Figured out why I was getting no audio in the Security Spy iOS app

glennwilliams

SecuritySpy 5.2.6
SecuritySpy iOS App v 1.3.0
iOS 14.0.1 (on both iPad and iPhone)

Recently I noticed I was not getting audio through the speakers of my iPhone or iPad when using the SecuritySpy App. I checked the recordings and found that audio is definitely being captured.

I do get sound through the app if I'm using either AirPods or any other bluetooth speaker, but neither my iPad nor my iPhone would play sound through the speakers.

I figured out why, though I'm not sure if it is a bug, an iOS change, or if it's supposed to be this way and I've just never noticed. I usually keep my phones on Silent via the switch on the side. If I turn Silent Mode on, no sound through the speakers, if I turn it off, sound immediately plays. With my iPad there's no switch so I use the Do Not Disturb functionality, and it has the same effect.

I don't see anything in the manual about this, so I figured I'd report it if for no other reason it explains the behavior to somebody else wondering what's going on.

Ben

This behaviour has changed in SecuritySpy, hence your surprise. Previously, SecuritySpy would play the audio whether the phone was on silent or not, which we (and many users) judged to be a Bad Thing. So this was changed in the latest update so that the audio will only play when the phone is not on silent. I hope this isn't too much of an issue for you.

glennwilliams

Not an issue at all - just couldn't figure out why I couldn't hear sound. Now that I know it's easy enough to turn off Silent mode on the rare occasions when I am not using my AirPods.

Thanks!

mmatyas

I liked it the old way, with audio out the speakers when I’m silent mode. This is the canonical behavior for all the audio or video apps that I know of. I think if an entertainment app like Netflix was silent in silent mode, users would be surprised. Silent mode is for ringers and audio alerts. Please return it to the original mode; with audio available on speakers in silent mode.

Ben

Hi @mmatyas thanks for your feedback, however I'm really not sure that we should return it to the previous behaviour. Under the previous behaviour, we were getting regular complaints from users. Since we changed it, we have not received a single complaint until your message just now. It's not quite like a regular AV player, where when the user presses a play button to play a media file. I think we have to go with the overall customer feedback, and leave it how it is at the moment.

Loz

I know this is an older thread but I came looking for a solution for the same issue.

I agree that having audio enabled for video while in silent mode is the usual expected behaviour in IOS but I also agree that people may not want audio being enabled while viewing security footage.

Wouldn't having an Audio On/Off toggle within the app cover all bases in this instance?

Ben

Hi @Loz it's possible that some users may appreciate a separate in-app software switch for this, but I think too few users would need such a feature to justify the development effort to implement it at this time. The specific purpose of the physical switch on the side of the phone is to turn audio on/off, and this is consistent with the vast majority of users' needs and expectations.

Selbeast

Hi Ben, sorry to rehash an older issue, but wanted to get your thoughts.

You said that, "[t]he specific purpose of the physical switch on the side of the phone is to turn audio on/off, and this is consistent with the vast majority of users' needs and expectations." But this isn't true. All of the iOS apps I use play audio even if the system is set to silent - as soon as you hit play on the audio or video, the audio plays regardless whether the phone is in silent mode. Apple Music app works this way, as do these other apps that I use VLC, YouTube, YouTube TV, Disney+, Prime, Max, Netflix, Hulu, AppleTV+. The only app on my phone that does NOT follow this behavior is SecuritySpy. I know of no other apps where the physical switch (or software switch on newer models), turns audio off. In ViewCam on Mac, and in the web viewer for security spy on max - audio is off to start, and you have to press a button within the app to turn it on. Wondering if this can be implemented on a future version of the iOS app or if there can be any option to toggle this behavior on or off.

The issue is that my iPhone is on silent mode 24/7/365. I get all notifications on my watch, in fact the principle reason I have an apple watch is so that I can leave my phone on silent mode forever. If I use SecuritySpy, I won't be able to do that.

Thank you for reading - this is my first post, and I feel bad that it's a bit of a bitch - SecuritySpy and Viewecam are awesome so far. Thanks so much for developing these.

Selbeast

Follow-up: iOS automation to toggle silent mode off when opening the SecuritySpy all and toggle it back on when I close the app. Added set media volume to zero on opening the app just in case. Just set it up, and it seems to be working.

Ben

Thanks for the feedback @Selbeast, perhaps we do need to change this so that it's more in line with what other media player apps do these days. We'll review this and may make some changes in the next update.

Selbeast

New update is great. Thank you!

Ben

Great to hear that, thanks.