Motion Sensitivity picking up pets when set for People Only

Hey neighbors! Thank you so much for your feedback and for sharing the details about your experience. As we are always looking to perfect our devices, features, and integrations, this feedback is definitely valued by our teams.

There are mentions of People Only Mode and the People Only motion adjustment in this thread, so I wanted to clarify for all neighbors.

People Only Mode is a toggle, within your motion settings in the Ring app, which allows you to only receive alerts for activity that matches human-like behavior. Other events, such as cars passing, will record but should not notify.

People Only on the motion sensitivity slider is an adjustment to motion which allows for the fine-tuning of which events or objects it will detect. Using both People Only features together can certainly improve the experience.

The best first step to improving either experience, I always recommend utilizing all the zones available and avoid using just one big zone. Multiple zones can emphasize and optimize movement detection, as well as help to avoid any common culprits of false motion. Of course, trial and error is always helpful for tailoring your settings to work best with the environment. I hope this helps! :slight_smile:

Marley, Thank you for replying.

1- People only mode: So you are saying it will record other motion but should not alert unless a person is the motion? That’s not what people are reporting. People here are reporting receiving notifications of “other movement” than people. So, the devices are not working even as you have reiterated. I’d be happy if mine did.

2-People only on the motion sensitvity slider: On the app for my device, you have two choices. You can select “people only” and it fixes the slider at about 1/3 sensitivity. The only way to change that slider position is to toggle off people only mode. There is no adjustablility while in people only mode available that I find. In fact if I try to move the slider the app tells me if I want to do that I have to toggle off people only mode.

3-Multiple zones: I cant imagine how this helps with this specific issue. A motion zone is a motion zone. How would one motion zone behave any differently than another? Sure, you can box a zone around a sidewalk for example, but the hypothetical cat can still walk across that zone. The issue is the devices NOT discerning the difference between people and a cat for instance, and notifying of that cat’s motion, instead of not notifying and staying silent while still recording the event as you described above.

So, thanks for the reply, but it doesn’t really address this specific issue the best I can tell. I’d love to be corrected and my device work as specified.

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Totally agree with the points made below

@Dude wrote:

Marley, Thank you for replying.

1- People only mode: So you are saying it will record other motion but should not alert unless a person is the motion? That’s not what people are reporting. People here are reporting receiving notifications of “other movement” than people. So, the devices are not working even as you have reiterated. I’d be happy if mine did.

2-People only on the motion sensitvity slider: On the app for my device, you have two choices. You can select “people only” and it fixes the slider at about 1/3 sensitivity. The only way to change that slider position is to toggle off people only mode. There is no adjustablility while in people only mode available that I find. In fact if I try to move the slider the app tells me if I want to do that I have to toggle off people only mode.

3-Multiple zones: I cant imagine how this helps with this specific issue. A motion zone is a motion zone. How would one motion zone behave any differently than another? Sure, you can box a zone around a sidewalk for example, but the hypothetical cat can still walk across that zone. The issue is the devices NOT discerning the difference between people and a cat for instance, and notifying of that cat’s motion, instead of not notifying and staying silent while still recording the event as you described above.

So, thanks for the reply, but it doesn’t really address this specific issue the best I can tell. I’d love to be corrected and my device work as specified.

@Dude wrote:

Reporting that my wife left from the garage in the van today and the floodlight-cam did not motion alert then or when she returned as it had been. But did motion alert when she walked in front of the camera later. THATS the way its supposed to work. Dont know whats changed. The only thing difference I can think of is I moved the zone out away from the garage door 4-6 feet because it was picking up on activity right outside the garage door like loading the van at the back lift gate. This was daytime, moderate sun/cloud mix.

EDIT!: 6:45AM this morning 1/3/2020 the camera motion detector was activated by a possum. I know it wasn’t a reflection from the lights setting it off because the beginning of the video was in night vision and the possum didn’t set off the lights until it got close to the floodlight.

So, its a fact that this thing is STILL activating on small animals while in people only mode. So, you can either be woken up at random times by non-human activity or turn your notifications off or leave the phone outside the bedroom and have no idea when an actual human is approaching the camera until you look at event history. Anyone who purchased this light for real-time security is likely going to lose some sleep. You might as well get a $20 motion detector and just get up and look out a window when it goes off. It’s useful when away if you can connect to it and you can always answer a motion alert, but the device is not functioning as advertised for this feature.

Right latest update - (Garden cam 1) - i was alerted to motion dected (on people mode) at 7am and i quickly got up (as well as phone i have alerts active on Echo Device) checked video and was amazed to fid it was a bird wondering around the garden!!!

I have installed another wired cam higher up in the garden (Garden cam 2) yesterday and set to people only mode - was alerted to motion detected at 8am this morning - it was my dog who was approx 15ft - 20ft away from the camera.

