Ring is killing its desktop apps for PC and Mac

If you’re using the Ring desktop app to manage your Ring cameras or view live feeds, prepare for some big changes coming next month.

Amazon-owned Ring has just announced that as of October 15, the Ring – Always Home desktop application for Mac and PC will stop working, and you’ll be automatically—and permanently—logged out of the app.

Instead of using the soon-to-be-discontinued desktop app, Ring suggests using either the Ring mobile app or Ring.com in a desktop browser, which mirrors many “key features” of the desktop app.

For example, you can view live feeds of your Ring cameras on Ring.com, while Ring Protect subscribers can view, save, share, download, or favorite videos in their histories. You can also use Ring.com to manage your account settings, your subscription details, and your payment methods. Meanwhile, browser notifications are “coming soon,” Ring says.

Ring didn’t give users much warning that the Ring – Always Home desktop application is going the way of the dodo, but the writing has been on the wall for some time.

On the Mac side, the poorly reviewed app hasn’t been updated in three months, and the update before that arrived a full eight months ago. The Ring mobile app, on the other hand, gets updates on a monthly basis.

The Ring desktop app also doesn’t support new features such as video end-to-end encryption (which Ring rolled out for worldwide users in July) or geofencing (a Ring addition from February), while such recent Ring devices as the Video Doorbell Wired, the Ring Video Doorbell 4, and the Ring Video Doorbell Pro 2 aren’t supported at all.

Ben has been writing about technology and consumer electronics for more than 20 years. A PCWorld contributor since 2014, Ben joined TechHive in 2019, where he covers smart home and home entertainment products.