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SecuritySpy iOS/tvOS App

User Guide

Written by Ben Bird - Ben Software Ltd

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The SecuritySpy iOS/tvOS app allows you to easily monitor your SecuritySpy CCTV system from wherever you are, from your iPhone, iPad or Apple TV. With its easy setup and intuitive user interface, this app provides the ideal viewing experience for your cameras.

This document will guide you through the features of the app. Screenshots have been taken from an iPhone - the app will look a bit different on an iPad or Apple TV, but the functionality is the same.

 

Table of Contents

 

Getting Started

Before you start, make sure you have enabled SecuritySpy's web interface, and if you want to be able to connect over the internet, set up remote access to SecuritySpy.

When you first open the app you will see a welcome screen (screenshot below left) - tap Get Started at the top of the screen to set up your SecuritySpy servers (screenshot below right).

The Servers screen (screenshot above right) shows servers that you have previously set up as well as servers that have been automatically discovered. The app will discover any SecuritySpy server on your local network that has its web interface enabled, with the Bonjour option turned on (it's on by default).

Tap on any discovered server to add it. The app uses Bonjour to connect to local servers (which is a way of addressing that avoids the need to interact with IP addresses), and if you have set up remote monitoring using SecuritySpy's DDNS system, it will obtain these details too, so that it will be able to connect to your SecuritySpy server from the internet without any additional setup.

If your server has HTTPS enabled, this will be used instead of unencrypted HTTP.

To add a server that cannot be automatically discovered (e.g. it is not on your local network), tap the plus button at the top right of the Servers screen to enter the server details manually:

Address
Enter the IP address or host name of your SecuritySpy server, for example 192.168.1.1 or example.viewcam.me.

Port
Enter the server's port. If your server is using standard ports (8000 for HTTP and 8001 for HTTPS) you don't need to enter anything here.

Username and Password
Enter the login details that you have configured for the server in the Preferences -> Web section in SecuritySpy.

The name of the server as specified in the Preferences -> Web section in SecuritySpy will be used to refer to the server within the app, so if you have multiple SecuritySpy servers, make sure to set a descriptive name here so that you can easily distinguish them in the app.

From the list of servers, tap any one to view its cameras. While viewing a particular server, to get back to the main list of servers, tap the server name at the top of the screen (e.g. the text My CCTV in the below screenshots).

 

Cameras - Live View

In the Cameras section, you will see a list of all cameras that you have access to. On this screen, each camera's image is updated approximately every second. Swipe vertically to scroll through the cameras in the list (screenshot below left), and tap any camera to view it individually (screenshot below right). Use the filter option (the round button at the top left of the Cameras screen) to view individual groups of cameras that you have set up on your SecuritySpy server.

On the individual live camera screen (screenshot above right), the camera will be presented at full frame rate, with audio if available. You can pinch and swipe to zoom and pan around the image.

The C, M and A indicators at the bottom of the screen show whether Continuous-Capture recording, Motion-Capture recording, and Actions are disarmed (blue), armed and waiting (orange) or armed and recording/active (red). Tap any of these indicators to select schedules and overrides that determine when each mode should be armed (learn more about schedules here).

Tap the share button (the box with the arrow) to share the current image. A variety of share options are available including AirDrop, iMessage, Mail and iCloud Photo Sharing (screenshot below left).

Tap the gear button (or tap and hold on the camera's image itself) to see some further options for the camera (screenshot below right).

From the menu that pops up (screenshot above right), you can choose to enable notifications, choose whether the camera appears in Multiplex view, control Pan/Tilt/Zoom, and send audio to the camera.

 

Schedule Setter

The calendar button at the top-right corner of the screen accesses a panel that allows you to easily set schedules and overrides for your cameras, just like the Schedule Setter window available via the Window menu in SecuritySpy under macOS (for more information on schedules, please see the Schedules section of the SecuritySpy User Manual).

Select the cameras to apply the schedule to, select a schedule and/or override, choose the modes to apply the schedule to, and tap the Apply button. Schedule Presets are also available in the lower section of this panel.

