Amazon is ending Cloud Cam service and offering owners a free Blink Mini

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge

Amazon will no longer support the Cloud cam security camera and will give owners a free blink mini to replace it. The change was noted by MacRumors last week and an email was sent to customers announcing the change. Cloud cam owners will be able to use their cameras and download video until December 2nd of this year, after which all recordings will be deleted and the hardware will no longer function. The ability to connect to smart locks will be lost for customers with the Cloud Cam Key Edition, but they can get a free fourth-generation echo to replace it.

As the number of smart home devices continues to grow, we are focusing efforts on Ring, Blink, and other technologies that make your home smarter and simpler. Amazon said in an email that it would no longer support Amazon Cloud cam and its companion apps.

Amazon stated in a statement that it will continue to offer innovative smart home security solutions for its customers through its Ring and Blink brands.

Instructions for redeeming the free blink mini and echo will be sent to Cloud cam owners before the December 2nd deadline. The one-year subscription to Blink Subscription Plus is usually $10 per month or $100 per year. A subscription is required for many features, including rapid access to videos and motion-activated recording. Cloud cam required a paid subscription for advanced features, but it also offered some free options.

After Amazon acquired the security camera makers, the Cloud cam lineup ended. Amazon is following a pattern of bricking smart home hardware because they don't want to support its ecosystem. Customers won't be left completely without recourse thanks to the replacement, but they will still end up with some useless hardware that they may have bought a few years ago.