Over the years, small app-based home cameras have grown in popularity, and there are now many competing offerings from companies such as Blink, Google, Arlo, and Ring. The appeal of these cameras is understandable, as they can work well for many home users, being compact, unobtrusive and easy to set up. However, they come with significant disadvantages, the most notable being that they will generally only work with the manufacturer-provided apps, thereby forcing users to purchase ongoing subscriptions for more than just basic functionality. This unfortunately means that most of these cameras will not work with our macOS CCTV software SecuritySpy.

Google’s Nest cameras are a popular option, and until recently it was difficult to link them up to SecuritySpy. However, this has all changed with new functionality built into the Starling Hub.The Starling Hub is a compact and inexpensive device that acts as a bridge between Google Nest products and the Apple ecosystem. As well as connecting a variety of Nest products to Apple Home, including cameras, doorbells, alarms, locks and speakers, the Starling Hub has a key feature specifically for Nest cameras: it can package the cameras’ video streams into industry-standard RTSP streams that can be sent to SecuritySpy. Here’s how to set this up:

1. Standard Initial Setup

Follow Starling’s instructions here: How do I set up Starling Home Hub?

Once installed, the Starling app has you log in to the Google account associated with your Nest devices. After logging in, all devices (cameras, thermostats, Protect, etc.) associated with your account appear within the Home and Device Settings section of the Starling app.

2. Enable RTSP Streams

To enable RTSP streaming, head to the Home and Device Settings section, scroll down to the Camera and Doorbell Settings subsection and turn on the Enable local network streaming option. Once that’s enabled, tap the Configure RTSP Streaming button. In this section you have the option to enable the RTSP stream of any of your Google Nest cameras that are compatible with this feature (note that battery-powered cameras won’t work here, but all other Nest cameras should be compatible). Once a camera is enabled, an RTSP URL appears:

3. Setup In SecuritySpy

• Go to Settings > Cameras and add a new network device.
• As the Profile, select Manual Configuration.
• In the Address box, enter the IP address from the RTSP URL (in the above example it’s 10.0.0.8).
• In the Manual profile path box, enter the characters from the end of the URL, for example MTQNJB (this will be different for each camera).
• Authentication is optional, and can be enabled on a per-camera basis; if you have specified a username/password for a particular camera in the Starling Hub, you’ll also need to give these details to SecuritySpy.

4. Give Starling a Static IP

You should already see the video streams coming into SecuritySpy at this point. However, there’s one crucial final step to ensure reliable long-term operation. The RTSP URLs you’ve configured contain the Starling Hub’s current IP address, but this address may change in the future if your router reassigns it through DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol).

To prevent this issue, you should reserve a permanent IP address for your Starling Hub. First, make note of the Hub’s current IP address (the one shown in the RTSP URLs). Then, access your router’s configuration interface by typing its IP address into a web browser — this is typically 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1, though the exact address is usually printed on a label on the back of the router along with the default login credentials. Some routers use dedicated mobile apps instead of web interfaces.

Once logged in, look for a function called DHCP Reservation, IP Reservation, or something similar (the exact name varies by manufacturer). Create a new entry for your Starling Hub (it may be shown by name, or by hardware “MAC” address) and assign it the same IP address it currently has. This ensures the Hub will always receive the same IP address, keeping your video streams working reliably.

If you can’t locate the DHCP reservation function or your router doesn’t support it, you can alternatively configure a static IP address directly on the Starling Hub, though DHCP reservation is generally the preferred approach.

5. That’s it!

The Starling Hub offers an elegant solution that liberates your Google Nest cameras from vendor lock-in, allowing you to integrate them seamlessly with SecuritySpy whilst bypassing recurring subscription fees. Beyond just cameras, it transforms your entire Google Nest ecosystem — from doorbells to thermostats — into fully-fledged HomeKit devices, giving you the best of both worlds: Google’s hardware innovation combined with Apple’s intuitive home automation platform. For SecuritySpy users, it’s a game-changer that finally makes professional-grade local recording and monitoring possible with these popular consumer cameras.

Many thanks to our power user Roberto Pedro Martinez for first bringing this functionality to our attention, and for providing information and screenshots of his setup, which are reproduced above with his permission.