your home. It features live view, motion detection, two-way audio and more. Looking to go hands-free? Mini can be paired with supported Alexa enabled devices for additional ease of use. Mini helps you monitor the inside of your home day and night – all for just $34.99.

Learn more about Mini here.

New App Layout

We are excited to announce a refresh of the Blink app user interface! We’ve heard your feedback, and are excited to share our new look & feel. Look out for the new Blink app version in the coming days.

Here are a few of the key updates we’ve made:

Bottom Bar Navigation

Our bottom panel is now where you can access your system homepages, clip lists, account & system settings, & Neighbor’s app.

The Home icon brings you to the home screen where you can view and access your Blink camera systems (along the top panel bar) and individual cameras. From the home screen you can:

  • Arm your camera system by toggling the Disarmed/Armed switch along the bottom of your app.
  • Arm/disarm an individual camera, by tapping the running man icon on (blue) or off (gray) once a system is armed.
  • Access a camera’s settings  by clicking the three sliding bars icon next to each camera’s name.
  • Access your sync module’s status indicator at the bottom of your list of cameras.

The Play Button icon – tap this to access all of your recorded clips in one place. From here, you can filter which cameras or systems you want to see, and even filter the type of event you’re looking for.

The Settings Gear icon brings the settings of your account and systems into one place. Within the system settings, you can:

  • Manage your cameras individually
  • Arrange which order they appear on your homescreen
  • Schedule arm and disarm schedules for your camera systems

The Neighbors icon in the bottom right corner allows you to access the Neighbor’s app.

Adding Cameras or Systems

To add a new camera or camera system, tap the “+” button in the top right corner of your app. From here, you will follow the standard onboarding flow

If you have any questions or need further support, please review our Support Page for more details on how to best use your Blink camera systems.

Strengthening Account Security and Control

Here at Blink the security of our customers is our top priority.  We offer a range of features to keep customers safe and are working to deliver even more protections to strengthen account security. In order to take full advantage of the range of security features available today and for future enhancements, we are requesting that our customers verify their account email address

As an additional layer of protection, starting on March 30, 2020 we will require that every Blink account has a verified email address so that we can provide our customers with the additional layer of security requiring 2-step verification.

What is a verified email?

  • We verify the email address that you provide by sending you an email from no‑reply@blinkforhome.com which contains a “Verify My Account” link button. Clicking on that link button sends us a message letting us know that this is a valid email address and we can use it for security messages.

Why do we need it?

  • We require a validated email address for your Blink account so that we can enhance account security and ensure you receive important communications.

To verify that a valid email address is already associated with your account, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Blink app and navigate to Manage Accounts
  2. Make sure the email address specified in the Email field is correct.  If it is, proceed to step #3. If not, see directions for updating your email address below.
  3. Click on Resend Verification Email button
    • The message “Verification email has been sent and should arrive within a few minutes.” will pop-up in app.
    • Note: if the “Resend Verification Email” button doesn’t appear in the app, then your email address has been verified and no action is required, assuming the email address is correct. 
  4. An email from no‑reply@blinkforhome.com requesting the user to validate the email address should arrive within a few minutes.
  5. Open the email and click on the “Verify My Account” link button to validate the new address. 
    • After you click on the “Verify My Account” link button, Blink will be notified that the email address has been verified, and a message “Your Blink account has been verified.” will pop-up.

Note: The “Verify My Account” link is only valid for 24 hours.  After 24 hours, you will need to open the Blink app, navigate to Manage Accounts, and click on the Resend Verification Email button.

IF VERIFICATION EMAIL IS NOT RECEIVED:

  1. Check your spam, junk, or trash folders
  2. Double check that the email address in the Blink app is valid and update as necessary

How to update your email address:

  1. Open the Blink App and navigate to Manage Accounts
  2. Select the Email field and enter account password when prompted
  3. Enter a valid email address in the “New Email” and “Confirm New Email” fields and click “Change Email” button
    • The message “Email successfully updated” will pop-up in app, then click OK
  4. An email from no-reply@blinkforhome.com requesting the user to validate the email address should arrive within a few minutes.   
  5. Open the email and click on the “Verify My Account” link button to validate the new address.
    • After you click on the “Verify My Account” link button, Blink will be notified that the email address has been verified, and a message “Your Blink account has been verified.”  will pop-up.

Note: The “Verify My Account” link is only valid for 24 hours.  After 24 hours, you will need to open the Blink app, navigate to Manage Accounts, and click on the Resend Verification Email button.

Thank you for being a Blink customer.  Please refer to our support site for more topics.  If you need assistance, please contact Customer Service.

Early Notification Setting Now Available

We’re excited to announce our newest feature available for XT2 users, Early Notification. This option allows you to receive alerts as soon as motion is detected on your XT2 (as opposed to once a recording has completed). With this feature enabled, you will also be brought to a live view when you tap the motion notification, allowing you to respond to events in real time. To enable this feature, go to your camera settings and switch the “Early Notification” toggle to “on”.

We recommend this configuration if you frequently use two-way talk, or if you typically respond to alerts as soon as they are received. If Early Notification is not activated, you will continue to receive alerts once a motion clip has finished recording.

Alexa can help set up Smart Reordering for Batteries

Alexa can now help to keep your Blink Camera Systems running with Smart Reordering for Batteries!

As you may already know, Blink cameras run on two standard 1.5V AA lithium batteries that last up to two years! But, when the time finally comes to replace those batteries and you don’t feel like making a special trip to the store, Alexa can help! With the smart reorder feature available on select Alexa-enabled devices, you can automatically receive batteries from Amazon.com, the moment a replacement is needed. To set up smart reorders for your Blink camera batteries and ensure you have batteries when you need them, enable the Blink Smart Home Skill in the Alexa app by following the steps below.

