Blue Iris Baby monitoring - Please share the best settings?

[ProTapper]

Keep in mind this was a Google issue not BI. Google changed something and BI was a casualty of the change.

Just like when SMS quit working reliably due to mobile providers tightening spam algorithms, that wasn't a BI issue either.

Also keep in mind android users have been lucky to date as Apple requires a new certificate like yearly that can only be obtained with BI updates.

Makes sense, AJ, but still not ideal haha! Literally everything else meets my needs. Damn Entrust and their certificates LOL! I wonder if Ken can give us a standalone install for this fix. Even if it's paid, it's gotta be subset of the cost.

Pushover doesn't have to be complicated.

Keep in mind that when you sign up for Pushover it provides you with a pushover "email" that you cannot log in and use for anything except to use it to send push notifications to.

So you can simply go into the alerts in BI and tell it to send an email instead of a push and you are getting your push notifications from the Pushover app.

Don't get me wrong, the Pushover API process that @jaydeel discusses adds way more functionality and customization, but if you are just looking for a simple push and a quick setup, the pushover email option is simple to setup.

Prior to pushover, I was doing the SMS method and once mobile providers tightened their spam algorithms and my texts would be delayed and what not, I simply went the pushover email route and was simply replacing my SMS number with the pushover email.

Quick, simple, gets the job done. Signing up for Pushover was like a minute LOL.

So many of my cameras still use the pushover email option, but I have gone to the API process for a few of my key cameras that I wanted the more customization that the API provides.

So many Pushover recommendations that it seems I might have to cave. I will hate the disjointed experience though... Meaning, get the notifications in Pushover, click on them, but then go to UI3 to see or can it pull the native Android app and the associated clip? This will also be missing the consolidated notifications that are sometimes not confirmed alerts, but still available in the BI app to look at. Sigh...

 

[wittaj]

Makes sense, AJ, but still not ideal haha! Literally everything else meets my needs. Damn Entrust and their certificates LOL! I wonder if Ken can give us a standalone install for this fix. Even if it's paid, it's gotta be subset of the cost.

So many Pushover recommendations that it seems I might have to cave. I will hate the disjointed experience though... Meaning, get the notifications in Pushover, click on them, but then go to UI3 to see or can it pull the native Android app and the associated clip? This will also be missing the consolidated notifications that are sometimes not confirmed alerts, but still available in the BI app to look at. Sigh...

Pushover is free for 30 days, so you can always give it a try.

I guess it also depends on where you started at in your notification journey.

I had started with SMS alerts because since I don't forward ports, the only time the BI app would send a push with a picture was if I was on my LAN or had VPN turned on when away from home.

Once mobile providers started tightening their spam algorithms and the SMS messages would be delayed or not come at all, the Pushover app was a nice alternative to still allow me to see images when away from home without having to port forward or be on VPN.

But for someone that port forwarded and was able to get push from the BI app with images regardless of where they were, then yeah I could see how introducing another app to the process can be disjointed.

But after trying Pushover, I probably would have gone that way regardless because it offers way more functionality.

 

[ProTapper]

Pushover is free for 30 days, so you can always give it a try.

I guess it also depends on where you started at in your notification journey.

I had started with SMS alerts because since I don't forward ports, the only time the BI app would send a push with a picture was if I was on my LAN or had VPN turned on when away from home.

Once mobile providers started tightening their spam algorithms and the SMS messages would be delayed or not come at all, the Pushover app was a nice alternative to still allow me to see images when away from home without having to port forward or be on VPN.

But for someone that port forwarded and was able to get push from the BI app with images regardless of where they were, then yeah I could see how introducing another app to the process can be disjointed.

But after trying Pushover, I probably would have gone that way regardless because it offers way more functionality.

Thanks AJ, my hiccup with Pushover is the disjointed experience of clicking on the notification and then being able to view the video... What will it pull up?

The BI app takes me straight to the clip, from the installed app.

 

[NonTech]

Thanks AJ, my hiccup with Pushover is the disjointed experience of clicking on the notification and then being able to view the video... What will it pull up?

The BI app takes me straight to the clip, from the installed app.

Im not a computer genius by any stretch. I use pushover (it's great). Still view vids inside the BI app. 2 different methods but effective for me. I use tailscale away from home, also very effective for me if this helps.

 

[jaydeel]

The BI app takes me straight to the clip, from the installed app.

Are you sure? My BI app notifications have never directly opened and started playing an Alert clip. Perhaps I've overlooked an app setting all these years (!!).

When I touch the BI app notification, it instead simply opens the BI app to the 'Default Log-in Area' as configured in the app's settings. If this is the camera or (cam group) of interest, then I see the live stream in the 'Cameras' tab. If the 'Default Log-in Area' is 'Alerts', then I see the Alert's tab with the latest alert at the top, which I can touch and play the alert clip.

my hiccup with Pushover is the disjointed experience of clicking on the notification and then being able to view the video... What will it pull up?

After you touch the Pushover notification you get the app's notification screen with active hyperlinks. Touch the UI3 hyperlink and you are playing the alert clip. It may take a moment to open the device browser, but it's an action that we all tolerate many dozens of times every day... What you actually see is all explained (with screenshots) the first few screens of my original post.

 

[NonTech]

Why can't I even reply correctly, did I mention Im not a computer genius.

 

[jaydeel]

2. I noticed there is a setting in BI mobile app for default login screen. When I choose selected Camera option, it doesn't let me pick a specific camera to launch the screen on, is this how it's supposed to work? Can I launch the app on a specific camera?

I’ve always assumed ‘Selected cam’ opens the app on the last camera open. But my testing now of both Android & iOS apps, suggests it opens only the Cameras view showing all cameras.

D'oh! I just figured out that get this to work requires 2 steps:

1. App Home tab > Settings (gear icon) > Default Log-in Area > Selected Camera
2. App Cameras tab > select camera (or group) of interest > Settings (gear icon) > SET AS FIRST VIEW
   (see screenshot)

 

[jaydeel]

4. Lastly, is there an option in the Android mobile app to turn "off/on" the camera for viewing? Sometimes, my wife is feeding the baby and wants the stream off.

Update…

The code box below lists commands that @ProTapper and I have tested and verified for querying/toggling Privacy Mode on Amcrest model IP2M-841cameras.

For ease of use…

• The HTTP commands can used in device Home Screen shortcuts and Blue Iris ‘Web request’ actions.
• The CURL commands can be used in Blue Iris ‘Run a program’ actions.
• The Blue Iris ‘Web request’ and ‘Run a program’ actions can be assigned to camera presets via their ‘On call’ action set
• The HTTP and CURL commands can also be used in the Android app HTTP Request Shortcuts.

::Privacy STATE

http://<camera-ip>/cgi-bin/configManager.cgi?action=getConfig&name=LeLensMask[0].Enable

curl -g --digest -u <user>:<password> "http://<camera-ip>/cgi-bin/configManager.cgi?action=getConfig&name=LeLensMask[0].Enable"

::Privacy ON

http://<camera-ip>/cgi-bin/configManager.cgi?action=setConfig&LeLensMask[0].Enable=true

curl -g --digest -u <user>:<password> "http://<camera-ip>/cgi-bin/configManager.cgi?action=setConfig&LeLensMask[0].Enable=true"

::Privacy OFF

http://<camera-ip>/cgi-bin/configManager.cgi?action=setConfig&LeLensMask[0].Enable=false

curl -g --digest -u <user>:<password> "http://<camera-ip>/cgi-bin/configManager.cgi?action=setConfig&LeLensMask[0].Enable=false"

I found the commands here... link