A piece of tape makes Logitech Circle 2 battery cameras HomeKit compatible

What you need to know

• A new video shows the process of adding HomeKit support to the wire-free Logitech Circle 2 Camera.
• The hack uses just a piece of electrical tape and takes only a few seconds.
• Adding HomeKit does have tradeoffs including significantly reduced battery life.

A simple, yet incredibly useful hack for Logitech Circle 2 Wire-Free Cameras is breathing new life into the HomeKit holdout. While the wired version of the Circle 2 has had HomeKit and HomeKit Secure Video support for quite a while, the battery version has always sat on the sideline.

Shared recently by ReyG on YouTube, a piece of electrical tape is all that is needed to bring HomeKit to the completely wireless camera. According to the video, Rey states that during a support inquiry for a wired Circle 2 camera failure, Logitech told them that the battery version could work with HomeKit by simply putting it into their existing wired mount.

Rey was then given a suggestion by a viewer, and with a little research, they were able to get the camera added to HomeKit with just a piece of electrical tape and without the use of their older mount. Since the actual camera portion of the Logitech Circle 2's are identical between both versions, a HomeKit setup code comes included on the battery model even if it goes unused.

The mount that the camera portion slips into has a set of pins that makes contact with the back of the camera to distinguish between the two models, thus only enabling HomeKit for wired cams. To make the hack work, the camera just needs to be tricked into thinking it is on a wired mount.

This can be accomplished by putting a piece of electrical tape over a single pin that rests above two other pins in a series on the battery pack/mount. Once the pin is covered and the camera is assembled, you can now add the camera to HomeKit through the Logi Circle App, or directly through the Home app.

Of course there are some downsides to using this method. Once of which is that the camera's battery drains incredibly quickly when used with HomeKit. According to Rey, you can expect to see around 12 hours of usage before needing to be recharged. You can however, keep the camera plugged-in to negate this issue, but it will almost certainly make the camera susceptible to the outdoor elements with the port and wire being uncovered.

With the hardwired version of the Logitech Circle 2 becoming increasingly hard to find, this hack may be the best bet to score a solid, reliable camera bearing the company's name. For an-depth look at the hack, be sure to check out ReyG's incredible video, which includes everything that you need to know to make it work.