I am pleased to introduce the first Orthodox three times daily Internet Minyan (iMinyan) live streamed. The Internet Minyan will stream daily Shacharis, Mincha, and Maariv, except of course on Shabbos and Yom Tov. 

At the outbreak of COVID-19, Zoom Tefillah groups sprang up across the country. Many individuals davening alone at home did so together via Zoom. While not halachically constituting a minyan, this at least offered the feeling of Tefilah b’tzibur while in lockdown. Once the lockdown ended and people began to feel a bit more safe, live minyanim formed and were sometimes streamed on Zoom so those who were unable to attend in person could participate virtually. While Zoom minyanim were very popular, their broad availability diminished considerably once outdoor minyan became commonplace and indoor minyanim resumed with precautions. 

Enter the new Internet Minyan, which now streams live three times daily with a high-definition, wide-angle camera providing the viewer with the feeling of being present in the room. Microphones placed over both the amud and the bima allow the ba’al tefilah and the ba’al kriya to be heard loudly and clearly. Viewers participate without the need to download a smartphone app or to know a password. Using a computer or a smartphone, simply click on a link to participate in the minyan.

Halachicly, online participants in the Internet Minyan may respond Amen to brachos and to devarim she’bekdusha (Kaddish, Kedusha or Barchu) but may not be counted toward the minyan, recite Kaddish or lead the tzibbur. Additionally, it is recommended where possible that one davening at home with the Internet Minyan make every effort to dress as if he or she were attending in person.

While the global pandemic highlights the need for a virtual minyan, many people during ordinary times are medically or otherwise unable to participate in tefilah b’tzibur. There are also those who are traveling or find themselves in a location without a minyan. The Internet Minyan is a permanent offering and will stream weekday’s live (no replays) even after COVID, offering participants the ability to hear a full tefilah including Kaddish, chazaras ha’shatz, kriyas HaTorah, Hallel etc. A daily d’var Torah will follow Shacharis.

Currently, the platform can potentially support one thousand or more simultaneous viewers. In the future there is the potential to also live stream the Internet Minyan on Facebook and YouTube as well as on a dedicated Roku channel for users who prefer to use a TV. This could be beneficial to someone who is bedridden or for whom a smart phone is less than ideal.  In the first week we began to stream, I received my first thank you email. The person wrote about his 88-year-old father who throughout his life has made his schedule around davening daily in shul but who was recently advised by his physicians to not attend indoor or even outdoor minyanim. He described how upset his father was to lose the opportunity to daven with a minyan but who now virtually attends the Internet Minyan and loves it. After reading that email, my feeling was that for this one person alone, the entire project was worth it!

The current times for the Minyanim are: Shacharis (slow minyan) Sunday (8AM); Mon-Fri (7:15), Mincha at 1:45 and Maariv at 6PM (7PM Sun). An updated minyan schedule can be seen at any time by clicking on the event or checking the shul calendar.

The stream can be found at: tribeautomation.com/iminyan.

The Internet Minyan is dedicated in memory of Miriam bat Betzalel Yehudah a”h who learned to daven in the secrecy of her own home under Communist rule. In the Z’chut of all those who participate in the Internet Minyan, may her neshama have an aliya.

Note: If you are interested in broadcasting your own shul’s minyan, please contact us.

See our below cost offer for the Ring Pro Doorbell professionally installed (While supplies last)

Last time we discussed the various versions and features of the Ring Doorbell. We analyzed the different motion detection methods and raised the question of the Ring Doorbell’s use on Shabbos. We now present the conclusion: The Lord and The Ring.

There are many settings that Ring offers to help control your motion detection and alerts. To address concerns for Shabbos, you can turn off motion detection (not just alerts) on your doorbell all the time or just for Shabbos. However, the results are not the same on all doorbell versions. According to Ring, unlike the wired versions, changing the settings on the Ring and Ring 2 does not guarantee that you will not trigger motion on your doorbell on Shabbos, it just minimizes it. For this reason, I recommend the wired Ring Pro over the Ring and Ring 2 if possible since it will stop your doorbell from triggering anything based on motion and should make the Ring permissible on Shabbos. The Ring and Ring 2 may be more problematic.

