Minion Cam HD WiFi Camera

Minion Cam HD WiFi Camera

This camera model has been discontinued. Please note that the Limited One-Year Manufacturer’s Warranty is only valid when cameras are purchased from authorized resellers or distributors. (Generally, sellers on outlets such as Amazon, Ebay and others are NOT authorized resellers or distributors.)

If you have purchased a Minion Cam HD WiFi Camera, these instructions will help you setup your camera and the Tend App. Before physically mounting your camera, it is best to activate your camera first. Here's how:

Minion Cam HD WiFi Camera
  1. Download the Tend App from the Apple App Store or the Google Play store. Use the search term “tendapp” for the best results.
  2. Power your camera.
  3. In your phone or tablet, turn on Bluetooth.
  4. Launch your Tend App. Your app should take you through the remainder of the setup process.

If you’re having trouble, view our Quick Start Guide or setup video below:

Camera Setup

  • Phone Compatibility

  • Phone or tablet compatibility
    The following are the minimum requirements to install and use the Tend App:

    • Android phone or tablet running Android 6.0 or later
    • iPhone, iPod, or iPad running iOS 11.0 or later
  • Mounting a camera to the wall
    1. Twist off the square base.
    2. Remove the bottom plastic piece and place it on the wall in your desired location.
    3. Use the provided screws to secure this bottom piece onto the wall.
    4. Remove the metal disc and store it somewhere safe. It is not needed when wall mounting your camera.
    5. Twist the camera back onto the base.
  • Set up additional cameras

  • You can setup multiple cameras to your Tend account. While setting up your camera, you will reach an Account Creation page. Instead of creating a new account, tap on Login to Existing. Enter your existing Tend username and password, and proceed with setup.

  • Moving a camera

  • Once you have successfully setup your camera, you can move it to another location in your home, as long as you are still within WiFi range from your router. Simply move your camera to the desired location and power it back on - the camera will automatically connect within 2 minutes.

  • Connecting to a new router

  • If you have replaced your home router or want to setup your camera to a new router, you will need to go through the setup process again. During the setup process, instead of creating a new account, tap on Login to Existing. Enter your existing Tend username and password to ensure your camera remains on your existing Tend account.

  • Resetting your camera to factory default settings

  • You will need a small pin or paperclip. Insert the paperclip into the small hole on the back of the camera. Press down and hold for 15 seconds. You will see the all 3 LED lights turn off and blink. Once you factory reset your camera, you will need to go through the setup process again.

  • Camera Setup troubleshooting

  • Setting up a camera on PC/Mac
    Your camera can only be setup on an iOS or Android phone or tablet.

    Cannot connect to router
    When setting up your camera, if your camera does not appear in the router list, tap on the Refresh button to refresh the list. Note that your camera is not compatible with 5GHz routers - 5GHz routers would not appear in the router list.

    Once you select your router and enter its password, if the camera still does not connect, try moving the camera closer to your home router.

    Here are some other common issues:

      • Blocked Ports: In corporate / work environments, some ports may be blocked.
      • Firewalls
      • If you have your router supports 2.4GHz and 5GHz, the passwords may be different. Please make sure to use your 2.4GHz password.

    If you still have issues, please contact us at support@tendinsights.com.

    Connecting to a mobile hotspot
    We do not advise connecting your camera to a mobile hotspot. Video can consume a large amount of bandwidth. This can quickly deplete your data or run up your data cost.

    Router compatibility
    Our camera can only be connected to a 2.4GHz router. It is not compatible with 5GHz routers. Furthermore, the following routers have been reported to not be compatible with our cameras:

        • Apple A1409
        • Belkin N750, AC1200, AC750, N600 Extender
        • Netgear WN3000RP

    If you discover other routers that are also not compatible, please contact us at support@tendinsights.com.

Using your Tend App

  • Turning on audio

  • When your live video starts, the audio is turned off by default.

    1. Open the camera controls by double-tapping the live video or tapping on the full screen icon.
    2. Tap on the speaker icon.
    3. Tap on the power icon to toggle the audio on and off.
  • 2-way talkback

  • Using your Tend App, you can speak to your loved ones on the other side your camera.

    1. Open the camera controls by double-tapping the live video or tapping on the full screen icon.
    2. Tap on the microphone icon.
    3. Select between Normal Voice or Minion Voice.
    4. Press and hold the large microphone icon to speak. Let go when you are done speaking.
  • Minion sound effects

  • You can play random Minion sound effects on your camera.

