Automatically Disable Tapo Cameras When Returning Home Using iPhone Shortcuts

Nowadays, home automation is becoming increasingly prevalent in our households. From smart lights and temperature sensors to motion detectors and cameras, these devices work together to simplify our daily lives and secure our homes. However, with all these connected devices, maintaining a certain level of privacy is crucial.

In this article, discover how to use your iPhone, which you always have with you, to automatically deactivate a Tapo brand camera upon your return home and vice versa.

Tapo is a widely recognized brand for cameras and other smart home devices, offering a good value for money. That's why these devices are becoming more common in our homes.

Tapo cameras have a confidential mode that can be activated from their dedicated application. However, we want to automate this process. For this, we'll use the Shortcuts app, a native Apple application that allows the creation of automations and shortcuts on your iPhones.

Setting Up the Tapo Application

If you own a Tapo camera, you probably already have the application installed on your phone.

In this app, you can create shortcuts to act on your connected devices. We will create two shortcuts: one to activate the camera's confidential mode and another to deactivate it.

Here's the step-by-step process:

• Open the app, then go to the "Intelligent" tab at the bottom right.
• Tap the "+" button at the top right, then "Shortcuts".
• Select "Add an action".
• Choose "Control smart devices".
• Select your camera.
• Choose "Confidential Mode", then "Enable Confidential Mode".
• Tap "Next" at the top right.
• Give a name to your shortcut, for example, "Camera OFF".

You should now see this shortcut in the "Shortcuts" tab of your Tapo app.

Repeat this procedure to create the shortcut that disables the confidential mode. Name it, for instance, "Camera ON".

Creating Automations on iPhone

We will now configure your iPhone to automatically trigger these shortcuts when you leave or return home.

As explained earlier, this is possible through Apple's Shortcuts app. If you don't have it, install it from the App Store.

• Open the Shortcuts app and go to the "Automation" tab at the bottom.
• Tap the "+" button at the top right to create a new automation.
• Choose "Arrival" to trigger the automation when you arrive home:

• In the "Location" section, click on "Choose".
• If you are currently at home, select "Current Location" or enter your home address in the search field at the top.
• Optional: Use the map at the bottom of the screen to set the radius around the location from which the action triggers. By default, the automation will trigger when you are within 100 meters of the selected location.
• Click "Ok" at the top right, then "Next" at the top right.
• You now need to choose the action that will be performed when you arrive at the location. Click "New Empty Automation":

• Tap "Add an action".
• In the search field, type the name of the "Tapo" application.
• Click "Use a Tapo shortcut":

• Tap "Shortcut" at the end of the text "Use the selected Tapo shortcut".
• Choose the "Camera OFF" shortcut created earlier.
• Tap "Ok" at the top right, then again on "Ok".

Your automation is now created: it will trigger automatically when you arrive home, putting your camera in confidential mode.

Repeat the same procedure to create a second automation that will disable the confidential mode when you leave your home. Select the "Departure" option in the automations.