How to see a video doorbell on a TV or tablet

[@MeDroiD]

Hey friend, Any chance this is somewhat replicable in an iPad? Thanks!

[@michaelsleen]

The solution I show relies on the Fully Kiosk Browser, which sadly is not available for iPad. I have seems folks turn on Guided Access mode on iPad for a tablet dashboard, but I don’t have an iPad to test this out, and it wouldn’t solve for showing the video doorbell on it.

[@manuelrodil1641]

Great video, I own a Google TV and the way I did it was streaming the doorbell camera to the TV for a min and then stop the stream. Not picture in picture tho. Sharing the automation alias: Front Camera on TV description: "" triggers: - trigger: state entity_id: - binary_sensor.front_door_person_detected to: "on" conditions: [] actions: - if: - condition: state entity_id: media_player.sony_xr_75x90k state: "on" then: - action: camera.play_stream data: format: hls media_player: media_player.basement_tv_2 target: entity_id: camera.front_doorbell_wifi_main - delay: hours: 0 minutes: 1 seconds: 0 milliseconds: 0 - action: media_player.media_stop metadata: {} data: {} target: entity_id: media_player.basement_tv_2 mode: single

[@stigs1073]

Great video! But what if you don`t have an iPhone and still want an img og video stream on your Apple TV? Can this be done with a Ring video doorbell?

[@michaelsleen]

One option is to run Homebridge on a server with the Ring plug-in installed.

[@dusnoki]

You lost me at Apple :D

[@michaelsleen]

😞

[@dusnoki]

And for the record i do currently use an iPhone :)

[@MrBilliam29]

As someone who is new to even the research phase of this solution, there is a fundamental question I have never seen answered regarding the Apple TV functionality. Assuming the correct device compatibility and configuration, does the pop-up functionality work for every single thing you could conceivably be doing with the Apple TV? In other words, is there anything you could be doing on the Apple TV which would suppress a doorbell pop-up overlay?

[@harrystamas8728]

I have the native Apple TV video pop up feature enabled (no Home Assistant work around) and if turned on in the Apple TV system settings, the notification pop up appears no matter what you are doing on the Apple TV. I have never found and instance that it doesn't. Maybe when playing a full screen game? That's the only. thing I dont ever use my Apple TV for so I can't answer for that scenario.

[@MrBilliam29]

Thank you very much for sharing your experience. I kind of assumed I would have seen at least some mention somewhere if the pop-up behavior was conditional in any manner. It's good to hear a current user explicitly state that it isn't.

[@michaelsleen]

It pops up every time for us when watching the TV.

[@dmiller9786]

A couple of exotic things to try in home assistant. The integration start/stop function may work to disable the doorbell homekit on the HA side. The doorbell would still work for the non-homekit functions. Another would be to temporarily block the AppleTV from the homekit hub by a fire wall rule This can be done in unifi integration if one is using unifi networking. Of course you would need to have more than one homekit hub enabled.

[@dmiller9786]

I'm not sure why I would show a just still image on the tablet. I show the webRTC video feed. This can be set up to talk to the person at the door. I also check to see if the tablet is in use before taking over the screen to show the door video feed. In addition to the doorbell feed , a tablet can be set up to show a person or car outside under certain conditions, assuming the camera system has object detection. Also, triggering on "person at front door" instead of the doorbell button push is an option for people who have camera systems with person detection. This trigger shows not only the doorbell pushers but also delivery people and weirdos.

[@michaelsleen]

I’m using it to generate an image when a person rings the doorbell. I don’t need to watch the person moving in real time, just an image to see who it is. But I can see why some may want the live video feed.

[@dmiller9786]

@@michaelsleen Where I live UPS/FEDEX ring the bell. If they wait, they want a signature. Aslo, another way to handle the doorbell is conditional trigger in the dashboard itself that displays video without server side intervention. The video display space doesn't show when the trigger conditions aren't met. So many options in HA.

[@harrystamas8728]

I'd be very intested in how to do this on an Nvidia Shield or similar Android TV device.

[@manuelrodil1641]

Hi, check my comment, maybe it will help you.

[@michaelsleen]

Another person commented with their solution for Android TVs.

[@chriskober1]

Theres a notification blueprint that works on google TV no need for a tablet.

[@michaelsleen]

I mean it depends on your personal setup and what you want. We have on TV and it's in the basement, and we have a wall-mounted tablet on the main floor in the kitchen, so seeing a notification on both is nice for us.