Do Blink Cameras Work with Ring App?

Smart home systems are a thing that was invented for the sake of convenience and quickly became a part of everyday life for a lot of people. Such systems are used for lots of things – from simplifying control over various devices at home and up to improving home security. And when Blink is one of the world-renowned manufacturers of home security cameras, Ring holds the same place in making hi-tech doorbells. And if you like them both and are wondering about the question “do Blink cameras work with Ring app?” – there’s a good answer for you. They’re compatible, but, sadly, not out of the box.

Blink Cameras and the Ring App: Clarification

Blink cameras, being worldly renowned, are highly reliable, versatile and rather affordable compared to competitive brands. That’s why this brand’s devices are liked by users, especially when there’s a requirement for good security cameras for home.

Founded as a crowd-funded start-up company back in 2014, Blink presented itself with newly developed battery-powered wireless indoor cameras. And in mere three years it made a whole assortment of various products, including indoor and outdoor cameras, as well as doorbells with cameras. In 2017 Blink became a subsidiary of Amazon and started expanding its Alexa-compatible smart home security devices’ lineup, making wireless powering its distinctive feature.

Ring, on the other hand, made their appearance as a Doorbot start-up brand in 2013, presenting an ‘inside out alarm system’ – the very first video doorbell. In 2014 it rebranded as Ring company and presented an updated version of their main product. And starting from 2016, when Shaquille O’Neal acquired its equity stake and became its spokesperson, it started gaining fame. In 2018. Ring was bought by Amazon just like Blink, thus including their devices into the Alexa-compatible ecosystem.

Blink Camera and Ring App: Compatibility Question

Whenever you think of using an app to watch your security camera feed, you think of convenience. Basically, you’re using your smartphone to check your cameras and control them. And Ring app combines all cameras and video front doorbell into one convenient ecosystem.

Sadly, there’s no way to directly connect cameras made by Blink with doorbells and other systems made by Ring, including Ring app.

But there are there are 3 ways to indirectly link Ring app with its devices and Blink security cameras:

• Amazon Alexa smart home hub. The most easy-to-use way of combining two systems into one with the help of the smart home ecosystem hub.
• Home Assistant. Unrelated smart home control platform that could be used to combine Ring app and Blink cameras. This solution is free, but requires setting up a local server that’ll work as a hub.
• IFTTT (If This Then That). Paid third-party smart home control platform that works instead of a smart hub, just like Home Assistant. It makes its own smart ecosystem that can integrate all of the above at once. Although to use it with full functionality you need to subscribe for paid plans, you could use it for free, but with constant access to the remote server via the Internet.

Taking all that’s said above into account, it’s possible to use the Ring app with Blink security cameras, but you need either to use a paid solution or set up additional hardware to do so.

Official Integration and Workarounds

Although both brands are owned by Amazon, they are basically separate from each other in terms of usability. But Amazon states that both brands could be linked with Alexa hub, because they are included into its ecosystem and basically are intended to work with it as a medium out of the box. So, officially, it’s possible to link Ring and Blink with the help of Amazon Alexa, and it could be done relatively easily.

Another way to legally integrate devices and software from both brands is to use universal smart home systems. For instance, as it was mentioned, it’s possible to use Home Assistant to get yourself a workaround. But it will require some skills to set up everything, not to mention that you’ll need to set up a server to work as a medium between Ring app and Blink cameras.

And the last legit way to integrate Blink cameras with Ring app is obviously to use the IFTTT ecosystem. Similarly to Home Assistant, it’s a software solution, but it’s way easier to use. Because it has its own remote server and its own app to set up everything with a few simple steps.

Pros and Cons of Integration

As it was said earlier, using a single app for all of your cameras inside one single ecosystem is very convenient. Because, basically, you’ll have one unified control panel for all your security cameras and other devices. Taking into account that we’re talking about Ring app, you’ll have a versatile and monitoring system with a variety of settings and easily configurable alarm system. With this, you’ll be able to set up whatever automation routines you need for your indoors security.

But, as with everything else, there are obvious cons in setting up such a system. Primary con appears literally because there’s no direct integration. In other words, the most inconvenient thing in setting up a connection between Ring app and Blink cameras is the setup process itself. Because it’ll take additional effort and time, varying depending on the method you choose.

And another thing to think about before creating such a setup is Ring privacy-related reputation. There were actually situations with leaks in the past, but they were fixed a long time ago. Also, there were situations that were related to the beginning of the brand itself, when Doorbot company had a security agreement with local law enforcement. But nowadays Ring has improved dramatically in a better way.

How to Optimize Your Home Security Setup

Making a smart home from scratch is not a bad idea, taking into account that we’re living in a hi-tech world. But some people don’t actually know where to start. And that’s not bad, because if you’re reading this article, then you want to know how. So, whenever you’re trying to start your smart home, you should think about three things:

• How to control? Find a suitable app with easy-to-use and vast functionality. Ring app is actually one of the best examples, both convenient, adjustable and simple at the same time. Then, find a hub for it, or find a way to set up a system with the app at its center, using hub-less server-based solutions.
• How to configure? Either find a hub that’s compatible with your app, or find a server-based solution for it. Like it was mentioned earlier, Alexa is a pretty good smart hub, at least for this Ring-Blink combo, and IFTTT is a well-made server-side alternative for it.
• How to secure? Pick some video surveillance solutions that’ll be suitable for indoors and outdoors use. And don’t stick to the ‘expensive is better’ formula – there are a lot of variants with a good price-to-quality ratio, like Blink. But remember that you need them to be compatible with the app and the server/hub you’ll be using.

Basically, everything else above those three questions are additional. If you’ve set up a basis for your smart home, then you’ll be able to add whatever you want into this ecosystem. If it’s overall compatible, of course.

Alternatives to Blink Cameras for the Ring App

All things considered, Blink cameras are a solid choice in the middle pricing range, both reliable and not too expensive. And there are not too many alternatives to them, even among devices officially compatible with the Ring app.

• Arlo. This brand has a pretty good range of counterparts for Blink cameras. But they’re slightly more expensive while having literally similar functionality.
• Nest. This brand makes a variety of cameras intended for smart home use. They offer cameras ranging from very cheap to very expensive, but you may not find whatever you need there.
• Ring. Yes, this brand makes cameras for indoor security. But, although they have a premium quality, you’ll think twice before buying them – they’re way too expensive if you have a limit to your budget.

Basically, there are three lineups alternative to Blink security cameras, and while all of them are compatible with the Ring app, they have their cons. Either you’ll find the assortment lacking or its pricing range won’t fit your wallet capabilities.

Ring App and Blink Camera: User Experiences

There are actually a lot of users who want to combine best price-to-quality solutions among security cameras and doorbells under one app. And Blink cameras combined with Ring app and doorbell proved to be a pretty good combo, both affordable and highly functional. While cameras provide good reliability, quality and ease-of-use, Ring app functionality makes the most out of it.

For all Blink and Ring users concerned, both of those brands are not particularly top-notch, but overall good and have fair pricings, making one of the best indoor security combos available nowadays. It provides a high degree of automation, a great variety of settings and functions along with actual integration into the smart home ecosystem, even though with some complications with the initial setup.

Conclusion

All things considered, if you’ve picked the Blink camera (or several of them) for your Ring app (if you have their video doorbell already), then you already know that they’re compatible with each other. But, sadly, they’re not working with each other out of the box. That’s why you need to do some additional things to make them work together like magic, and the LACWebServices article above is all about it to help you. All you need to look further into the topic and learn some more about how to configure particular services and devices to link Ring app and Blink cameras in a way you want too and need to.