With a HomeKit Secure Video camera or doorbell, you can use the Home app to receive notifications when people you’ve tagged in the Photos app come to your door.
It identifies people by their faces in your photo library or in pictures of recent visitors your camera or doorbell captures. You choose who can access your photo library, and you can add a name for a recent visitor who isn’t in it, like Mom or Mail Carrier. You can even let members of your household see the names of visitors.
Set up Face Recognition
Faces in your photo library, or in pictures of recent visitors captured by your camera or doorbell, are how Face Recognition identifies people.
If you’re setting up a camera or doorbell for the first time, do the following:
- Start the Home app on your iPad.
- Add the accessory to the Home app.
- In the Recognize Familiar Faces card, turn on Face Recognition. Then tap Continue.
- Choose who can access your photo library:
- Never: Only faces you’ve added from clips in the Home app are recognized.
- Only Me: Only the notifications you receive have the names of people in your photo library.
- Everyone in this Home: The notifications for everyone in your home have the names of people in your photo library.
- Tap Continue. Then finish setting up the camera or doorbell.
If you have an existing doorbell or camera and want to use it to identify visitors, tap it on the Home app, tap the Settings button, tap Face Recognition, then turn on Face Recognition. Tap your photo library, then choose who can access it.
Note: Notifications can appear on any device that’s associated with your Apple Account.
Identify recent visitors
If someone isn’t in your photo library, a picture captured by your camera or doorbell can help Face Recognition identify them.
- Start the Home app on your iPad.
- With Face Recognition turned on, tap Home in the sidebar.
- On the Home tab, tap the camera or doorbell. Tap the Settings button.
- Tap Face Recognition and tap an unidentified person listed below Recent. Then tap Add Name.
- Add the person’s name or their relationship to you—Mom or Mail Carrier, for example.
- Choose whether to be notified when they’re seen by your camera or doorbell.
Note: People with a face mask don’t appear in this list.
Share faces with your household
It’s your choice whether the members of your household see the names of visitors identified in your photo library.
- Start the Home app on your iPad.
- With Face Recognition turned on, tap the More button. Then tap Home Settings.
- Tap Cameras & Doorbells and tap Face Recognition.
- Tap your photo library and tap Everyone in this Home.
See also