Because you cant adjust the motion sensitivity on people only mode i have switched this off and manullay adjusted the sensitivity to the lowest level (Garden cam 2) to see what happens. I had to delete a motion zone from Garden cam 1 to aviod picking up the dog as i thought maybe the camera was placed to low hieght wise, but the dog still managed to set garden cam 2 off even at a higher level.

This is now 3 wired cameras that i have in place and they all dont work on people only mode and all trigger motion alerts for animals (the smallest being a bird).

TBH does not matter what i set motion setting too it still triggers to anything! all cameras continue to alert to cats, the dog and even the smoke coming from the water heater flue pipe (maybe due to the heat source!).

Just to put it into prospective i have had up to 94 motion alerts in any given day.

I have now adjusted the motion zones to just cover the perimeter on the walls/fencing and not the actual ground level to see if this reduces the alerts (defeats the whole object of these cameras) but i cant keep chasing all these alerts that dont require any intervention.

I have however found they are higher in the evening when it starts to get dark.

Hoping RING can sort this out!

I turn my motion zones off so frequently, it will occur to me I havent gotten an alert in a while…only to look and realize I forgot to turn the zones back on!

That said, I haven’t had as many false alarms. I don’t know if there just haven’t been movements by small animals or what. It did go off one afternoon…for nothing. There was nothing. Not even a breeze. When an animal triggers it, its has always caught the animal on recording.

I still cant count on the camera so I turn on do not disturb when I’m trying to sleep. This thing seems to know when I’m trying to sleep. That last time it went off for nothing, it was right when I had laid down to take a nap. It’s useless for a security camera when sleeping unless you dont really want to sleep.

Notification AND recording went off again this morning for a cat coming down my driveway. Camera is set on people only mode. It’s picking up small animals STILL. Ring’s and Marley’s description of this “mode” are “human like behaviour”. I’ve not seen too many humans about 7lbs walking on all fours.

This is NOT as advertised. Ring should change its description to “mostly human-like behaviour” because what they advertise now is flat-out false.

On a positive note. Most vehicles are not detected in people only mode. Only my wife’s van when it backs out, especially at night when the floodlights come on. Likely reflecting off the paint on top of the van. Apparently reflections are also “human-like behaviour” with this camera. It wouldn’t be so aggravating if Ring didn’t tell us to expect the camera to isolate and trigger only on humans while in this setting. They should just be honest and tell us they try, but they just haven’t gotten this stuff to work as hoped.

Ring must be waiting for another class action lawsuit until they address customer reported issues and misrepresentation of the product during the sales cycle… just saying…

Additionally, it’s clear that the community manager here is not properly escalating customer issues…

Same issue here. No matter what sensitivity settings I choose, my floodlight cam is triggering alerts for small animals in the dark 20 feet away. I had no idea I had so many midnight visitors in the garden. Four bunnies, a raccoon and a cat, all in the same night. Thing is, I only want to be awakened if a large two-legged creature enters the back yard, not whenever a possum gambols in the distance, but no matter what I do I get critter cam alerts.

Exclusion zones don’t help because the floodlight cam is 9 feet up and the night critters wander wherever they please. If they came up and mugged directly into the camera, I would forgive an alert, but I need a setting that ignores bunny butt at 20 paces.

Tbh I have got to a stage that I just ignore them now and have them on snooze! It has caused so many endless nights of disturbance.

I feel like I want to return them but I have spent so much time and effort installing these I will prob end up waiting for Ring to sort this all out!

Don’t get me started on the whole WiFi connection issue, for the price these cams should have a stronger radio band!

This is driving me mental. I too have it set to “Human Only” or whatever it’s called.
If a car drives up the driveway, it won’t set off the motion until a person gets out (good)
If a cat walks across the driveway (ring ring) I get notified What the Hell?
I have a Boston Terrier and a French Bulldog, and they both set that thing off constantly.

c’mon Ring, if you’re going to have a “Human Only” mode, please make it work.

It is soooo frustrating these cameras with the unusable software have become pointless!

I have spent weeks trying all kinds of ways to work around this and nothing works… the latest was a spider that was not even on the camera or the lens it was about a 1ft maybe away from the camera set of motion alert and i checked the footage and found the culprit - i have stopped looking for humans now when alerts go off, i tend to go into david attenborough mode :laughing:

Every time I start to think, “hey, the camera is not false alarming lately” I disciver my motion zones are turned off from the last time I didnt want it recording every activity my wife and I do in view of the camera.

12 flipping taps/steps to turn off and on, 2 motion zones. Someday I hope someone with a few brain cells to rub together figures that a kill switch right on the dashboard when you open the app to disable the camera is a good idea. Most of Ring’s customers do, I’m sure.

I did get something I wanted from this floodlight cam at least, and that is the ability to look out that end of my house when my driway alarms trigger (which do work good, only a few false alarms once in a while…NOT a Ring product) without running all the way upstairs to look out the only window that faces that way.