 

Notifications

On an iOS device, you can choose receive instant notifications when motion is detected in any camera, and, if the server is reachable by the iOS device when it receives the notification, you will also see an image in the notification. To enable notifications for a camera, select the Enable Notifications from the camera menu (screenshot above right), and make sure the camera's Actions mode is armed (the A indicator at the bottom of the screen showing the camera's live view should be shown in red). Then, whenever the camera is triggered you will see a notification (screenshot below left).

Long-press (tap and hold) the notification to expand it (on devices with 3D touch this gesture is a firm-press, or on iOS versions before 14, swipe left on the notification and tap the View option). Tap this expanded notification to go directly to the app to view the camera's live video. Or, to go directly from the initial notification to the live video in the app, swipe right on the notification.

 

Multiplex

The Multiplex feature displays groups of cameras in sequence, in a full-screen display. Simply select the number of cameras to display on one screen and the cycle time in seconds (screenshow below left), and tap the Start Multiplex button to start the full-screen display (screenshot below right).

 

Captures

This section shows all captured files for your cameras. Files are ordered newest-to-oldest, and if you keep scrolling down, the list will continue to grow to show the entire capture history (screenshot below left). To view captures from just a single camera, tap the All Cameras button at the top of the screen and select the camera you want to view (screenshot below right). You an also filter by recording type (Motion Capture, Continuous Capture, Images) by tapping the All Types option.

To share a file, long-tap on it in the list (screenshot above left). If the file is small enough (under 10 MB), it will be shared directly, otherwise a link will be automatically created for access to the file. A variety of share options are available including AirDrop, iMessage, Mail and Files.

 

Settings

In the Settings app on your iOS device, scroll down and tap SecuritySpy to access the settings:

Settings: Time Zone
You can choose which time zone in which to display times of captured files - either the zone of the server or the zone of the iOS device can be used for this.

Cameras: Preview Size
Choose how large you want the live video previews under the Cameras tab; this controls how many columns will be used for the display and how many cameras will be seen on screen at the same time.

Cameras: Aspect Ratio
This specifies the aspect ratio used for the live camera preview images. For optimum display, choose the option that best matches the video feeds produced by your cameras.

Cameras: Live H.264 Video
The SecuritySpy app can stream in either JPEG or H.264 mode. JPEG is high-bandwidth but requires little CPU resources for the server to produce, whereas H.264 is low-bandwidth but can put significant load on the server. Therefore, when connecting to the server over your local network (LAN), JPEG is typically the best choice because there is plenty of bandwidth available, whereas when connecting over the Internet (WAN), H.264 is typically the best choice as it provides much better frame rates over connections with limited bandwidth.

Captures: Preview Size
Choose how large you want the preview thumbnails for captured files.

Captures: High-Quality Movies
When viewing over a local network, or over the Internet with a fast connection, high quality movie playback should work well. However, over slower connections, you may want to switch to low-quality movies, which are limited in resolution, frame rate, and duration in order to reduce their bandwidth.

 

Connecting Over a VPN

When connecting over a VPN (Virtual Private Network), automatic device discovery won't work (this is because Bonjour, which SecuritySpy uses for automatic device discovery, can't operate over a VPN). Therefore, in order to set up your SecuritySpy server for connection over VPN:

 

Getting Help

If you have any questions or problems using the SecuritySpy iOS/tvOS app, please email us and we will provide support.

 

Appendix: URL Scheme

This section describes the URL scheme that can be used by other apps to invoke the SecuritySpy iOS/tvOS app on the same device.

To open the SecuritySpy app and display the list of live cameras:
securityspy://[host]:[port]/live

To open the SecuritySpy app and display live video for a particular camera:
securityspy://[host]:[port]/live?cameraNum=[n]

To open the SecuritySpy app and start multiplex view:
securityspy://[host]:[port]/multiplex

To open the SecuritySpy app and display the list of captured files for a particular camera:
securityspy://[host]:[port]/download?cameraNum=[n]

For the most recently-used server (or if there is only one server set up), you can omit the [host]:[port] element, so for example the link to the list of live cameras becomes simply securityspy:///live

Camera numbers can be obtained from the Camera Info window on your SecuritySpy server (if you don't see them, tap the header bar and a menu pops up that allows you to add this column). Or, for an easy way to generate these links, open the live view for a particular camera in the SecuritySpy iOS app, tap the share button (the box with the arrow), and tap the Copy Link button.