SimpliSafe's push notification article says camera notifications are set per camera: open Camera Settings, choose the camera, Motion Detection and enable Motion Events and Motion Notifications. You also need the app to be allowed to send notifications on your phone, to be logged in and to be on iOS 17 or Android 12 or newer. SimpliSafe offers a snooze feature for camera notifications, useful when a delivery or yard work triggers many alerts, and camera recordings for timeline videos need a selected monitoring plan.
The checks in more detail
The Video Doorbell Series 2 has its own notifications article. If motion alerts do not arrive, check the camera is online with battery and wifi, that Motion Events and Motion Notifications are on, that the motion type and zones suit the area, that snooze is not active and that phone Do Not Disturb is off. Too many alerts call for People Only, lower sensitivity and activity zones excluding streets.
System notifications, Alarm, System Status and System Health, are separate toggles. A Camera Disconnected or No Video error may explain missing events. Update the app. Test an alert by walking into the field with the phone unlocked and then locked. If one phone gets alerts and another does not, the fault is that phone. Add a second person to alerts. Snooze is easy to forget, so if a camera goes quiet for no reason, check whether someone snoozed it during a delivery or yard work.
SimpliSafe separates camera notifications from system ones, so a household that gets alarm alerts but no camera alerts should look at the camera's own Motion Notifications toggle. Tell every household member which cameras alert and which are quiet, since a camera set to record silently is easy to mistake for a camera that has stopped working when someone asks why nothing came through.
Differential
Likely causes of “SimpliSafe cameras and video doorbell notifications are late, missing or excessive”, and how to tell them apart
- 1
Notifications off for the camera
What separates it No motion alerts arrive because notifications are switched off for that camera
How to confirm Enable Motion Notifications in the camera's motion detection settings, camera by camera
- 2
Snooze active
What separates it The camera is silent because a snooze is active and mutes its alerts
How to confirm Turn the snooze off in the app, so alerts from the camera start coming through again
- 3
A disconnected camera
What separates it No events show up because the camera has disconnected from the network
How to confirm Reconnect the camera by checking its battery and wifi, and use the Connection Check Tool
- 4
Phone restrictions
What separates it Alerts arrive silently because the phone settings restrict notifications from the app
How to confirm Allow notifications for the SimpliSafe app in the phone settings, including sound and banners
- 5
A wide motion setting
What separates it You get too many alerts because the motion setting is wide and catches all movement
How to confirm Use People Only and set activity zones, so that only movement you care about sends an alert
Before you touch a setting
Record this first — changing settings destroys the evidence
- Which alerts are missing, or which come too often
- The motion settings chosen for the camera
- The notification settings on your phone
Try in this order
0 of 6 completedEnable Motion Notifications
ReversibleEnable Motion Notifications for each camera, since camera alerts are set up one camera at a time.
Allow notifications
ReversibleAllow notifications on the phone for the SimpliSafe app, so that alerts are shown when they arrive.
Turn off snooze
ReversibleTurn off snooze if it has been set, because a snoozed camera does not send any alerts.
Adjust motion type and zones
ReversibleAdjust the motion type and zones to reduce extra alerts, using People Only where pets are the cause.
Check the plan
ReversibleCheck your plan, because recordings and some alerts need a plan that includes the cameras.
Contact SimpliSafe
ReversibleContact SimpliSafe if no alerts arrive, and tell them the camera, the settings and the phone type.
Model-specific
What is true of this model and not of its siblings
- Cameras
- Have their own notification toggles.
- Snooze
- Silences a camera temporarily.
- Other models this page answers
- These steps also fit the Outdoor Security Camera Series 2, Video Doorbell Pro, Wireless Outdoor Security Camera.
Stop boundary
When this stops being a self-service repair
- !If alerts never arrive, contact SimpliSafe support and tell them which camera is involved
- !If a camera is disconnected, fix that first
- !If alerts are too many, adjust motion settings
Evidence ledger
Sources behind this answer
Notification types and setup.
Snooze.
Recording, streaming and motion.
Camera Disconnected steps.
The company and its products.
Exact questions
Common questions
Where do I enable camera alerts?+
Open Camera Settings, choose the camera, then Motion Detection, and turn on Motion Notifications.
Can I snooze alerts?+
Yes, you can snooze alerts for a time, and they resume when the snooze ends.
Do recordings need a plan?+
Yes, recordings need a plan that includes them, though alerts can work without one.
How do I reduce alerts?+
Use People Only and activity zones, which cut the alerts from pets, cars and other movement.
Are system alerts separate?+
Yes, the alerts for the system, such as alarms, are separate from the alerts for cameras.
Does the doorbell have its own article?+
Yes, the video doorbell has its own article, because some of its settings are different.