How to Turn Your Echo Show Into a Home Video Monitor in a Few Easy Steps

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Amazon’s Echo Show just got a new feature called Home Monitoring that could be very helpful when you’re away from home. Now you can use your Echo Show as a home video monitor so you can check on pets, loved ones, or the state of your home when you’re away.

Using the Alexa app on your phone or other Alexa devices, you’ll be able to see what’s going on back home while you’re away. With Home Monitoring, you can turn on the Echo Show camera and watch its live video feed from your phone, other Alexa device, or Fire TV.

Hear a noise in the kitchen in the middle of the night? Use Home Monitoring to see whether it’s your teenager getting a midnight snack or your dog playing with his favorite chew toy.

By taking a few minutes to enable Home Monitoring on your Echo Show, you’ll be able to watch your home from afar or view another room without leaving the comfort of your chair. If you decide later that you don’t want Home Monitoring turned on, you can disable it from your Echo Show or the Alexa app.

How to Set Up Home Monitoring

Home Monitoring can be set up only from the Echo Show, not from the Alexa app, presumably for privacy purposes.

Swipe down from the screen of your Echo Show to reveal the menu bar at the top. Tap Settings => Camera => Home Monitoring.

To the right of Home Monitoring is a toggle switch. The default setting is Off. Swipe right to turn Home Monitoring On.

Below Home Monitoring are two options for how this feature will work: Video Delay and Audio Alert. Your selections may depend upon your living situation. If you live by yourself, you can make your own decisions about these options. If you live with others, you may want to discuss with your housemates/family members about turning these options on.

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Video Delay

Video Delay is a feature that works just as it sounds. When Home Monitoring is activated with Video Delay turned on, the Echo Show camera will display a blurred image for a few seconds. This gives anyone who is on camera a chance to prepare themselves or leave the room before the camera focuses. Turn on Video Delay in the Echo Show Home Monitor Settings if you want to give others in your household a moment to get ready for the live video feed to start.

Audio Alert

With Audio Alert turned on, Echo Show will play a sound when Home Monitoring begins. Anyone in the room will hear a chime when the Echo Show begins to stream live video. A different chime plays when Home Monitoring ends.

With Audio Alert turned off, the person in the room with the Echo Show won’t know that live video is being streamed from the Echo Show unless that person happens to be looking at the Echo Show screen.

Finishing Home Monitoring Setup

After you have turned on Home Monitoring and have chosen whether to turn on Video Delay and Audio Alert on your Echo Show, tap Done. You’ll be asked to enter the password to your Amazon account and may be sent a two-factor verification code on your phone to verify your account.

Using Home Monitoring on the Alexa App or Other Alexa Devices

After you have set up Home Monitoring, you can watch the live video feed from the Alexa app on your phone, other Echo Show devices, and the Fire TV. All of these must be logged into the same Amazon account as your Echo Show to watch the video feed.

Note that the person who is being viewed by Home Monitoring can end the video feed by tapping Done on the Echo Show screen.

Alexa App

To view a live video feed from your home, open the Alexa app on your phone. Tap Devices in the bottom menu bar, then Cameras on the next screen. You should see the name of the Echo Show with Home Monitoring enabled. Tap the name of the Echo Show to begin watching a live video feed from your home.

Tip => turn your phone to landscape mode to see the best view of the video stream.

Other Alexa Devices

You can also use Home Monitoring to watch video feeds on other Echo Show devices or Amazon Fire TV. Just say, “Alexa, show me (name of your Echo Show device)” to start Home Monitoring and view the video feed from your home.

Echo Show 10 (3rd Gen) Movement Detection

If you have a 3rd generation Echo Show 10, you can set up a Routine for your Echo Show to turn on Home Monitoring and send you an alert if it detects a person entering the room. See Amazon’s Home Monitoring Help Page for instructions on how to set up this Routine.

Home Monitoring vs. Drop In

Home Monitoring may sound a lot like Drop In, another Echo Show feature that can help you watch live video from an Echo Show. With Drop In you can place video calls to other Echo Show devices without them having to answer. But they have to give permission for you to Drop In on them.

With Home Monitoring, you can only view video feeds from Echo Show devices linked to your Amazon account. Another difference is that with Drop In, your video is shown on the screen of the Echo Show whose camera you’re viewing. With Home Monitoring, your video doesn’t show on the screen.

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What Echo Show Home Monitoring Can’t Do

If you need a true video security system, then Home Monitoring on Echo Show may not be enough for you.

Neither your Echo Show nor your Alexa app will record what the camera shows with Home Monitoring. You can record your screen using your phone, but the Alexa app doesn’t offer that feature.

The Echo Show camera will display what the camera lens can capture based on the position of your Echo Show. If you have the most recent Echo Show 10, you can move the Show from side to side, though not up and down.

This video from Amazon shows how the Echo Show 10 can move side to side:

You may have to change the position of your Echo Show if you want to check on smaller pets when you’re out of the house.

Compatibility

Home Monitoring is currently available on Echo Show and Echo Spot devices.

Your Thoughts

Do you like the idea of using your Echo Show as a Home Monitor? Will you enable Home Monitoring on your Echo Show? Will you turn on Video Delay and Audio Alert?

Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!