Arming and disarming are the two crucial features of blink security cameras. The purpose of these features is to make your blink camera more secure by adding an additional layer of settings. However, if you’ve got this camera recently and using it for the first time, you might get confused with these terms. You might want to know the basic difference between blink armed and disarmed mode.
Let’s get straight to the blink armed vs disarmed. Long story short, the arm mode in the blink camera will activate motion detection, recordings, and notification security alerts. This mode will make your home more secure by continuously detecting motions near the camera. On the other hand, disarmed mode on the blink camera will simply turn off the motion detection, recordings, and alert notifications.
Side note: Here’s the video version of this post:
Both armed and disarmed mode of blink cameras have their own use cases. For example, while armed mode activates the motion detection and other security features, disarmed mode, on the other hand, can help you access the live view and two-way audio tabs.
And, that’s what this post is all about. This guide explains a detailed comparison between blink armed vs disarmed modes. Additionally, we will discuss how to enable these modes and which mode should be used and when.
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Blink Armed Vs Disarmed
As mentioned, blink armed and disarmed refers to turning vital security features in these cameras ON or OFF. You can apply these modes to monitor an area’s activity or you can stop monitoring when it’s unnecessary.
Below is a quick comparison between armed and disarmed with Blink.
| Modes | Motion Detection | Motion video recording & alerts | Live view | Two way audio |
| Armed | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Disarmed | No | No | Yes | Yes |
What happens when blink camera is armed?
When you enabled “armed” mode in the blink camera, it will activate the motion detection and video recording facilities whenever certain activities occur near the camera field of view.
The armed mode in the blink camera also enables video recording whenever motion detection triggers. It will then automatically send you the alert notification on your mobile phone.
If you have cloud storage on blink, recorded videos will be stored for 60 days. This mode is beneficial when you are on vacation or holiday and want to monitor your property.
What happens when blink camera is disarmed?
Suppose you are at home and having some party in the area around your home. Or let’s say, kids are playing in the backyard. At this moment, enabling armed mode will keep sending you alert notifications.
Getting multiple alert notifications may irritate you.
In such cases, you can disarm your blink system.
The process will stop motion detection and video-sharing features for that specific camera. If camera lenses see any motion in this mode, the recording won’t start, and no notification will be sent to you.
However, you can still access the live view and two audio tab facilities.
How to enable blink armed mode?
There are a couple of options available to enable the armed mode in the blink camera. You can enable the mode by navigating the Blink app on your mobile. If you want faster methods, you can schedule the arm mode or use voice commands to activate it. These steps will automate the process and make security activation easier.
Still, below are a few methods that helps you enable armed mode in blink camera:
Method 1: Arming blink camera manually
The very first method is, obviously, enabling manually. For this, go to the blink app and toggle the arm option to proceed.
Once the blink is armed, alternatively, you can activate motion detection and motion alert facilities.
A blue running man icon refers to the activation of motion, and a gray running man icon means disabled the feature.
- First, open a Blink app on your mobile or laptop.
- Log in to the app using your username and password.
- Tap on the device and select the blink camera which will be armed.
- Scroll down and go to the bottom right corner.
- Toggle the armed option to activate.
- Once the blink is armed, a pop-up message appears for confirmation; tap done.
Method 2: Arming blink camera with schedule mode
Besides the manual process, you can also armed mode in blink camera using a schedule feature. Scheduling your blink system helps to customize the arming time for your security camera.
Suppose your kids play in the backyard from 4 pm to 5 pm. At that time, you may want to disarm the blinking camera to avoid false alerts.
Similarly, if you go outside at a specific time, you can automate the arming by activating the schedule mode.
So below are the steps to schedule the “armed” mode on blink camera:
- First, open the Blink app and log in to your account.
- Scroll down and click on the setting icon at the bottom.
- Select your system and go to the setting page.
- Locate the scheduling and click on it to customize.
- Tap the “+” icon and adjust the date, AM, PM, armed or disarmed.
- Once you set the scheduling, save it to automate the process.
- If you want to delete some previous scheduling, tap the “trash icon” below
Method 3: Arming blink camera with Alexa or amazon echo
As you may know, blink cameras can be armed or disarmed using the Alexa voice command. Since Amazon acquired Blink, users can navigate and optimize their Blink system from their comfort zones.
