Solved: New to lights and the bridge - how do I share?

I am new to lights and the bridge, how do I share controls with my shared users?

Hey @Angruss. The Smart Lighting system is unable to be shared with other users at this time, and only the owner will have control of the lights at this time. Although, this is a great idea and something we have gotten feedback on before and passed onto our teams! In addition, as we value our neighbors’ feedback, we’ve created a Feature Request board. Feel free to add this and any future feature requests there. This will help us to organize and share your requests with our teams here, as well as allow other neighbors to comment and add interest, all in one place. :slight_smile:

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Hello Chelsea_Ring.

I am a subscriber and have multiple light groups. I am concerned that before purchasing all the lights I researched your help site and found the post below, but found it to be untrue once I purchased and installed my ligths. One would go as far as saying it is false advertising and who knows how many customers would then be returning their lights for refund. This issue must be addressed promptly.

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Can I share control of Groups with other people on my Ring app?
Yes. The amount of control they have over the Group depends on their Role. The abilities each Role has are listed below:

  • Owner: In addition to being able to view cameras and view and share videos, the Owner can also add new Users, create or eliminate Groups, add or eliminate devices from a Group, adjust Group settings, and grant access to Shared Users and Guest Users. Owners can also manually turn Groups on and off and determine how long they stay on as well as disabling individual lights within a Group so they don’t activate when motion is detected.
  • Shared User: A Shared User cannot change Group settings, but can view cameras and view and share videos (Access to particular devices within a Group can be granted or taken away by the Owner.) Shared Users can also manually turn Groups on and off and determine how long they stay on as well as disabling individual lights within a Group so they don’t activate when motion is detected.
  • Guest User: Guest Users cannot access Group controls.

Click here to learn more about Users and Roles.

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Hi there, @kbmtech. While there are many Ring devices, different product lines might operate with it’s own ecosystem in a way. Such as how the Ring Cameras and Doorbells are housed individually in the Ring app and utilize wifi, but Ring Alarm is grouped under the Security Sytem section of the Ring app, and communicate via Base Station. Ring Smart Lighting is similar in this sense, and at this time Smart Lighting groups are not able to be shared.

At Ring we are always working to improve and add to our devices and features. For this reason, there are various grouping, linking, and sharing features available for different devices. You might see this referenced in different help center articles, in order to cover the many possibilities that can be obtained. As all Ring devices have the ability to be linked in one way or another, many options can be controlled through these settings such as Alarm linking to trigger a Camera recording during an emergency signal or Smart Lighting activating from a Video Doorbell motion event. As some Ring Cameras feature built in lights and light linking options (not related to Smart Lighting), this will also be mentioned as an option.

As we always value our neighbor experience, I’d be happy to share this feedback with the team for consideration on word usage. Feel free to include the link or originating url in which you came across the information you shared above. In case any neighbors have the same question, and just to reiterate, Smart Lighting Groups do not allow Shared User access or control at this time.

That’s a lot if words to circumvent Ring’s lack of response to address the basic issue which is s the light groups are useless if only one user can turn them on/off. How would you feel if your refrigerator only allowed your spouse to open the door? Or your toilet only allowed you to flush it even if someone else used it? That’s how the rest if us who spent our money on Ring lights feel about this. And the fact the lights cannot be removed from groups to enable sharing makes it even worse. I can only imagine I am not the only subscriber who’s looking at alternatives right now.

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I have this same issue with sharing lights. Now on top of what’s is already mentioned, you have to remove cameras with light from any group to share.

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@Chelsea_Ring … This should not need to be a feature request from users. This i basic functionality. Do you think everyone in a family should have to ask mom or dad to turn on/off a light?

As noted elsewhere, it is also inconsistent with your help articles/instructions, which say it can be shared. I read somewhere to take the light off the group, and then share it. This doesn’t work either.

At best, this is just plain poor customer service. It’s also deceptive, and perhaps warrants a filing for Ring not delivering functionality promised.

Shame on ring.

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RING WAKE UP! This is a JOKE that you cannot share lights and Bridge with other home users. Complete and utter J O K E !!!

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Not solved! Will Ring ever fix?

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Just trying to stay connected with this still unsolved issue!

What a poor design! A light only one person can use makes no sense. My husband sometimes works nights and I need to be able to turn on the light. Since I can’t, we’re having to look at other options. We’ll be letting others at his work know not to get Ring smart lights for their families. Ring, this is not what we’d expect from your products. It should say in huge letters when you purchase it “Light only one user can operate”.

Hey neighbors. Shared Users do not yet have the ability to access Ring Smart Lights or Light Groups. This is a popular feature request that you can vote for and add interest to here. Thank you for adding value to this feature request.

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I have doorbell set to record when lights detect motion. I get a message that the lights detected motion. However, since I cannot share the smart lights with my wife, she does not get notified, and also cannot control the lights.
As we are not always together, she is at a disadvantage because of this. PLEASE add sharing to smart lights.