HomeKit Camera Snapshots not updating

There is an ongoing credit discussion for this:

camera_snapshots_stuck_showing_now_but_image_is

it seems to have all started this week Monday.

I've done a lot of troubleshooting and able to correct the issue, but it ends up returning.

1. Things that solve it but made it come back:
2. factory reset iPhone
3. delete home + accessories and start again
4. Remove cameras only from home and re add them

I have filed a radar and have an apple support case open but I won't be hearing back from them til 6th Jan apparently.

Another piece of info:

• happening in my iOS iPhone 13 pro
• home App
• 2 laptops are ok
• Apple Watch ok
• Purchased home+ app and it works OK!!
• other native camera apps (nest) also work on.

The fact that other apps show preview ok suggests issue seems to be focused on Home app alone.

I have confirmed logging out of iCloud then logging back in corrects it, temporarily. Once a reboot occurs snapshots do not refresh. On some devices, not all cameras are present.

This is consistent on iPad IOS 15.2, IOS 15.2, MAC OS 12.1 and Watch OS 8.3, tvOS 15.2. I can not confirm if the fault is within the device or cloud service. The issue did start sometime after the update to 15.2, 8.3, 12.1 (respectively speaking).

I can not confirm which is the cause, the device or server-side, as the time of fault was not observed immediately after the OS update. I notice a video refresh issue earlier this week. OS updates 15.2, 12.1 and 8.3 were released on December 13, 2021. I did update my device OS within a couple of days of the release.

My logic to my cause analysis, if this issue was immediately after the OS update and a reboot occurred the same day (13th /14th) this would lead towards the device. If the issue didn't occur this week and the devices were updated and a reboot after post-reboot on the 13th /14th, a 15.2 boot (2nd boot since the update) then I would suspect a server-side issue (iCloud).

Devices the issue was observed on:

• M1 12.9 iPad
• A12X 12.9 iPad
• iPhone 12
• iMac 2017 late
• Series 7 45mm
• Series 6 40mm
• Apple TV HD

Ok lets see if we can figure this out. I have an iPhone 11 Pro Max, I have an older iPad and a MacBook Pro M1 all fully updated. This is only happing on the iPhone 11 all my other devices are working as they should. I read on a other forum that if you sign out of iCloud and sign back in again it will fix the problem. I have not done this as it is more of a hassle in my opinion, at least for me. Is anyone willing to try this or have already? This does not seem to be a Homekit issue as it is only affecting one device.

No I didn’t. It’s still working, so I think I’ll leave it be for now. I also haven’t checked my other devices to see if they are still working. I’ve had to many issues with HomeKit in this iPhone, my issue went to the engineers still no fix but they said it was a issue with HomeKit and the iPhone 11. I’m sure I’ll have to reboot my IPhone in the near future just to get HomeKit to respond and I’ll post back.

Problem is happening on my MacBook Pro M1 too and yes by exiting and re-entering from iCloud account seems to fix the issue but the question is that I can't do that on my iPhone since I'd loose wallet cards...and really I don't want to re-add them again.

Hi,

I have noticed this issue on my iPhone 13 pro max, my iPad Pro M1 and my Mac mini M1. They are all in the latest software versions (iOS 15.2 and macOS 12.1). The camera screenshots are blacks or with 1 day old screenshots.

Interesting aspect is that my iPad Pro on iOS 15.1 still work properly with camera screenshots. Also funny thing I shared the home with a friend on his iPhone 11 on iOS 15.2 and camera screenshots works well.

So I do not understand this issue and how to solve it.

Same here. It was a pain in the *** having to re-add my wallet, but so far so good. Signing out of iCloud and signing back in fixed the issue on my iPhone 13 Pro Max (whereas my MacBook and my iPad were never affected).

Same, pain in the behind. I still have not been able to add one card back to the watch, just got off the iPhone with the card issuer so hopefully in 15-30 minutes i'll be able to add that card back to the watch, I was able to add it back to the iPhone with no issues.

The Home app (and HomeKit experience), has been a major disappointment for me, with this camera thumbnail issue just the latest of many basic problems. If Apple is not capable of creating and supporting a home automation platform that is on par with the expected experience, they should discontinue it. After all, anything so-branded generally costs twice as much as other similar equipment, evidently simply because of the Apple logo.

Hmm, let's hope they pull their pants up. I agree they need to focus on a stable product that is one of Apple's pillars of success. The best thing you can do is call support and place a complaint about the service.

Interesting thought, to move to use a different platform, with that a question comes up is Apple more secure than the other platforms?

It is disappointing. Include the fact the wife keeps nagging, why are the Cameras not working?

Update,

The problem continues to exist in my home. I did try the logout and back into iCloud, this returned service for approximately one day.

The best action for everyone concerned is to call Apple support. The more number of support incidents will raise awareness of the issue to management. This is will focus resources to resolve the issue.

This is not resolved for me either. I tried rebooting the iPhone and the only change I got is that instead of the old screenshots now all cameras are just black. And there is still no "count down" time as it is supposed to be, it always says "now".

Also getting this issue… mine went off on 29th December - 22:29… can still see camera time stamp on the old snapshot!

Another thing which may be unrelated, HomeKit in general has become slow to update over last few days! What used to be instant is now a good few seconds of all devices saying “updating” before I can use! Thought it was all linked but maybe not…!