With more than 100 million cameras currently in the field, Amazon-owned Ring is poised to take advantage of its vast footprint with the launch of a new app store that expands the capabilities of its cameras. Initially focused on areas such as senior care, workforce analytics, and rental management, the store will enable developers of all sizes to leverage the Ring ecosystem to reach customers.
The app store, first announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, comes as Ring expands from home smart doorbells and cameras to businesses. But the new store is also powered by a leap forward in AI technology, leveraging Ring’s ability to see and hear things in the real world and translate that to users in specific situations.
For example, one of the launch partners, Density, a SoftBank-backed company, has an app called Routines that focuses on elderly care. It leverages Ring cameras to help families keep an eye on their loved ones, such as elderly parents, and alert them to concerns such as falls or changes in routine.
QueueFlow’s app gives businesses a better understanding of what wait times and crowds are like at events, restaurants, service desks, waiting rooms, and any other location where you need to wait in line.
Minut’s app helps Airbnb hosts monitor their properties. The app works with other cameraless sensors that track things like excessive noise and temperature.
Ring founder and CEO Jamie Siminoff explains that the idea is to expand the capabilities of Ring cameras beyond providing security for homeowners.
“There’s an incredible amount of long-tail use cases for AI,” he told TechCrunch. “Together, we unlock the value our customers have invested in things they never thought possible.”
However, given the growing consumer backlash against surveillance technology and its impact on Ring, there may be some limitations. After the company announced features that could help find lost pets or watch for wildfires, customers began to realize how capable these cameras were and how they could lead to a world where people can’t go anywhere without being tracked, recorded, and in some cases recognized by AI-powered camera systems.
Siminoff acknowledges the potential for similar bad PR in its own app stores, noting that the terms do not allow apps that offer certain types of privacy-invasive features, such as facial recognition tools or license plate readers.
“We take great care to ensure that the Ring App Store is used by apps that provide value to our customers,” he said. “Certainly we have to listen to what is happening in the market and monitor it.”
Following backlash from customers, Ring ended its partnership with Flock Safety, a maker of AI-powered cameras that share footage with law enforcement. The partnership will allow agencies using Flock to request footage from owners of Ring doorbells and cameras. Ring itself has a long history of sharing data with law enforcement, and in recent months has been criticized by privacy advocates for new partnerships with law enforcement agencies and companies like Axon.
The future of Ring’s app store
Ring’s new app store can be found within the Ring app for iOS and Android devices, and will initially be limited to customers in the United States, with a broader rollout to follow. However, when you add an app to your Ring setup, it doesn’t use the platform’s in-app purchase payment system.
That means Ring won’t pay a commission to Apple or Google if a customer decides to enhance their Ring experience with a partner’s tools.
Siminoff said this is because Ring isn’t actually distributing the apps, and users will still need to download partner apps from the app store to access new features. Meanwhile, the Ring app itself hasn’t changed to incorporate new features from our partners.
Still, this represents an interesting way to build an app ecosystem outside of your phone’s app store while still benefiting from Ring’s distribution on iOS and Android.
“It’s not just that Ring does an app store. It’s that Ring has a lot of cameras. So if[developers]create something, there’s enough surface area that[developers]can get a significant number of customers and hopefully have a successful business,” Siminoff said.
From a monetization perspective, when Ring directs a customer to one of its partners, it takes a commission on that sale. For now, the fee is 10%, but Ring says it’s open to apps offering other business models besides subscriptions, such as one-time fees or free ad-supported apps, if customers actually want them.
Approximately 15 apps are available at launch, with more in development, the company said. Developers can submit apps for consideration through Ring’s developer site.
Other apps currently available include the bird identification app WhatsThatBird.AI. Risk and security detection app (fire, smoke, falls, leaks, etc.) memories.ai; Lumeo, an enterprise app that provides alerts and people counting. LawnWatch monitors the condition of your lawn. ProxView, wandering detection for businesses. StoreTraffic, a traffic and line monitoring app. Package delivery tracking from Package Protect. And Amazon’s own app, Cheer Chime, rings a chime when you tip at checkout.
“I think the goal by the end of the year is to have hundreds of apps in dozens of industries,” Siminoff said.
