WIFI IP Cameras are dominating the security and surveillance industry. Gone are the days of costly analog installations and security management. Today, most consumers are looking towards smart WiFi IP cameras as their surveillance systems of choice. You can expect a wifi camera to come loaded with superb features. But the real magic takes place within their companion apps and software. In this article, I will touch upon the software side and talk about the best wifi camera apps available for both Android and iOS devices.
The Nest App
A modern wifi camera is usually considered to be at the device that is at the centre of your smart home security system setup. Nest is a company that is well known for producing these types of wifi cameras. The company currently offers smart alarms, doorbells, thermostats, smoke detectors, and WiFi IP camera systems. All of these devices can be controlled via a single app which is available on multiple platforms and devices. With the Nest App, you will be able to add multiple devices to your profile and then wait and see how they all work with each other to assist you in running your smart home.
An example of this is when the Nest Protect senses smoke, it will trigger your Nest wifi camera, which will in turn record clips and send them to you as notifications. This kind of interactions don’t end here, the Nest App also supports multiple 3rd party hardware devices such as Google Home, Phillips Hue lightbulbs, and some fitness trackers and smartwatches.
The app also collects data from your devices and turns them into insights for you to further analyze. The most popular use of the Nest App is with the companies Nest indoor and outdoor cameras. You can expect a Nest wifi camera to come loaded with superb features. The app will deliver high definition home surveillance to you, be it in live video feeds or small clips of any motion or incidents the camera detects. However, extended services like this and cloud storage are only available once you sign up for a monthly Nest Aware subscription.
Canary Home Security Systems
The Canary Home Security System is a complete security surveillance system that is packed into a beautiful device. This camera will not only monitor your home at 1080p Full HD with its wide angle lens, it will also monitor the temperature and humidity in the room. It also comes fitted with a 90 decibel plus siren that can alert intruders. All of these great features come together in a sleek, well-designed app.
With the Canary app, you will be able to select from three different modes, Armed, Disarmed, and Privacy. When you leave home, the app will activate Armed mode, which will send you notifications as it records videos of events of interest. Disarmed will record videos without sending you notifications. Privacy switches video recording off completely.
The app will also require feedback from you once it detects motion. This will, in turn, help the app to improve the quality of the videos and notifications that you will receive due to its auto-learning capabilities. An example would be tagging a specific motion as sunlight or pet movement. These features assist us in making home security easier and affordable.
Netgear Arlo
The Arlo app by Netgear is a clean, simple, and easy to use the app from the makers of the successful Netgear Arlo and Arlo Q WiFi IP cameras. You will be able to view your cameras video feed remotely courtesy of the app. Another huge courtesy worth mentioning is that you get 7 days of free cloud storage. You will be able to view all your recordings for the last 7 days. A free service like this is hard to come by, but Netgear surely stepped up here in this regard.
The Netgear Arlo app is available for Android and iOS devices. There is also a PC version available with some extended features like in dept notifications and video recording. Arlo cameras come equipped with motion detection. If the camera detects motion, it will record a clip for that moment and save it for you to view. You can tweak the settings further to only record during certain days and times. You can also intuitively drag a slider from least videos to most videos in order to adjust the frequency of videos you wish to record. This gives you good control over advanced notification features.
Alfred
Alfred is an Android and iOS app that does things a little differently from the other apps here on this list. The app lets you convert your old smartphone into a dedicated security camera. Best of all its totally free and doesn’t require any physical hardware installation process. You don’t even need to spend money on a new WiFi IP camera, you can simply make use of an old camera.
The app is well designed with a great color scheme. It does share a few important features and similarities with modern IP cameras, such as 2-way chat and motion alerts. Alfred also features night vision which. This app is definitely worth taking a look at, especially if you are someone who is just looking to get into the world of home surveillance.
It is possible to use the Alfred app as a nanny cam. This can be seen as quick, inexpensive way to monitor your baby in the next room. Having a new child can be a very costly affair. Purchasing a dedicated nanny cam just adds to the heavy list of bills received during this period. Converting an old phone into a nanny cam can be the way to go. You can also make use of your spouse’s phone for temporary use if need be.
Conclusion
You can expect a wifi camera to come loaded with superb features. These companion software and apps not only compliment these features, but they also bring in a whole new level of versatility and functionality to WiFi IP cameras. Being able to use the software on your smartphone to monitor and control a different location remotely can actually save you a lot of time. The developers of such software are also constantly pushing the boundaries in fields such as motion detection and face recognition. We can only expect these apps to improve drastically in the years to come.
