Possibility to make SecuritySpy HomeKit compatible?

Cool Ben. Im not sure if this is what you're referring to but there's a number of apps in the App Store that run a homekit server for unsupported homekit accessories eg. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tpl-bridge/id1441858267?mt=12

is this what you mean re Apple's acceptance under their rules ?
Either way, I am assuming that you won't be able to add HSV

Good point about existing HomeKit apps on the app store. However the ones that I can see there involve the macOS app simulating a HomeKit accessory and making it available to the Home app. As far as I can tell there is nothing that operates in the reverse: making HomeKit devices available for control from other macOS apps, which is what would be needed for SecuritySpy.

As for HSV (HomeKit Secure Video), I don't think this will be possible to integrate with SecuritySpy unfortunately. As far as I can tell, this is for allowing cameras to record directly to iCloud, for viewing and playback in Apple's Home app only.

Good news everyone: we have just released SecuritySpy 5.3, which includes HomeKit integration. You can read about this via the user manual here: SecuritySpy HomeKit Integration. Please provide feedback when you all have had a chance to test this. It does require macOS 11 Big Sur, but I'm afraid there is no way around this.

@dmg15 - no, unfortunately this functionality is not possible. The current HomeKit integration is about Triggers and Actions: starting recording based on HomeKit events (e.g. "if switch X turns on, start recording in camera Y"), or setting the state of HomeKit accessories based on camera events (e.g. "if motion is detected in camera Y, turn on light Z").

The only way to get live feeds of non Apple HomeKit certified cameras into HomeKit is by using HomeBridge.

There are multiple plug-ins available that can take live feeds directly from cameras and have them appear as native HomeKit camera feeds for live viewing/thumbnails, and even Doorbell simulation.

Typically, a Raspberry Pi is used and the heavy-lifting is done by ffmpeg plug-ins that transcode into a stream that HomeKit accepts.

I haven't used this myself; but as there is a decent HomeBridge setup for Ubiquiti Unifi cameras (which I use), it's on my list to try one of these days.

Note that this only provides basic/regular HomeKit camera support. At this time, and maybe forever, no third party has any bridge or emulation that brings a non-HomeKit camera into HomeKit Secure Video (HSV).

Most IP cameras will allow multiple clients pulling live video, so you should be able to have both SecuritySpy and HomeBridge pulling the video from a camera simultaneously. SS would provide the recording and advanced features, while HomeBridge lets HomeKit have live viewing and basic features within the Apple Home App (or 3rd party apps like HomeCam).

I updated my Mac mini and installed HomeHelper. Working very well. Thanks Ben! Nice update to SS. Nice implementation to hook SS up to HomeKit.

Great! SS runs on a Hackintosh, so upgrades are scary. I will be getting a Mini M1 but have to wait for a custom order to get 16GB.

For those considering Homebridge, I've been using it for many years and many iterations. I'm a Linux/VoIP admin by trade though, so that helps, but honestly HB has become so much easier to install and use lately. And there is a HOOBS package where it's pretty much all done for you. Good as far as easy, but possibly bad because it's kind of a black box and some people who have issues then have a seemingly difficult time with it.

I have a Pi4 2GB running on PoE in the network closet. It is bridging a bunch of accessories as well as 7 cameras. The CPU runs at only 3-5% while idle and under 10% when streaming a 4k camera. So it's super efficient. It's also our ad-blocking DNS server and does a few other things like managing the Ubiquiti network devices. So much power for so little money. It has been 100% reliable and stable for years.

So for the cost I'd tell people to go for it, give it a try.

Hi @CameronB thanks for your feedback. We'll get that annoying spelling error fixed!

As for the list of accessories, this is grouped by room, and is definitely now scrollable, so if the list is too big to fit on the screen then you should be able to scroll up/down. However note that HomeHelper only currently supports certain types of accessories, as follows:

- Anything with a power state (e.g. power output, switch)
- Anything with an input/contact state (e.g. a sensor)
- Occupancy detectors
- Security systems
- Anything with a brightness (e.g. lightbulb).

What are the types of accessories that you can't see in HomeHelper's list?

Does the list actually go to the bottom of your screen (i.e. it looks like it's cut off)?

Hi @CameronB I can only assume that this accessory makes available services that HomeHelper does not currently support. This is surprising, as the motion sensor should provide a simple switched output, and HomeHelper does support all accessories that have switched outputs.

I will email you directly with some instructions on how we can set up a test version of HomeHelper on your machine, so we can get some debugging information that will allow us to get to the bottom of this. It should be possible to add support for this device once we know what's going wrong.

Unfortunately, my scenario doesn't actually work because the garage door controllers are not available in HK Helper. They just don't show up. I have a shop full of equipment with a camera inside and a camera outside. Motion detection and triggers are on both. When the door is opened via HK, would like to turn off the actions and notifications, since people may be moving supplies in and out for hours. The alerts are annoying and useless. Any idea why these devices aren't in the helper?

Hey guys, from my understanding, the helper allows automations. Are we able to see the camera feeds in the home app and do any of the notifications eg. alerts work via the home app
Thanks

We have heard from users who have successfully integrated their SecuritySpy cameras into HomeKit via Homebridge and this SecuritySpy Homebridge FFmpeg configuration.

wonder if anyone who has this working can share their URL. not getting it to work here. First question, where can we find camera number? even trying a few random numbers didn't work. substituting with name didn't work. tried http and https (with correct port). tried ++video. tried -re switch as well.

edit: got it working. not sure what helped, really.

Hey guys, from my understanding, the helper allows automations. Are we able to see the camera feeds in the home app and do any of the notifications eg. alerts work via the home app
Thanks

this works, other examples help me get here:

{
"platform": "Camera-ffmpeg",
"cameras": [
{
"name": "Camera 1",
"videoConfig": {
"source": "-re -i http://user:password@ip_of_securityspy:8000/++video?cameraNum=0",
"stillImageSource": "-i http://user:password@ip_of_securityspy:8000/++image?cameraNum=0",
"maxStreams": 1,
"maxWidth": 1920,
"maxHeight": 1080,
"maxFPS": 25
}
},
{
"name": "Camera 2",
"videoConfig": {
"source": "-re -i http://user:password@ip_of_securityspy:8000/++video?cameraNum=1",
"stillImageSource": "-i http://user:password@ip_of_securityspy:8000/++image?cameraNum=1",
"maxStreams": 1,
"maxWidth": 1920,
"maxHeight": 1080,
"maxFPS": 25
}
},
{
"name": "Camera 3",
"videoConfig": {
"source": "-re -i http://user:password@ip_of_securityspy:8000/++video?cameraNum=2",
"stillImageSource": "-i http://user:password@ip_of_securityspy:8000/++image?cameraNum=2",
"maxStreams": 1,
"maxWidth": 1920,
"maxHeight": 1080,
"maxFPS": 25
}
},
{
"name": "Camera 4",
"videoConfig": {
"source": "-re -i http://user:password@ip_of_securityspy:8000/++video?cameraNum=3",
"stillImageSource": "-i http://user:password@ip_of_securityspy:8000/++image?cameraNum=3",
"maxStreams": 1,
"maxWidth": 1920,
"maxHeight": 1080,
"maxFPS": 25
}
}
]
}