Android App or UI3

[rfj]

We have some indoor cameras (VansView) and I am going to add some Amcrest cams. All of them will (not yet) be on a separate VLAN. Hence, to access them I have to use BI. There is the BI Android App but the reviews are pretty bad. So I am wondering if I should just use UI3. The main problem I have with it is that when I speak into the mobile device nothing can be heard on the camera (but I can hear sound from the camera). Note that in the BI main settings under Audio I don't have anything. When I click on the drop down menu for "Device" I get nothing which probably has to do with my setup (I really don't have a mic on this computer as it is located under the stairs). Could this be the reason it doesn't work? Though the mic would really be the one from my mobile device and not from the computer.

 

[wittaj]

Use the native UI3 that is free and part of BI.

Simply open a web browser and type in the IP address of your BI computer followed by :80 or :81 or whatever your port number is.

BTW there is nothing wrong with the BI app - the complaints are user errors such as not understanding what IP address to type into the app.

I have both the paid app and UI3 and use UI3 99.9% of the time.

But for most, the only reason to buy the app would be for cameras with two-way talk and push notifications.

I have two way talk cameras and used the BI push for awhile but found the Pushover app to be better as the BI app would need either forwarded ports or VPN on while away to get the image with the push. Pushover app sends images regardless of whether connected to VPN or not.

 

[rfj]

@wittaj are you saying that two way communication doesn't work with ui3? That is actually my experience, i.e. I can hear sound recorded by the camera. However, when I talk into the mobile device nothing can be heard on the camera. Is it expected that this doesn't work or do I have an issue with my configuration?

 

[wittaj]

@wittaj are you saying that two way communication doesn't work with ui3? That is actually my experience, i.e. I can hear sound recorded by the camera. However, when I talk into the mobile device nothing can be heard on the camera. Is it expected that this doesn't work or do I have an issue with my configuration?

That is correct - UI3 does not do two-way talk. You can only hear the audio from the camera.

 

[rfj]

Ok, I will have to buy the app then. I assume the app from BI is the best rather than some 3rd party app.

 

[rfj]

I purchased the app and tried it out. Except for the fact that the final setup requires VPN (will try out tasker to automate it), this is exactly what I needed for my wife. I created an "indoor" group for all the indoor cams. Then you can click on a cam to see just that camera. PTZ works as expected. Two way communication works with some delay. So far this looks pretty cool.