Your Roomba robot vacuum now doubles as a security guard

By Jon Bitner April 18, 2023

The Roomba j7 and j7+ are two of the best robot vacuums on the market, and if you opt into a fairly new beta, they only become more enticing. When signing up for the Remote Check-In beta, you’ll get to use your robot vacuum as a makeshift security camera — allowing you to “check in” on your home while you’re away.

The company opened the feature to select owners in November, but the company is just now rolling it out to a larger audience. In fact, if you have a Roomba j7 or j7+ at home, there’s a good chance you received a notification from your companion smartphone app telling you about the service. There are still some serious limitations to the beta (it only works with iOS devices and is supported by just a handful of products in the j7 lineup), but if you get the notification, there’s no harm in checking out the cool new feature.

iRobot Roomba j7 plus 7550 robot vacuum in charging dock by entryway. — iRobot

If you’re eligible for the Remote Check-In feature, you’ll be able to opt into the beta by navigating to the Beta menu at the bottom of your screen. After doing that, you should be able to start a Remote Check-In session by pressing the New Job button at the top of your screen, then selecting Check-In.

You can also check out the official blog from iRobot if you’re having trouble getting it to work.

Remote Check-In isn’t anything too fancy (in fact, similar features can already be found on competitors, such as the Ecovacs Deebot T10 Omni), but it’s great to see iRobot bringing new features to some of the most popular robots in its lineup. And if your j7 is placed in the right location, it can effectively remove the need for an indoor security camera — although its low viewing angle might make it less than ideal for some rooms.

Beyond simply checking in from its dock, you can create manual viewpoints for the j7, which allow your robot to travel to different locations in your home and act as a makeshift security guard.

If you’re interested in using the Remote Check-In feature, be sure to load up your Roomba app and see if you have an alert about the latest beta.

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Jon Bitner is a writer covering consumer electronics, technology, and gaming. His work has been published on various websites…

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