To disable motion detection for the non-battery-operated models (i.e. Pro), from the device settings, go to Motion Settings and remove all motion zones. However, turning off motion detection will reduce the function of the Ring Doorbell to… just a doorbell that requires a visitor to actively press before you are notified. If, however, you simply turn off the Motion Alerts or set a Motion Schedule in the settings, your phone will not get alerts, but you will still be triggering the Motion Sensor which will record the event, that can be seen after Shabbos. In fact, even if the Ring alerts are set to off, if you have an Amazon Echo connected to Ring and the Echo is set to notify you of motion, your Echo will ping with motion alerts even with your Ring motion alerts off. For this reason, it is important to turn off all motion detection and not just disable the alerts.

The problem with turning off all motion sensing is that you may want to have the feature on during the rest of the week and turning this feature off and on for Shabbos adds to the dreaded and potentially forgotten Shabbos to-do list. So, I sought another possible solution.

I first explored an IFTTT solution which does have a Ring integration. However, Ring only allows you to control other devices based on a Ring trigger (such as a doorbell push or motion sense) but if you have another trigger, such as a calendar that says it is Shabbos or Y’T, you cannot ask the Ring to turn off its motion sensing or alerts. I posed the question and request to Ring but did not get a response that would indicate that a more advanced IFTTT integration is in the works.

I then explored toggling off the notification options for Shabbos which can be achieved with a schedule in the Motion Schedule setting. While you cannot set a schedule based on sunrise or sunset currently, you can schedule for the earliest start of Shabbos in your time zone.  For most east coast residences that would mean setting up two schedules. One from Friday night’s earliest zman ever (say 4:00 pm) ending at midnight. The second schedule would be Shabbos from 12:00 am until after the latest zman (say 9:30 pm).

The problem with the schedule approach aside from the timing imperfection is that just because you schedule notification off does not mean you are not triggering the motion and recording on Shabbos. As I mentioned earlier, if you look after Shabbos, you will see all the events recorded on the app.

I posed this question to the Star-K, an authority on Shabbos mode appliances that many of us rely on and I was surprised by their response. According to the Star-K, if you are not performing a melacha (walking past a motion detector is not a melacha) and there is not an event that can be detected by your five senses, it is permissible!

This opinion has far reaching implications for the smart home, so I checked with my Rav who thought this opinion was problematic. For example, he said, turning on a light switch on Shabbos when there is no bulb. In this case there is no melacha and nothing is detectable to the five senses, but it would still be problematic. One can argue that the switch itself is muktza because of its purpose but walking is not muktza and therefore if you hold of the Star-K opinion, walking in front of a motion sensor that has no response that is detectable with your five senses, would be permissible on Shabbos!

However, if you walk in front of the doorbell in the dark even with notifications off, you may still notice a series of lights illuminate. This is the night vision feature that exists on all Ring doorbells and it is triggered by events.  This, according to the Star-K, is problematic. The only way to possibly get around this is to make sure there is ample night lighting in the area around the doorbell, so that the night light is not triggered.

I did speak with another Rav who has the original Ring doorbell. He was misled by the App to think he removed all potential of motion activities on Shabbos. However, he felt, unlike the Star K, that even If the night vision lights are turned on, they are not for his benefit and if he is not receiving recordings he was not concerned.

This all reinforces the need not only to be connected to the smart home but to be connected to a competent Rav who is your authority when it comes to the Lord, the Ring and all smart home things. Shabbat Shalom!

As a thank you to my readers, I have partnered with Tribe Home Automation who for $199.99 (below item cost) will provide a new Ring Doorbell Pro and basic installation programmed for Shabbos according to the Star-K. Click here for more info.