But first, your camera should be linked with Amazon Alexa and enable the Blink Alexa skill function. After that, you can follow the below commands to arm or disarm the system with Alexa or amazon echo.
- Alexa, ask Blink to arm or system name to specify the camera.
- Similarly, command Alexa, ask Blink to disarm, and my pin is ###.
To disarm your blink camera, you must tell your AI device the authentication pin. It helps to prevent anyone from closing your camera.
How to arm individual blink cameras?
You might be curious to know if there is a way to enable armed mode in a specific blink camera.
Unfortunately, there is only one way to arm an individual camera by simultaneously arming the entire system.
However, you can turn off a specific camera’s motion detection, alerts, and video recording features. Still, you can arm/disarm specific cameras if you have separate sync modules.
Remember, blink cameras have multiple 25-degree rectangle viewing angles. Users are allowed to turn off particular viewpoints at a time. You can function blink systems as a stand-alone to arm and disarm for multiple sync modules.
Should We Keep Blink Camera Armed or Disarmed?
Arming or disarming allows users to monitor their property or stop sending alerts when needed; you can adjust the setting according to your circumstances.
Keep arming your blink system when you should be outside the home, leaving for vacation, or sleeping at nighttime. That’s how you can monitor your privacy without any worries. Whenever motion detects near your home, you will be notified for the same and you’ll get alert.
Alternatively, when you are at home, there is no need for privacy in a specific space. You can disarm the camera and stop activating motion detection or alerts.
Many users follow this method during maintenance or routine activities at a particular time. You can also disarm a specific camera when your pets or kids are playing in that area.
Common Blink Armed vs Disarmed Troubleshooting
During blink arming and disarming, users may face trouble functioning the setting correctly. Sometimes, these security cameras develop unwanted issues like failing to rm, stopping recording video, and others. In this case, you can take a few simple steps to troubleshoot the problem, So the following are below.
Blink Cameras Failed to Arm
Did your blink camera continuously fail to arm? Don’t worry. There may be a network issue, or the system is offline.
You should delete the camera and connect it again. Additionally, you should power cycle the blink camera by turning it off and removing the plug from the power outlet.
Similarly, power cycle the modem and reconnect the devices to check.
Blink Camera Armed, But Not Video Recording
Another problem users face is armed blink cameras won’t record video. In this case, the poor network could be a reason for the occasion.
In such cases, inspect the internet signal and power cycle your router. Open the Blink app and adjust motion detection, sensitivity, and recording settings.
Blink Camera Keeps Disarming Itself
Lastly comes a problem that is common in old blink systems. Did your blink camera keep disarming itself?
You might have turned ON schedule feature on your blink camera. Sometimes users automatically disarm their blink system and forget.
In this case, turning off the scheduling may solve the problem. If the trouble doesn’t fix, contact the Blink support team to investigate the issue.
Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs)
When the blink camera is armed, it turns on video recording whenever motion detects on its lenses. Similarly, the system sends alerts to your phone.
To detect motion, you don’t have to arm your blink camera. If you turn off motion detection in the arm system, live view is still operable, but alerts stop receiving.
Arm away and staying on Blink refers to Blink being disarmed or armed. So the arm blink system activates motion detection and video alerts while disarmed does not.
Your blink camera takes random pictures because the photo-capturing feature is enabled. These security cameras take thumbnail photos every hour or once daily to convert them into video clips. It helps to monitor outside activity by photo clip instead of motion alert.
You can arm the blinking camera automatically by scheduling the time zone. Users can use this function to set date, time, arm, or disarm specific systems.
Conclusion
Finally, in this post we learned blink armed vs disarmed mode. Their key differences and how does motion detection works in armed and disarmed mode.
We hope you got clear answers related armed and disarmed.
Concluding everything, armed or disarmed refers to security features in blink cameras.
Armed Blink ensures that motion detection, alerts, and video recording is ON. On the other hand, disarmed mode means all security features are disabled.
Users simultaneously use these features according to their needs. If you go outside, vacation, or need privacy on your property, keep your blink-armed to be safe. While on the other hand, if you’ve organized a party or the kids are playing, keeping your blink camera disarmed is a better option to stop receiving fake alter notifications.
