Most Samsung SmartCam models made since 2014 have the capability of sending out event alerts using Gmail. As of mid-2016, Gmail is the only supported email provider for alerts on the Samsung Smartcam series. I suppose the SMTP server name must be coded in the SmartCam firmware but that’s just my guess.
I learned how to do this the hard way as I missed quite a few alerts since what I thought was setup was not working. It all depends upon the level of security that is established for your gmail account. Those with 2-step authentication are the ones that are going to run into this issue. You may initially think it’s a Samsung issue, it isn’t. With Google 2-Step Verification, they normally send you verification codes via text message whenever a new device is detected. However, these codes do not work with some apps and devices, such as your Samsung SmartCam. You will need to authorize the SmartCam the first time you use it to sign in to your Google Account by generating and entering an App password.
It’s easy to do and likely something you have done before when setting up a new device such as a new laptop or smartphone. Here are the steps to do that:
- Visit the App Password page. You need to be signed into your Google account.
- Near the bottom of the screen, click ‘Select App’ and select ‘other’.
- Select Generate.
- You will see a special 16 character password come up. You will need this for the password field for your Gmail account on the Smartcam app. We will show you how that’s done in the next paragraph.
- Select Done.
The Gmail password can be entered on the SmartCam app or on the Samsung SmartCam web site. The photo that accompanies this article is what that field looks like on an Apple iPhone 6s Plus. Here is how you get there.
- Open the SmartCam App and get into your camera settings.
- Select ‘Setup’.
- Select ‘Event’.
- Select ‘Google account setup’.
- Enter your Google email ID.
- Enter the 16-character code just generated for the password.
- Click OK.
- Enter the recipients for the events. Just setting up the connection isn’t enough. You will need to enter your own email ID if that’s where you want the event notifications to go.
That’s all there is to do. The alert emails contain the title of ‘Event Alarm’. The text provides the time of the event, type of event (motion or sound) and the camera’s IP address on your home network.
I suppose that Samsung could have made this somewhat easier by adding a few lines in the app or the small manual that accompanies the SmartCam about what to do if using Gmail 2-step verification. Using the steps contained within this article, you should be able to easily add the email option to your event alerts.
If you don’t have a Gmail account, it’s worth creating one for the purpose of getting email alerts. Hopefully, Samsung will enable a way to use other email hosts in the future by simply adding a field for outgoing email server and the port number.