How to stream Blue Iris alerts directly in UI3 on ANY device

[jaydeel]

This post describes how to configure the following Blue Iris ''On alert" actions to stream alerts directly in UI3 on ANY of your devices.

• SMS alerts
• Email alerts

What makes this possible is a new UI3 HTTP query parameter rec= recently added by @bp2008
You can read more about this new feature in the UI3 help:


Simply add this string &WAN/ui3.htm?rec=&ALERT_DB&maximize=1

1. to the 'Text' field of an SMS alert
2. to the 'Body' field of an Email alert

and it will resolve to a clickable link when the alert is received on your device.

This is illustrated by the following screenshots.


Note that the inserted string makes use of the Blue Iris action set macros &WAN and &ALERT_DB.

Finally, to demonstrate how this can work with ANY device (with a supported browser), the following short video shows me streaming an alert from a Blue Iris Email action on an Apple Watch.
NOTE: To get this to work, I had to force Jpeg SD quality to get a smooth playback (imagine how small the controls are on the watch!!)
To make this a bit easier in the future, bp2008 has kindly added this item to his UI3 issues list... Add URL parameter to set quality · Issue #66 · bp2008/ui3

 

[mikeynags]

Do you need to have anonymous access setup for that work? I tested and I get the logon prompt on my watch.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mikeynags]

Seemed to work for me once after getting through the login process. Now I seem to be getting some error.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jaydeel]

Do you need to have anonymous access setup for that work? I tested and I get the logon prompt on my watch.

No. It “just worked” the very first time I tried. So surprised I was, I immediately shared the clip with bp2008 for a laugh.

I suspected iOS might have used iCloud-saved credentials from my iPhone, but removing them from Saved Passwords, and removing data for the server‘s ip in Website Data (clearing Safari’s cache) would not reproduce your observation.

Now I seem to be getting some error.

While trying unsuccessfully to reproduce your logon observation I also received this error a few times. Subsequent attempts worked fine.

 

[jaydeel]

I should mention that my goal for requesting the rec= url argument for UI3 was never to watch alerts on an Apple Watch, but rather to replace the touch action in Blue Iris Android app’s push notification. It’s always bugged me that touching a BI notification never played the actual alert clip itself, but rather just loaded the Alerts page view (old version) and made me “go fish” for the clip myself. Worse now, the app now loads at the ’Default Log-in Area’ (v3.0.21).

I have succeeded in doing this with Tasker and have been testing it for a week. I plan to post about it later...

 

[mikeynags]

I ended up rebooting the watch and got it to work consistently now. I like the idea of being able to see the video on the watch.

 

[jaydeel]

I ended up rebooting the watch and got it to work consistently now. I like the idea of being able to see the video on the watch.

Excellent. Glad you got it working!

Just curious, did you also have to dial down the quality in UI3 to a jpeg stream to get smooth playback?

My primary device is an Android phone, so this reflects my goal. My Apple Watch is a gift and I primarily use it only at home to use with Siri, and to track exercise and sleep.

 

[smiticans]

I'm getting an error message "The Recording Specified in the URL could not be opened" when I click on the link in the email.

The camera is set up as a clone and is hidden. I'm using sentry AI for people detection.

I'm on BI version 5.3.9.13 running UI3 version 142.

Is anyone else having this issue?

 

[mikeynags]

Excellent. Glad you got it working!

Just curious, did you also have to dial down the quality in UI3 to a jpeg stream to get smooth playback?

My primary device is an Android phone, so this reflects my goal. My Apple Watch is a gift and I primarily use it only at home to use with Siri, and to track exercise and sleep.

I tried dialing it down but to be honest both settings seemed to give good results.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jaydeel]

I'm getting an error message "The Recording Specified in the URL could not be opened" when I click on the link in the email.

It sounds like the macro &ALERT_DB is not resolving to an actual database record id. What does the URL in your SMS or Email alert look like? It should contain something like this rec=@123456789.

 

[smiticans]

The URL looks like this;
Motion detected on camera: RearDrClone
http:// IP ADDRESS REMOVED/ui3.htm?rec=@4417566651&maximize=1

My phone is also on the same local network as the BI machine so I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it. But I'll have to test that theory when I go out since I don't have cell service here.

EDIT-

I just tried a different cloned camera not using Sentry AI. The link I got in the email was "ui3.htm?rec=@4452044268&maximize=1". When I play the same exact clip back in UI3 I have the following URL in google chrome- "ui3.htm?rec=4451966956"

 

[jaydeel]

Does this URL show an image in your browser?
IP_ADDRESS_REMOVED/file/clips/@4417566651.bvr

 

[smiticans]

Does this URL show an image in your browser?
IP_ADDRESS_REMOVED/file/clips/@4417566651.bvr

Yes it does, it shows the alert image of the clip

 

[jaydeel]

It’s a good database record then.

UI3 gets the alert’s clip and offset from the JSON interface clipstats command. Maybe there’s an issue with this record.

Do you have the same issue with all alerts you’ve tested?

 

[smiticans]

Yeah, I've tried it about 5 or 6 times with that camera and once on a camera without Sentry AI. I also tried it on a non-cloned camera without sentry AI and I have the same results.

 

[jaydeel]

EDIT-I just tried a different cloned camera not using Sentry AI. The link I got in the email was "ui3.htm?rec=@4452044268&maximize=1". When I play the same exact clip back in UI3 I have the following URL in google chrome- "ui3.htm?rec=4451966956"

Something’s definitely wrong... the latter url is missing an offset. Perhaps @bp2008 has an idea.
I don’t think it should matter, but I’m curious if are saving hi res alert images?

 

[jaydeel]

Also failed to add that I have no issues with a cloned cam configured to use Sentry.

 

[smiticans]

Something’s definitely wrong... the latter url is missing an offset. Perhaps @bp2008 has an idea.
I don’t think it should matter, but I’m curious if are saving hi res alert images?

No, I'm not using hi res alert images. I went out earlier in the night and tried the email URL's when I was not connected to my LAN and the links worked property. So it appears if I'm connected to the same LAN as the BI computer the URL will not work.

So it looks like I figured it out. I allow anonymous access to my BI video feeds while connected to the same LAN as the BI computer. The anonymous account does not allow access to recorded footage. I edited my anonymous account and allowed access to recorded footage and now the URL works properly.

 

[jaydeel]

Glad to hear you've got it figured out.

I've always disabled the anonymous user, assigned named users, and used settings like those in the screenshot below.

 

[Holbs]

Just to verify something... Does this work when away from home network? Example: if at work, would I get this notification and viewable clip over cellular network for my smartphone? Or would I get notified, have to fire up my VPN, and then see the clip?
I assume, have to be in network for this to work.
As of right now, I have Blue Iris send me a .txt with .jpg image on alerts.