Camera won't load
Live video comes from Ring, so a camera that won’t start is usually a camera that’s offline, busy or on a weak connection. Work down this list.
What the message means
- Connecting… or Buffering…: Ring is starting the stream. It can take up to about 30 seconds, and longer for battery cameras, which wake up first.
- Couldn’t start the live view (on the watch, Couldn’t start): the camera didn’t answer. It may be offline, or busy with another live view.
- Live view ended: the stream stalled for about 20 seconds. Tap Resume.
- Live view paused to save battery: that’s Auto-Pause, not a fault. See Live view settings.
- Can’t Connect: your iPhone or watch has no internet connection. Tap Retry once you’re back online.
Try these, in order
Check the camera in the Ring app.
If it won’t play live there either, the problem is the camera or Ring. Look for a gray dot on our Cameras tab (offline), and check status.ring.com if several cameras stop at once.
Close other live views of that camera.
A camera handles only a few viewers at a time. Close it in the Ring app, on a TV or on another phone, then try again.
Tap Try Again.
Battery cameras in particular often start on the second attempt, once they’re awake.
Check the connection at both ends.
A camera with weak Wi-Fi can still take snapshots but struggle with live video. On the watch, streaming over Wi-Fi is quicker than over cellular.
Refresh the camera list.
Pull down on the iPhone’s Cameras tab. If the camera still won’t play, quit and reopen the app.
Snapshot looks old? Thumbnails refresh about every 30 seconds, and battery cameras no more than once a minute, to save their battery. Live view is always current.
Still stuck? Tell us which camera and what you’re seeing. We usually reply within a day.
Contact support