    1. Open the camera controls by double-tapping the live video or tapping on the full screen icon.
    2. Tap on the Minion icon.
    3. Tap the small Minion icon that appears.
  • Taking a snapshot or recording my video stream
    1. Open the camera controls by double-tapping the live video or tapping on the full screen icon.
    2. Tap on the save-to-device icon.
    3. Select the camera icon to take a snapshot or the video icon to make a recording.
    4. Tap on the large circle to take a snapshot of your live video or start recording. Tap again to stop recording.
    5. Your photo or video should be stored in Gallery for Android and Photos for iOS.
  • Upgrading firmware

  • At times, we will provide new firmware to roll out new features, fix bugs, or to improve the performance of your camera. If there is new firmware available, you will see a New Firmware message on the home view. To upgrade:

    1. Tap on New Firmware.
    2. Tap on Update Now to proceed with the update.

    Your camera may be offline for up to 5 minutes during the update. Once the update is complete, your camera will automatically return online.

  • Multiple users using the Tend App

  • If you and your family member try to login to the Tend App at the same time, you will notice that one of you will get logged off automatically. In order for multiple people to use the Tend App simultaneously, you will have to share your camera to your friends and family. Please see the Sharing Your Camera section for instructions.

  • Configuring your camera

  • Changing your camera’s name
    Once you’ve setup your camera, you can change the camera’s name.

    1. Tap on the gear icon next to your camera’s name.
    2. Edit the text field under Camera Name.
    3. Tap on the back arrow.

    Night vision
    By default, your camera’s night vision will automatically turn on once it gets dark. To change this setting:

    1. Tap on the gear icon next to your camera’s name.
    2. Tap on Night Vision.
    3. Turn the setting On (always on), Off (always off), or Auto (on when there is low light)
    4. Tap on the back arrow.

    If your camera is indoors pointed outside of a window, the infrared lights will cause a glare at night. You will need to turn and keep your Night Vision OFF in this scenario.

    Deleting your camera
    If you are no longer using your camera, you must delete it so that it no longer shows up in your Tend App.

    1. Tap on the gear icon next to the camera you wish to delete.
    2. Tap on Delete Camera.
    3. Tap on Delete.

    This action is not reversible. Once you delete your camera, you will need to set it up again in order to use it.

Sharing Your Camera

  • Sending an invitation

  • You can share your camera with friends and family, to allow multiple people to view the live video simultaneously. You will need to send an email invitation to your friend or family. Once your friend or family accepts the invitation and creates his/her own Tend account, he/she will be able to view your camera.

    1. Tap on the gear icon next to the camera you wish to share.
    2. Tap on Sharing.
    3. Tap on Share with new.
    4. Enter your friend or family’s email address.
    5. Tap on Share to send the invitation email.
  • Unsharing your camera
    1. Tap on the gear icon next to the camera you wish to unshare.
    2. Tap on Sharing.
    3. Tap on the friend or family you wish to unshare.
    4. Turn OFF the Live Stream setting.
    5. Tap on the back arrow.
    6. You will need to repeat these steps for each friend or family you wish to unshare.

Motion Detection and Cloud Storage

  • Enabling recordings and alerts

  • To turn on your motion-triggered recordings:

    1. Tap on Motion Detection in the Tend App.
    2. Turn on Event Recording.
    3. Update the Sensitivity level from Lowest to Highest.
    4. Tap on the back arrow.

    Once you’ve turned on recordings, you can also turn on alerts - so you can notified anytime there is motion detected in your home.

    1. Tap on Motion Detection in the Tend App.
    2. Turn on Notifications.
    3. Tap on the back arrow
  • Scheduling alerts

  • When you are at home, you may not want to be notified when there is motion. Instead of turning on and off the alerts every time you leave the house or return home, you can schedule when you receive these alerts.

    1. Tap on Motion Detection in the Tend App.
    2. Make sure Event Recording and Notifications are turned on.
    3. Tap on Notification Schedule.
    4. Turn on Set Times.
    5. Select the Start Time, Stop Time, and which Days of the week you’d like to receive alerts.
    6. Tap on OK.
    7. Tap on the back arrow.
  • Viewing recordings

  • Once Event Recording has been turned on, your camera should begin recording Events. To view these recordings, tap on the middle Event icon in the Tend App. You should see a list of all your recordings with the newest Events at the top and the oldest Events at the bottom.

    If you have more than 1 camera, you will see a badge with the first letter of each camera’s name to the right of the Event. To filter by camera, tap the filter icon on the top right corner. Select 1 or more cameras, and tap the back arrow.

  • Downloading recordings

  • You can download your Events to your phone or tablet’s local storage.

