Live

Live shows the cameras of the devices that are in it: one tile for each channel, in a grid. Sound plays from one camera at a time.

Which devices are in Live

A device is in Live when Show in Live is on. You switch it on in the Add Device form, or later in the Devices list: the Live column, or the device’s menu. The first device you add goes to Live by itself. Network equipment never does.

A device that is only in Devices is not connected. The app doesn’t open a connection to it until you ask, for example with Check Connection.

The sidebar groups the devices in Live by site, and the grid uses the same order. A site or a device can be collapsed. Collapse All and Expand All are in the View menu.

The grid

Choose the layout in Grid, in the toolbar or in the View menu: Auto, 1, 2×2, 3×3 or 4×4. The grid shows only as many tiles as the layout has places: 16 for Auto, and 4, 9 or 16 for the others. Cameras beyond that stay in the list. Switch to a larger layout or hide some cameras to see them.

Hide from Grid removes a channel from the grid and stops its stream. The device stays in Live. The Cameras in Grid menu brings channels back one by one, or with Show All. The status bar shows how many are hidden.

Stream quality

Each tile plays the sub stream. It is lighter, and it suits a grid. Click HD or SD on a tile, which appears when you hover over it, to switch that channel to the main stream. The main stream is sharper and heavier. The choice is kept for each channel. The Stream menu switches every tile at once: All Cameras in SD or All Cameras in HD.

Tiles

Each tile shows the channel’s name at the bottom left, with a dot while the picture is playing. The bottom right shows the resolution, the codec, the transport when the picture comes over DVRIP, and the bitrate.

While the app connects, the tile shows a spinner. If the camera is offline, the tile says No signal. If the connection fails, the tile shows the reason.

Hover over a tile to see its buttons: Open, Save Snapshot, sound, HD or SD, and Hide from the grid. Snapshots go to Pictures/Watchpost, unless you chose another folder in the app’s settings.

Sound

Turn Sound On plays the channel’s sound. Turning it on for another channel turns the first one off, because only one channel is heard at a time. The volume slider appears on the tile while the sound is on.

A camera that doesn’t send audio stays silent. When the sub stream carries no sound, the app takes it from the main stream.

Open one camera

Double-click a tile, or choose Open from its menu or from the Camera menu (⌘↩). The camera fills the window. The toolbar then offers All Cameras to go back to the grid, the previous and the next camera (⌘[ and ⌘]), a snapshot (⇧⌘S), sound (⇧⌘M), and the stream switch. Show in Archive opens the channel in the archive.

If you chose axes for the camera, the camera control panel appears in the corner of this screen.

The device menu

The menu of a device in the sidebar holds the actions for the whole device:

• Live Video chooses how the picture arrives: Automatic (RTSP, else DVRIP), RTSP Only or DVRIP Only. It appears for Xiongmai devices, not for devices added by Cloud ID.
• Refresh Channels (⌘R) reads the channel list again. It works for devices in Live.
• Receive Events While Hidden keeps the event feed open for a device whose channels are all hidden. See Events.
• Device Settings… opens the device’s settings. Connection… changes how the app reaches the device.
• Remove from Live takes the device out of the grid. It stays in Devices.

Empty states

Without devices, Live says No Devices, with Add Device. With devices that aren’t in Live, it says No Devices in Live and sends you to Devices. When every camera is hidden, it says All Cameras Are Hidden, with Show All.

On iPhone and iPad

On iPhone and iPad, Live is the Cameras tab, and the switch in the device form reads Show in Cameras. The grid has one or two columns, which you choose in the Grid menu. Tap a tile to open the camera. Hold a tile to open its menu: sound, snapshot, archive, stream, and hide.

The camera screen has the sound, snapshot, archive and stream buttons, and a full-screen mode. Below the picture, the list Today’s Events shows the camera’s events for the day.

On Android

The Cameras tab offers a grid with one or two columns. Open a tile to watch one camera, switch its stream, play sound or save a snapshot to the gallery. A message after saving lets you open the picture. Compatible Xiongmai and ONVIF cameras also have camera controls.

Recordings and alarms have their own Archive and Events tabs. Features depend on the device protocol; they are not available for every camera.

For Mac keyboard controls and disabled commands, see Menus and shortcuts.