Let’s start with some bad news: Amazon is discontinuing Cloud Cam support this year. The company launched the proprietary security camera system in 2017, but after only five years on the market, is closing down shop for good. The good news is you won’t be left without a security camera option, since Amazon is offering affected customers a Blink Mini for free.
As reported by MacRumors, Amazon is ending support for Cloud Cam products and apps on Dec. 2, 2022. When they say “ending support,” they mean it, too: once the deadline hits, your cameras and their apps stop working, and all data will be deleted, including all of your saved recordings. That gives you roughly six months to save any and all videos from your Cloud Cam app before they’re gone for good.
If you’re a happy Cloud Cam user, this news might come as a bit of a shock. Most of us don’t expect a product to become totally useless when the maker of that product arbitrarily decides “it’s time.” After all, most tech can be used or repurposed after a company drops support. While you might not receive updates or new features, you usually can expect to use some or all of the features you paid for originally, at least until the product stops working on its own. Not this time.
Amazon will give you a Blink Mini for your Cloud Cam
Based on the comment sections of articles reporting this news, it seems customers feel a bit burned by this business practice. Amazon presumably saw that coming, and they seem to be trying to soften the blow by offering a free transition to Blink, the camera company Amazon acquired the same year they launched Cloud Cam. So long as your Cloud Cam has been active sometime in the past six months, you’re eligible to receive a Blink Mini (typically $34.99) for each active Cloud Cam device on your account. In addition, if you have a Cloud Cam Key Edition, you will receive both a Blink Mini and a fourth-generation Echo.