Amazon recently announced the purchase of Mesh WiFi maker Eero for an undisclosed amount. A lesson we all should have learned by now is that when Amazon makes a purchase of a device that goes into your home, we should all be listening. In this article, I will review my Mesh WiFi system, compare it to the Eero WiFi and discuss some of the implications of Amazon’s purchase.

During our home renovation, there were times when conditions were difficult. Mornings without water and days without electricity are certainly challenging for a family. However, only when the WiFi was disconnected did my children condemn the home as uninhabitable.

When families are renovating or building homes, the most frequent question I receive is, “What is the most important item to prepare technology-wise?” My answer is always, know your WiFi plan. as it is the backbone of everything else you will add to your home in the future. Consumers often pay high fees for faster internet service from their providers. They feel compelled to do this when they find some of their devices buffering and assume it is the WiFi speed rather than inadequate signal coverage around the home. When I ask how they broadcast these signals, the answer is often from the basement with whatever router the ISP provider supplies. And these inadequate routers come with a monthly fee which can be a big money maker for the ISP but fall very short of your home’s needs. A Mesh WiFi system, in many cases, can be a much better solution.

If you live in a studio apartment in a city, you probably don’t need to worry too much about your WiFi coverage. However, if you are a homeowner with multiple floors, even if your home has not been featured in the Wall Street Journal’s Mansion section, chances are you will have areas of your home without an adequate signal. If you are Amazon and want an Echo in every room of every home, it is in your best interest to ensure that consumers have reliable WiFi. Additionally, if you are looking to be the nucleus of all devices in a home automation setup, controlling the WiFi and all the devices connected to it is of paramount importance. Not to mention all the data that can be collected by controlling consumers’ home internet traffic. In hindsight, Amazon’s purchase of Eero seems obvious.

I do not own Eero mesh devices, but I do run my home network off the Google Mesh WiFi, which is one of Eero’s biggest competitors and a very similar offering. I purchased the Google WiFi over Eero with a little hesitation. Do I really want Google to know that much more about me? Perhaps sharing the same data with a smaller company like Eero would provide me with more privacy. I ultimately threw my hands up in defeat with the reality that Google likely knows everything about me already anyway. Now I also realize that it is often only a matter of time before a tech giant comes along to purchase any smaller company that has valuable data. These are real privacy issues that we all will need to come to terms with before making a purchase. I ultimately purchased the Google WiFi because of the lower price point ($249 Vs. $399-$499 for 3 units). It will be interesting to see if this price gap narrows with Amazon being the new owner. Both services allow you to buy one central router that connects to your ISP and then add other WiFi points around your home. Each WiFi point simply requires an AC power source so you can place them anywhere around your home where you have power. The WiFi points all link to create a single mesh network giving you the ability to have reliable WiFi in all corners of your home.

Both Mesh WiFi systems have easy to use Apps with many useful features, some of which families will be wise to take advantage of. Firstly, you can identify each device on the network. Knowing the device allows you to prioritize it if desired. If I need the bandwidth for work and my family is streaming video on other devices, I can prioritize my device, so I don’t experience any degradation of performance.  From a parenting perspective, you can also pause your children’s devices at certain times of the day.

I won’t preach about children and internet access, but I will share some of the internet rules I enforce with my own kids using my Google Mesh WiFi. During prime family and homework hours, I pause my daughters’ phone but not her school issued iPad. I also have a schedule that turns off internet access for all her devices at a certain time of the evening until the next morning. If my parents had a way of doing this when I had a radio beneath my pillow listening to late night baseball games when I was in grade school, I probably would not have fallen asleep in class so often — especially after extra inning West Coast games.

