Discover PlantCam: Your Plant's Personal Photographer

Welcome to PlantCam! Ever wished you could watch your beloved houseplants grow day by day? PlantCam makes it possible, creating stunning time-lapse videos of your green friends' journey. Let's explore how this simple, smart camera works and how we ensure your peace of mind every step of the way.

How PlantCam Works: Simple, Smart, and Secure

PlantCam is designed with a clear focus: capturing beautiful images of your plants and turning them into delightful time-lapses, all while being energy-efficient and secure.

1. The PlantCam Camera: Capturing the Moments

• Focused on Photos: The heart of PlantCam is its camera, dedicated solely to taking high-quality pictures of your plants at intervals you choose through the PlantCam app.
• No Videos, No Sound: To keep things simple and respect your privacy, the PlantCam device only takes still images. Crucially, there is no microphone built into the PlantCam. It cannot record or listen to any audio.
• Energy Sipping: PlantCam is designed to be incredibly power-efficient. Most of the time, it's in a deep sleep mode, consuming very little energy. It only wakes up for about 10-15 seconds to snap a picture and send it off.
• Smart Scheduling: It automatically calculates its next wake-up time based on your preferences set in the app. At night, when there's not enough light for good photos, it can sleep for longer periods, saving even more power. You have full control over these settings via the app.

2. Connecting Your PlantCam: Easy and Secure Setup

• Wi-Fi Connection: To send the captured photos for processing, your PlantCam needs to connect to your home Wi-Fi network.
• App-Guided Setup: Setting up the Wi-Fi is done easily through the PlantCam app on your smartphone. The app uses a temporary Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) connection to help the PlantCam find available networks.
• Password Security: You'll enter your Wi-Fi password in the app during setup. This password is sent directly to the PlantCam device via the secure BLE connection and is stored only on the PlantCam itself. It is never stored on your phone or our servers. The PlantCam uses this stored password to reconnect to your Wi-Fi each time it wakes up.
• Bluetooth for Settings: The secure Bluetooth connection is also used initially to link the PlantCam to your account and adjust camera settings directly from the app.

3. Secure Cloud Processing: Bringing Your Time-Lapse to Life

• Secure Uploads: Once a photo is taken, the PlantCam securely uploads it using HTTPS (the same encryption used for secure websites) to our servers based in Germany, operating under strict European data protection regulations (DSGVO/GDPR).
• Your Private Gallery: These images are stored securely and are only accessible by you through your PlantCam account.
• Time-Lapse Creation on Demand: The magic of creating the time-lapse video happens on our secure servers, not on the camera device itself. When you want to view your plant's progress in the PlantCam app, you simply request a time-lapse.
• Customized Videos: You can choose the date range for the photos and the frame rate (how many images per second) for your video. Our server then temporarily gathers the requested images, uses the powerful FFmpeg tool to stitch them into a video, and securely stores the resulting video file.
• Smart App Integration: The PlantCam app is notified once your video is ready. It then downloads the video to your phone, allowing you to watch it anytime, even offline!
• Efficient Updates: To save time and resources, when new photos are available, the app doesn't regenerate the entire video. Instead, a new, shorter video is created on the server using only the latest images. The app then seamlessly adds this new segment to the end of the video already stored on your device.

Your Privacy and Data: Our Top Priority

We understand that bringing a connected device into your home requires trust. Protecting your privacy and securing your data is fundamental to PlantCam.

• Secure Account Linking: When you connect your PlantCam to your account, a secure, encrypted token (JWT - Jason Web Token) is generated on our servers and stored on the device. Think of this as a unique, secure key that proves the camera belongs to your account. It contains identifiers like your email address but never your account password.
• Your Data Belongs to You: Only the owner of the PlantCam account can access the photos and videos associated with their device. No one else – not other users, nor third parties – can view your images or videos.
• Device Security: The PlantCam device itself is designed for its specific task. It cannot be remotely controlled to do anything other than its cycle: wake, connect to Wi-Fi, check time, take a photo (if scheduled), upload the photo, calculate sleep time, and sleep.
• Full Control & Deletion: You are always in control. You can delete individual photos, generated time-lapse videos, or your entire account and all associated data at any time directly through the PlantCam app's settings menu. You can also contact our support team for assistance. For full details, please refer to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
• German Servers & GDPR: All your image and video data is processed and stored on secure servers located in Germany, ensuring compliance with the high standards of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Ensuring a Smooth Connection

• Stable Wi-Fi Needed: Since PlantCam uploads photos via Wi-Fi, a stable connection is necessary where you place the camera.
• Checking Your Range: Please ensure the location you choose for your PlantCam has adequate Wi-Fi signal strength from your router.
• Extending Your Reach: If you plan to place the PlantCam far from your router, using a standard Wi-Fi repeater or extender can help boost the signal and ensure reliable uploads.
• Cloud-Based Access: Please note that for this generation of PlantCam, photos are processed via the cloud. They are not stored on the device itself, and direct access to photos from the device without a Wi-Fi connection is not possible.

Enjoy watching your plants reach for the sky with PlantCam – your simple, secure window into their world!