I also get a heads up when my parents up and decide to walk over. I had them build a house next door to me, but the downside is they and people from there walk on a trail to come over, so the driveway alarms, which only detect steel…or something like a squirrel shaking them, dont alert us. The floodlight cam does, but usually by the time I can see what it is, they are on my doorstep!

It’s a nice resolution camera that gives me the ability to look that way or see if someone comes around when I’m gone (I should say “came around”) but I cant use it as a nighttime security device…and still actually sleep without it waking me up for no good reason.

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I have the same thing happening. Pets used to never set off alarm but over the past 4 months it has. I would like to know if a fix since we have 4 cats and the motion is being set off many times a day.

My ring sensitivity has increased on its own.

Hi, I also am having the same problem with the stick up cam Elite wired. I am receiving alerts picking up cats when my motion sensitivity is set to people only. If i toggle off people only and set my sensitivity to the lowest setting available, i still receive same alerts so this setting doesnt seem to make any differnce. I have contacted Ring who initially told me that i havent a problem until i pointed out that on the Ring website it states “These PIRs are pet friendly and have settings calibrated to ignore heat sources from animals 13KG or less on medium setting”

My only option at this time is to turn of motion detection at night to save countless alerts throughout the night

I was asked to send a live video clip to Ring of my motion detection which i have and was told a Ring team leader would contact me within 24 hours. I received a email within few hours stating " glad we were able to assist you and is there anything else". A further email informing me the team is working on this issue and i will be contacted once a fix is found.

I am not confident a fix will be found as this issue has been ongoing since October 2019 or possibly before. My cameras are new so thinking of returning.

is there any firm update on a possible fix for this known and reported issue? Thanks

I wouldn’t mind if they would take a look at some of my videos to diagnose what’s going on. It’s an indoor wired camera where I’ve set the motion zones to only where they would need to be to pick up possible intruders wandering around, and although it keeps being suggested that reflective surfaces might cause problems, I just don’t think I have anything like that causing any problems. I have lots and lots and lots of video footage, several every single day, of my 10 pound cat walking across the floor, coming out from under a table, or climbing his cat tree. Occasionally one is completely baffling – like when he just cuts across a room’s corner where there isn’t a great deal of motion and not a very large portion of the motion zone changing. People mode is on, and it’s surprising how often he appears to be a person to the camera’s software. The back yard, on the other hand, a floodlight cam, seems to have improved inexplicably in no longer recording the dog next door since I tightened up the zones. He still kicks on the light, but not the camera. There appear to be different sensing rules for just the light than for the camera. I still wish he wouldn’t keep tripping the light, but I’m OK with that as long as I don’t have a long collection of dog videos too.

We had some sun come out this morning and it was showing through the road opp with house on each side of the road, so i bit like the sun shining through the a funnel and it was shining up on my drive.

The motion alerts went crazy!!! everytime somene walked passed my home on the main pavement their body caused a shadow through the sun that was reflecting on my drive, even though the person (human/people) was nowhere near my set motion zone their shadow was!! it wasnt until i watched all the motion footage i came across the common trigger a shadow of a person (human/people) refelcting through a ray of sunshine on the floor across my motion zone.

REALLY!! so we have trees, bushes, wind, boiler flu pipes, rain, spiders, cats, dogs, birds, critters/ all animals, human/people shadow reflections , ghosts and smoke. very quick in identifying these intruders but very slow in identifying real risks.

You would think i was talking about a cheap chinese knock off and then complaining :confounded:

Something has changed in the last year. I have a floodlight camera on our front driveway just before our gate. The orginal camera did just fine in picking up any vehicle/person that came into the zone i had set. After several months it stopped picking up vehicles. I tried differen/multiple zones, nothing worked. I talked to customer support on two seperate occasions and during the last conversation they suggested that they had made a change to the “algorithim” and that they would send the old “algrithim” to the camera and had me reboot the camera. Nothing changed. I even went as far as to buy a new camera and install it and nothing is any different. The camera currently can pick up squirrels, cats, and the once in a while spider, but 90% of the time it will not pick up my large p/u truck, the UPS truck or most any other vehicle that pulls up. I am not worried about people, i want to know when a vehicle pulls up to my closed, or even open gate. $500.00 and many, many hours and i can’t get the camera to recogonize when a very large object fills the screen but a 12" squireel occupying nine one hundred the screen will set it off everything!! AND i have tried every setting, zone size until i am blue in the face!!!

Well some more sunshine this morning and a whole lot more shadow alerts!! Oh yeah how can i forget the stray cat that woke me up at 1am setting off alerts (stupidly i have alerts set on my echo devices as well as my phone and several other family members phones) so not just me that got disturbed.

I feel these cameras are uselss for outdoors! i only brought them in Dec 19 so i have no idea how good they were before this time! starting to think i have wasted near enough £600.

All these great reviews and youtube videos were very misleading.