There is also a site blocking feature that filters millions of explicit websites. This is particularly nice to have at the router level, so it is not necessary to install a filter on each device separately. Eero offers a similar but perhaps more advanced set of features with their Eero Plus subscription which comes at an annual fee of $99. I hope Amazon will eventually include these features with the growing benefits of Prime membership. While I am sure all these precautions are still not the perfect solutions for monitoring your children’s internet safety, they are meaningful steps toward a healthy internet household. Finally, if your teenager is the network administrator of your household, these devices might be the way for you to take back control as they are easy for almost anyone to administer. If all these suggestions have your children yelling at you not to mess with the WiFi, just smile and say I did not mess with the WiFi, I meshed with the WiFi.

When our children were younger, my wife would take them on Rosh Chodesh to the Judaica store to purchase a new CD. There were certainly months that passed without a new purchase, but at the end of each year we would have added a respectable number of albums to our collection. While we invested hundreds of dollars into this medium, CDs ultimately got scratched, or lost between the house and car. Then the digital age arrived, and we evolved from MP3 players to the iTunes music store. Each new music medium arrived with great promise, but each also suffered from one challenge or another. Today, however, the age of simplified streaming music has certainly arrived and if you and your family love Jewish music, a streaming music service may be the best purchase you make in 2019.

By now, many of you have digital assistants in your home like the Amazon Alexa or the Google Home.  After you set up your Shabbat switches and can control them with your voice, the next most useful function of a digital assistant is to stream music. The idea of the streaming music services is different than streaming videos services like Netflix. Netflix does not strive to have a comprehensive list of all movies or TV ever created, only a substantial but small subset. Streaming music services, on the other hand, strive to have the master list of all music made available so it is accessible to a user on any device for a flat monthly fee. Imagine having every song and album available and at your fingertips without the need to purchase each one individually. You may only want to play a specific song once and don’t want to own it or you may want a collection of Chanukah songs from 30 different albums that you will only listen to for eight days. Additionally, with a streaming service, sharing is encouraged so any playlist made by a user can be shared. You don’t have to do the work of creating a playlist — just use someone else’s. With everyone carrying a smartphone and digital assistants in more and more homes, adding the ability to stream the music of your choice has never been easier. There are several popular streaming music services available. Spotify, Pandora, Amazon, Apple and others are all competing in this space. As is our custom at TribeTechReview, we will explore each through the lens or in this case ear of a Shomer Shabbos consumer.

I will focus on the subscription-based services even though there may be a free or basic option. With a free plan, your ability to control the music, especially if you only want to hear Jewish music, is severely impaired. I reviewed each subscription service based on specific criteria. Of course, I would expect the latest in great music from some of the most popular singers and groups, but I also looked for obscure songs and albums. I added older Jewish music and Israeli music to the criteria. Finally, I consulted with local Jewish music guru Aaron Shlagbaum of Sheer Simcha to make sure the latest songs that are getting people at events out of their seats and onto the dance floor were all available. Thus prepared, I put each service to the test.

The price for streaming services is competitive with most charging $9.99/month for a single user plan and $14.99/month for a family plan. Amazon does discount their single services for Prime members to $7.99/month or $79/year. If you are a college student, you can subscribe for $4.99/month on Amazon, Apple or Spotify but not on Pandora. Starting with a single plan is probably best until you get complaints from your children or spouse when there are too many simultaneous users. These rates are somewhat equivalent to what I used to pay by walking into a store to buy a single album However, now I have access to more Jewish music than the stores themselves.

Since I am a dedicated Spotify user, I expected that service to seriously outperform the others based on my criteria. However, I was surprised by how well Amazon and Apple did, as well. Pandora was the clear laggard. Spotify, as the early pioneer in this space, still has the largest global user base and if you will rely on other users’ playlists that seems to be a clear advantage. However, Apple and Amazon seem to be closing in quickly. I do love how the Spotify App integrates with my Waze navigation while I am driving and how I can control my home Sonos system directly on the App.