    1. Tap on the Event you want to download in the Tend App
    2. Tap the download icon to the right of the playback bar.
    3. Your video should be stored in Gallery for Android and Photos for iOS.
  • Sharing recordings

  • Post on Facebook

    1. Tap on Events icon in the toolbar.
    2. Select the Event you'd like to post.
    3. Tap on the sharing icon.

    Post on YouTube

    1. Tap on Events icon in the toolbar.
    2. Select the Event you'd like to post.
    3. Tap on the sharing icon.

    Share as a link

    1. Tap on Events icon in the toolbar.
    2. Select the Event you'd like to post.
    3. Tap on the sharing icon.
  • Motion Detection troubleshooting

  • Recover expired recordings
    Once your recordings have passed their expiration date, they are no longer recoverable. For security and privacy reasons, we do not store your recordings beyond their expiration date. If you’d like to keep your recordings, you can download them to your phone or tablet.

    Local storage
    Motion-triggered recordings are only uploaded and stored to our secure cloud. There is no local storage on the camera itself. If you’d like to keep your recordings, you can download them to your phone or tablet.

Pet Highlight Reels

  • Generating Highlight Reels

  • If you want to generate Pet Highlight Reels, place your camera in the part of your house where your pet hangs out the most. Make sure Event Recording has been turned on for the past 24 hours.

    1. Tap on Pet Highlight Reels in the Tend App.
    2. Select a song to accompany your music video.
    3. Select whether you want the highlight reel to include or exclude people.
    4. Tap on Generate.
    5. Depending on how many Events you have, the Pet Highlight Reel could take 20 minutes to 2 hours to be generated. You will receive a notification when the video is ready.
    6. To view your Pet Highlight Reel, go to the Events section in your Tend App. Highlight Reels will be accompanied with a movie reel icon.

Account Management

  • Changing password
    1. Tap the App Settings (Heart) icon in the Tend App.
    2. Tap on Change Password.
    3. Enter your old password and your new password. Passwords must be at least 6 characters long.
    4. Tap on Change Password.
  • Changing email
    1. Tap the App Settings (Heart) icon in the Tend App.
    2. Tap on Change Email.
    3. Enter your new email address.
    4. Tap on Change Email.
  • Changing username

  • Because your camera(s), settings, and subscriptions are all tied to your unique Tend username, we do not allow you to edit your username. If you are not happy with your username, you can setup your camera(s) again under a new username. WARNING: Your services will not transfer over if you setup your camera under a different username.

General Troubleshooting

  • Camera goes offline

  • Occasionally, your camera may go offline by itself due to connectivity issues. Normally, the camera should come back online by itself. If your camera stays offline for an extended period of time, try unplugging and re-plugging the camera. Once re-plugged in, the camera should come back online again.

  • Live video is black and white

  • The live video can become black and white if the night vision is turned on before it gets too dark. You can manually turn off your night vision by doing the following:

    1. Tap on the gear icon next to your camera’s name.
    2. Tap on Night Vision.
    3. Turn the setting Off.
    4. Tap on the back arrow.
  • LED behavior

  • There are 3 LED lights on the back of your camera.

    Setup LED (Top) Green Setup mode
    Off Running mode
    Connectivity LED (middle) Green Connected to Tend servers
    Blinking Green Disconnected from Tend servers
    Orange Not connected to your home router. Check your home router or make sure have setup your camera.
    Blinking Orange Connected to your home router but there is no internet connection. Check your internet service provider.
    Power LED (bottom) Green Powered on
    Off Powered off

Technical Specifications

  • What are the technical specs?
  • Feature Details
    Network Interface 802.11b/g/n
    Antenna Internal
    Network Security WEP (40-bit, 128-bit)/WPA (TKIP, AES)/WPA2 (TKIP, AES)
    RF/Wireless ISM Band 2.4 GHz
    Imaging 1/3.2 inch CMOS sensor
    Viewing Angle 109° Diagonal
    IR Operating Mode Always OFF, Always ON, or AUTO
    Infrared (IR) Night Vision 850nm LED; up to 20 feet
    Video Codecs H.264
    Resolution 720p (1280x720) at 30 frames/sec
    Bluetooth 4.0
    Audio In Built-in Microphone
    Audio Out Built-in Speaker
    Buttons Factory Reset
    Switches Quick Set-up Mode
    Power External AC-to-DC Switching Power Adapter INPUT: 100-240V AC, 50/60Hz, Output: 5V DC, 1.0A
    Operations Environment Temperature: 32°F to 104°F (0°C to 40°C), Humidity: 20-80% RH Non-Condensing

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