Setting up smart reordering for Blink camera batteries:

  1. If you haven’t already, enable the Blink Smart Home Skill in the Alexa app by following the steps outlined at the Alexa Setup and Troubleshooting Guide.
  2. After enabling the Blink Smart Home Skill, follow the on-screen prompts to set up smart orders by selecting the battery you want to automatically reorder and confirming your payment and address information.

If you have already enabled the Blink Smart Home Skill, start by opening the Alexa app, then:

  1. Tap “Devices” on the bottom right hand corner.
  2. Tap “Cameras” then select the camera you wish to set up smart battery reorders for
  3. Navigate to the “Supply” section and tap on “change”.
  4. Under the “Supply Settings” header, click the little arrow.
  5. From here, select “Automatically reorder when supply is low” and choose battery that you want to automatically reorder. Confirm your payment and address information and Amazon will send you replacement batteries when time is right.

Have questions? Contact customer support for help!

Frequently Asked About Features

Welcome to the “What’s new” blog! Learn more about new features or updates as they are added. Find this page under the top left menu in your Blink app, and tapping “What’s new”. Please note that this requires the latest app update to discover.

To begin our What’s New series, below are some of the most asked-about features the Blink system provides, which you may not be aware of:

Scheduled arming

You can schedule all cameras on your system to automatically arm/disarm for motion detection at preset times each day. To do this, tap your system name at the top of the Blink app home screen, select “scheduling”, and then tap the plus button in the top right corner to add your arm/disarm times. Once brought to the next page, toggle between arm/disarm and “save” after you set the schedule for each day.

For additional information, please review our Technical Support article:  https://support.blinkforhome.com/en_us/how-do-i-use-scheduled-arming-r1LDXemLr 

Individual Camera Arm/Disarm

Tap the running man icon above the thumbnail of each camera to individually arm/disarm each camera. When the icon is blue, the camera is armed to detect motion. When the icon is gray, is it disarmed. When you toggle your system to arm, your cameras will default to the last configuration you set.

For additional information, please review our Technical Support article: https://support.blinkforhome.com/en_us/individual-camera-arming-or-disarming-Hyhg7e7LS 

Blue Recording Light Switch

You can manually turn the blue recording LED on or off from within your Blink XT or Blink XT2 cameras. To do so, simply remove the battery cover, and use tweezers or a similar tool to adjust the switch under “REC. LED” to either, “ON” or “OFF”. When “ON” the blue light will turn on each time the camera is in use, when “OFF” the camera will not indicate when the camera is in use. See photos below for help:

For additional information please review our Technical Support article: https://support.blinkforhome.com/en_us/how-to-turn-off-the-blue-recording-led-on-blink-xt-BJMwGeXUr

What is a sync module

The sync module is the hub for all of the cameras in your system, and allows your Blink cameras to communicate with our servers and relay commands to your app.

Your cameras and sync module can best communicate when positioned within 100 ft. of each other without thick walls blocking the line of 100 ft. See image below for suggested placement.

If you do not have a Sync Module OR if it is offline, you will be unable to do the following:

  • Create a Blink system
  • Add new Cameras or Blink devices
  • Manage or access your system

Frequently Asked About Features

Welcome to the “What’s new” blog! Learn more about new features or updates as they are added. Find this page under the top left menu in your Blink app, and tapping “What’s new”. Please note that this requires the latest app update to discover.

To begin our What’s New series, below are some of the most asked-about features the Blink system provides, which you may not be aware of:

Scheduled arming

You can schedule all cameras on your system to automatically arm/disarm for motion detection at preset times each day. To do this, tap your system name at the top of the Blink app home screen, select “scheduling”, and then tap the plus button in the top right corner to add your arm/disarm times. Once brought to the next page, toggle between arm/disarm and “save” after you set the schedule for each day.

For additional information, please review our Technical Support article:  https://support.blinkforhome.com/en_us/how-do-i-use-scheduled-arming-r1LDXemLr 

Individual Camera Arm/Disarm

Tap the running man icon above the thumbnail of each camera to individually arm/disarm each camera. When the icon is blue, the camera is armed to detect motion. When the icon is gray, is it disarmed. When you toggle your system to arm, your cameras will default to the last configuration you set.

For additional information, please review our Technical Support article: https://support.blinkforhome.com/en_us/individual-camera-arming-or-disarming-Hyhg7e7LS 

Blue Recording Light Switch

You can manually turn the blue recording LED on or off from within your Blink XT or Blink XT2 cameras. To do so, simply remove the battery cover, and use tweezers or a similar tool to adjust the switch under “REC. LED” to either, “ON” or “OFF”. When “ON” the blue light will turn on each time the camera is in use, when “OFF” the camera will not indicate when the camera is in use. See photos below for help:

For additional information please review our Technical Support article: https://support.blinkforhome.com/en_us/how-to-turn-off-the-blue-recording-led-on-blink-xt-BJMwGeXUr

What is a sync module

The sync module is the hub for all of the cameras in your system, and allows your Blink cameras to communicate with our servers and relay commands to your app.

Your cameras and sync module can best communicate when positioned within 100 ft. of each other without thick walls blocking the line of 100 ft. See image below for suggested placement.

If you do not have a Sync Module OR if it is offline, you will be unable to do the following:

        • Create a Blink system
        • Add new Cameras or Blink devices
        • Manage or access your system

Welcome to the “What’s new” blog! Learn more about new features or updates as they are added. Find this page under the top left menu in your Blink app, and tapping “What’s new”. Please note that this requires the latest app update to discover.