Ultimately, the service you choose may also depend on your technology preferences. Are you committed to the Apple ecosystem for all services, would you prefer Amazon pricing tied to Alexa, or, are your friends’ playlist only available on Spotify? I am always wary of subscription-based services and try to avoid them when possible. However, the case for streaming music is compelling, especially when you view it from a Jewish music perspective where the variety can seem limited if you are buying songs one at a time. I encourage you to take a trial of a service that you think works best for you and I assure you that whichever service you ultimately choose, it will have you and yours dancing in the kitchen and kumzitzing into the night.

Last time, we discussed the two issues we all face regarding tefillah and smart phones. The first is stopping your phone’s notifications from disturbing your own tefillah when using your phone as a Siddur (which is best to only be used outside of a Shul where there are no shelves filled with Siddurim). The second is turning off all noise from your phone (ringer and vibration) when entering a Shul so that it does not disturb anyone around you.

We presented a solution for Android phone users using the IFTTT platform (If This Than That) where the phone’s Do Not Disturb Mode can be triggered automatically when entering your Shul.  You can find this IFTTT recipe as well as my growing list of other recipes for the Shomer Shabbat on the Tribe Tech Review IFTTT page.

Now for many of you that are using an iPhone, I present to you the Apple side of the story.

Instead of embracing the popular IFTTT platform and integrating the iPhone in a robust manner, Apple chose to compete with its own App called Shortcuts (previously known as Workflows).  Shortcuts is like IFTTT in many ways and perhaps offers even more flexibility out of the box but with significantly less third-party integrations (besides Apple). Additionally, the ability to trigger events automatically, something fundamental, is lacking.  I have seen online discussions about automatic triggers of Shortcuts and some believe this feature will be added later.  However, I believe that this feature may be counter to the Apple strategy.  Apple wants you to use Siri or your HomePod to call Shortcuts. Additionally, Apple’s re-branding of the app to the name Shortcuts specifically implies the need to do something to get there quicker, not something that is fully automated.  Apple’s strategy around its ecosystem is to provide a closed and secure platform.  Thus, I understand how allowing third party apps like IFTTT to control IOS devices may be counter to that strategy. However, Shortcuts is an Apple service, so I am surprised it is missing this feature.

Regardless, I believe that I have a solution/hack that will get you as close as possible to an automated trigger.  I created a Shortcut on the platform that will simply turn your iPhone’s Do Not Disturb mode on.  You can then have your iPhone remind you when you enter Shul to turn on Do Not Disturb Mode.  The Reminder itself can have the Shortcut embedded so that a quick tap of the reminder is all you need to mute your phone, making it quick and easy to implement.  You will need to install the Shortcuts App, create the Shortcut to set your Phone to Do Not Disturb (or import mine) and have your Synagogue with its address as a Contact.  You will also need to have IOS 12 or greater installed.

After installing the Shortcuts App, download the Shortcut “Mute iPhone for Tefillah” onto your iPhone.

Then open the Shortcut from your Library by clicking on the three dots “…” to edit the Shortcut.  You will see that the Shortcut turns on the Do Not Disturb mode until you leave.  With this screen open (important) speak to Siri and say these magic words: “Hey Siri, When I arrive at Synagogue, remind me to run this.”  Siri will respond with a reminder that has the Shortcuts logo embedded.  Now when you enter your Shul’s Address, a reminder to run the Mute iPhone for Tefillah Shortcut will appear.

There are few caveats to be aware of.  First, when the reminder appears, do not complete the reminder. Simply run the Shortcut so that the Reminder will appear again the next time you enter shul.  Second, please go to your Settings and ensure that your Sounds for Reminders are set to None.  Having this reminder setting off a chime would certainly be counter-productive to your goal of silence. Of course, this Shortcut can also be used if you want the same functionality when you enter school, library or work.  If your goal is to Mute your Phone when entering a location, this Shortcut will work for you.

Now, if there was only a Shortcut to remind people to stop talking in Shul…Happy Chanukah!

