Adding a device

The app keeps every device in one registry, which you open in Devices. A camera or a recorder is connected by its protocol and shows in Live. Network equipment is only kept and checked. A camera on a recorder’s IP channel is connected from the recorder’s own settings. Every device can belong to a site.

What you can add

What	Where to add it	Connected by a protocol	Can be in Live	Archive, events, settings
Camera or recorder	Add Device	Yes	Yes	Depends on the protocol
Router, switch, radio bridge, UPS, other	Add Network Equipment	No	Never	No

On the Mac, both entries are in the Devices menu. On the iPhone and iPad, they are in the Add menu on the Devices tab.

Sites

A site groups devices installed in one place. Each device belongs to one site or No Site. Once a site exists, the Apple add forms offer a Site field. A site can also define connection paths for its devices.

See Organize devices into sites for creating a site, moving devices and deleting a site. For remote access through a hub, see Connect a site.

Add a camera or a recorder

Find it on the network (Mac)

Choose Devices → Add Device…. The list on the left shows what the search found on this Mac’s networks: Xiongmai, Hikvision and ONVIF devices. Click a row, and the form fills in the address, the port and the protocol.

Two buttons start the search:

• Scan Network asks each vendor’s own discovery protocol. It takes a few seconds.
• Check Whole Subnet looks at every address of the networks for devices that do not answer discovery. It takes up to half a minute. It writes nothing to the devices and tries no password.

Each row also says what the app makes of the device:

• Already added: the device is in Devices already.
• Channel N of …: a channel of a recorder you have added.
• Not activated: a Hikvision device that has no password yet. Set the password on the device first, then add it.
• Another subnet – not reachable: the device sits in a network the Mac cannot reach directly. Add it by address, through a site with a route.
• Not identified: the app could not tell what the device is. Click the row to see its card, or choose Identify Again.

On the iPhone and iPad, there is no network search yet. Enter the address by hand.

Choose the protocol

The Protocol menu sets how the app talks to the device. It groups manufacturer protocols and standards. The port follows the protocol. You can type another port if the device uses one.

Protocol	Default port	What the app does with it
Xiongmai / HiSilicon (DVRIP)	34567	Live, events, archive, settings
Hikvision / HiWatch (ISAPI)	80	Live, events, archive, settings
ONVIF (Profile S)	80	Live view and camera control. Some settings. No archive or events
HTTP camera (Apple)	80	MJPEG video and snapshots using the D-Link paths; no archive, events or device settings

Xiongmai and Hikvision devices also have a second way in: the Connection switch below the protocol. It is covered in the sections on cloud connections.

Dahua’s own protocol is not supported yet and is not offered for a new connection.

Fill in the form

1. Address (IP / host). The device’s address on the network, for example 192.168.1.9.
2. Port. Set by the protocol. Change it only if the device listens on another one. For ONVIF on a Xiongmai device, the port is 8899.
3. User name and Password. The login of the device itself. The password goes into the Keychain.
4. Name. Optional. After a successful test, the app suggests a name from the device type and its address, such as NVR · 192.168.1.9. Before that, the field shows an example.
5. Type. Automatic by default: the app reads whether the device is a camera or a recorder. Choose the type yourself if the app guesses wrong.
6. Grid stream. The sub stream is lighter, and it suits the grid. The main stream is sharper and heavier. Through a hub, the video crosses the server twice, so the sub stream saves more traffic there.
7. Site. Shown once a site exists. For a site with routes, the address is the one the device has at that site.
8. Show in Live. Puts the device in the grid. The first device you add goes to Live by itself. Later devices stay in Devices until you switch them on. A device kept only in Devices is not connected until you ask.

On the iPhone and iPad, the same switch reads Show in Cameras.

Test, then add

Test connects to the device, reads its model and its channels, and disconnects. It changes nothing on the device. A successful test reads like this: Connected · model · channels: N, where N counts the channels that are set up on the device.

A test can fail in three ways:

• Wrong user name or password. Check the login. The device’s own account is not the same as a cloud account.
• The device has locked this account. The device refused the sign-in after failed attempts. Unlock the account in the device’s own settings, then test again.
• The device doesn’t respond. The address is wrong, the port is closed, or the device is off. The app waits 10 seconds.

If the address answers but the protocol does not fit, the app says what it sees there. For example, it can report that the address belongs to a Hikvision device, which means you should choose ISAPI.

Add runs the test first, if you have not run it yet. Then it saves the device with its channels. If a recorder channel repeats a camera you added directly, the app hides that channel in the grid. The channel stays in the device’s list.

Through the vendor cloud (Xiongmai, by Cloud ID)

Choose Connection → By Cloud ID, then enter the device’s serial number in the Cloud ID field. The cloud must be switched on in the device’s own settings.

The connection goes through the manufacturer’s cloud. Its servers see the serial number and the addresses of both sides. Connecting takes up to 30 seconds. Live video works over DVRIP only, and the archive through the cloud is not checked yet.

Through a Hik-Connect account (Hikvision)

Choose Connection → Hik-Connect. Then choose a saved account, or New Account… to add one.

For a new account, enter the e-mail, phone number or user name, its password, and the region: Russia or International. Watchpost signs in and lists the devices of the account. Tick the ones to add. Devices that are already in the app are marked Already added.

Live video and the archive come through the cloud, and no address is needed. The cloud sends no events. The device’s settings open through the account, so they need no address either. The account’s password is kept in the Keychain.

Add network equipment

Network equipment covers routers, switches, radio bridges and UPS units: the form, access interfaces, network search on Mac, availability checks and opening interfaces through supported paths. Equipment stays in the registry and has no video channels in Watchpost.

A camera on a recorder’s IP channel

In the Apple apps, Hikvision and Xiongmai recorders can take cameras on their IP channels. This changes the recorder’s configuration; adding a camera to Watchpost alone does not connect it to a recorder.

See Recorder channels for connecting a camera, protocol ports and credentials, search, checking the draft, removal and writing with Apply. The article also explains why a connection check from Watchpost does not prove the recorder can reach the camera.

Add several devices

On Mac and Android, Add several devices lets you prepare rows by hand or paste them from a spreadsheet. You can save ready connections without a successful connection test. Devices kept out of Live wait in the registry. The current iPhone and iPad apps do not offer this table.

Import from a file

On the Mac, choose Devices → Import Devices…. On the iPhone and iPad, choose Storage and Exchange → Import Devices…. A file is made with Export Devices…. It is sealed with a password that you choose when you export it. In a copy for yourself, passwords, hub-route tokens and router keys go into the file only if you include passwords. A file for another person handles personal hub tokens separately; see Share access to devices.

On iPhone and iPad

• There is no network search. Enter the address by hand.
• The form has the same fields, with Show in Cameras instead of Show in Live, and a Test Connection button.
• On the first connection, iOS asks for access to the local network. Without it, Watchpost cannot see the devices on your network.

On Android

Android offers an address-based form with connection testing and a network-search screen. You can also add several devices when that tool is available. The form does not yet have the site selector of the Apple form. Hik-Connect and Cloud ID connections are not yet offered, and HTTP cameras are not yet supported on Android.

Next

• Live: where the new device appears in the grid.
• Device settings: the options the device itself keeps.

For the Hik-Connect source on Apple devices, see Hik-Connect accounts: sign-in, regions, choosing account devices, accepting invitations and adding by serial number.