Ring today launched a standalone "Neighbors" app on iOS [Direct Link] and Android devices, pulling out the local security and crime-prevention feature from the main Ring app into a standalone experience.
With Neighbors, Ring connects users in a nearby area who own any model of the Ring doorbell, and allows them to upload footage of criminal activity to make it easier to prevent and catch package thieves, burglars, and more. Users can scroll through their Neighborhood's recent feeds to check out potential crimes and other safety posts shared by nearby Ring owners and the Ring team. Feed posts include text, photo, or video alerts captured via Ring doorbells.
The app can warn users about topics like Crime, Suspicious activity, Safety warnings, and Strangers wandering around.
Jamie Siminoff, Chief Inventor and Founder of Ring, said: “At Ring, we come to work every day with the mission of reducing crime in neighborhoods. Over the past few years we have learned that, when neighbors, the Ring team and law enforcement all work together, we can create safer communities.
Neighbors is meant to facilitate real-time communication between these groups, while maintaining neighbor privacy first and foremost. By bringing security to every neighbor with the free Neighbors app, communities can stay on top of crime and safety alerts as they happen.”
Additionally, police and sheriff's departments throughout the United States are now joining Neighbors in an expansion of the crime-stopping program. Local law enforcement will be able to share real-time crime and safety alerts with their communities, and users will see the updates in their Neighbors feeds, which also includes an interactive map.
The debut of a standalone Neighbors app follows Amazon's acquisition of Ring in February, and a price drop to $99 for the Ring Video Doorbell in April. In the wake of the acquisition, Ring promised customers that HomeKit support is still coming, stating that the Ring Pro and Floodlight Cam are currently being tested for HomeKit, "and as soon as testing is completed" the company will "update everyone with a release date."
Neighbors by Ring is available to download for free on the iOS App Store [Direct Link].
Top Rated Comments
People with Ring devices can manually share a video clip of suspicious activity to their nearby "neighborhood." Then, anybody that has this app and is associated with the same "neighborhood" can be alerted that there is suspicious activity nearby. That's it.
If you're concerned that people in your "neighborhood" could view your device at any time, that's not how this works. In order for others to see your camera(s) feed(s), you need to explicitly grant them access through the app.
I mostly meant to speak out to the "invasion of privacy" people, so I used their "hugging wife" and "kids in front yard" examples.