I am usually the one who touts the benefits of technology within the confines of religious life. I point out how it can enhance your Shabbos and Yom Tov by turning on and off your lights. I research ways to use your gas fireplace on Friday nights to make your Shabbos a little warmer, and I will write about how you can listen to the Daf Yomi on the Amazon Echo. However, there is an area where technology may not be compatible with religious life: I am referring to, of course, having your phone turned on in shul.

 

We all have a siddur app on our phones that is handy when we are not in shul. At the last wedding I attended, there was a large mincha minyan with nearly everyone davening from their phone. I am sure Steve Jobs is smiling down from heaven as everyone davens to their phone. However, if Hashem is smiling at this is another question.

The problem with using a phone during davening has two facets. The first is the potential distraction of others by having your phone ring or vibrate, disturbing the people around you. Second, the distraction it causes in your own tefillah even if it is not disturbing others.

My phone is always vying for my attention. I have alerts for breaking news, stock movements, weather and the President’s tweets, just to mention a few. While these alerts alone can be a sensory overload, having to view and swipe an alert during Shmona Esrei will surely ruin any focus and connection one is having with the Almighty.

Taking a siddur is always the best idea and really the only option in a shul with shelves full of Siddurim. When not in a shul, a habit I try to form when beginning Ashrei is to turn the phone to Do Not Disturb mode. Turning off your ringer alone will not stop the distracting notifications as Do Not Disturb mode can. There are settings you will need to consider when turning on this mode and the options will depend on the phone and the version of the software you have. An alternative to the Do Not Disturb mode is to turn on Airplane mode.

The second issue with phones and tefillah is forgetting to turn off your ringer when entering shul even when it is left in your pocket. My shul has a charging station in the lobby with compartments with locks and keys, so you could safely leave your phone outside of the shul and even charge it while you daven. Yet, it is all too common for someone’s phone to ring or chime during davening, disturbing the entire minyan. The last time this happened, I thought for a moment, maybe this is a sign for me to pursue a simpler, less technological life. Then I realized the purpose of my articles is to find ways to mold technology so that it is compatible with Halacha and observant life. Thus, the idea for this column occurred to me. By then, I had taken three steps backwards and likely thought little of any of the words I was saying.

Even if you turn your phone to vibrate, the vibrations are enough to disturb those around you. Of course, if you have made it a habit of turning your phone to Do Not Disturb or Airplane mode you can also turn off the sound and vibrations. However, wouldn’t it be nice if there was an automated way of silencing your phone whenever you enter shul? As your Orthodox Tech Journalist, I decided to research this possibility and update you as technology evolves.

I believe I have two potential solutions for you. One if you are an Android phone user and another less robust solution if you are an iPhone user.

For Android users, you may recall, my previous column discussed using the IFTTT (If This Than That) Platform to turn off motion on your camera. Another IFTTT recipe I created was to mute (including vibrations) your Android phone when entering a location. If you go to www.ifttt.com/p/tribetechreview you will see my growing list of IFTTT recipes for the Shomer Shabbos user. If you select the “Mute Android phone when entering shul”, you will be able to tap on the map (not the address) and alter the location if my shul is not your default shul. You can also zoom in and out of the location to provide greater location accuracy.  This can be important if you live very close to shul or pass nearby without entering. You will also need to enable the reverse recipe of turning the mode off when leaving shul if you want it to be truly seamless. This is a pretty clean solution. I have been testing it with some Beta users and it seems to mostly work well but until you are confident that it is, I suggest you double check your phone before entering Shul.

Unfortunately, iPhone users will have to wait for the next column… so until then, follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In or WordPress.

In my previous column, we looked at the Wyze Cam smart camera which retails for $19.99 at http://www.wyzecam.com.  We discussed the camera’s robust functionality, attractive price point and (unlike higher priced cameras) its free 14-day cloud storage. In part, Wyze achieves this price point by only storing video in the cloud in 12-second clips after the camera detects motion. We raised the issue of motion detection sensors that trigger events in your home on Shabbat and promised to provide a solution. In this article, we’ll explore a solution that may be a foundation for many smart home applications.

I mentioned in the last column that while the Wyze Cam app does allow for turning off the motion detection at certain times during the day, it does not allow you to choose the day of the week, or to choose times based on sunset for Shabbos. Plugging the camera into a smart switch that turns the entire camera off for Shabbos is a solution, but one that leaves you without recording activity, negating the primary purpose of a security camera.

Addressing the 24/7 recording requirement turns out to be easy. The Wyze Cam offers an option to install a micro SD card and set the camera to record continuously. This changes the camera’s reliance on just motion; instead it records 24/7.  The size of your SD card will dictate the length of playback available as the camera will overwrite older recordings as it needs space. A 32 GB SD Card will give you a few days of continuous recording. If you simply turn off the motion detection and choose continuous recordings most halachic authorities would agree that this is permissible on Shabbos. The motion detection, however, is a key feature that you would only want to turn off on Shabbos and Yom Tov but the app itself will not allow this.

I placed a development request to the company to at least allow day of the week scheduling and sunrise and sunset times for motion detection, but at this time the app still does not offer this. Additionally, this would only address Shabbos but not Yom Tov which, of course, occurs on weekdays as well.

Recently, the Wyze Cam enabled IFTTT connectivity which I believe can resolve all the camera’s Shabbos and Yom Tov issues concerning motion detection. IFTTT stands for If–This–Than–That and it allows many devices to integrate with other services. In our case, the “If” will be if it is Shabbos or Yom Tov and the “Then That” will be to turn off the Wyze Cam motion sensing. We can also create the reverse which is to turn the motion sensor back on Motzaei Shabbos.

IFTTT is a free app that can be loaded onto any Apple or Android device.  Once you sign in, there are a growing number of services and devices you can integrate. In our case, we will be integrating a Google Calendar pre-loaded with candle lighting and Havdalah times for both Shabbos and Yom Tov.

I created a series of public Google calendars pre-loaded with all candle lighting and Havdalah dates and times for several years. These calendars and IFTTT can be integrated to address Shabbos and Yom Tov issues with the Wyze Cam and potentially many other devices. There is a separate calendar for several time zones. There is one for New York Metro, Chicago, LA, etc. and, of course, one for Jerusalem. If you need another time zone, send me an email (tribetechreview@gmail.com) and I will be happy to add it.

To add the appropriate Tribe Tech Review Public Shabbos and Yom Tov Google Calendar to your personal calendar, follow the instructions on the Navigation Page.

I created two Applet on IFTTT as TribeTechReview.  One to link the Google Calendar and turn off the Wyze Cam motion detection for Shabbos and Yom Tov and then another Applet to turn them back on after Havdalah.  You can search for the TribeTechreview Applets by searching for the keywords “Shabbat” or “Yom Tov” or by clicking this link. To integrate IFTTT with both the Google Calendar and Wyze Cam you will need to login to both services on the IFTTT Platform.  The App will prompt you for the appropriate login when required.

I setup the candle lighting Applet to trigger 15 minutes before the listed time to provide a buffer so that small execution delays and time zone differences should not be an issue. I tested both the Candle lighting and Havdalah Applets over several weeks and it worked flawlessly and ran within a few minutes of the scheduled time. This solution will work even if your phone is powered off.

The IFTTT integration is a tremendous step forward for Shomer Shabbos consumers of smart home technology. I would like to see more hardware companies integrate it as it can be the basis of solving the many Shabbos issues that seems to be emerging in home automation. With the Wyze Cam’s IFTTT integration, I can give the camera a high Tribe Tech Level 4 of 5 Rating for being Shabbos and Yom Tov compliant with third party integration. In fact, good things do come in small packages.