FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

What can AiCam do?

AiCam is a mobile app. It turns your phone into a smart security camera. It detects human, animal and face (and more) based on AI event detection and sends push notifications to your phone. You can then watch video footage saved in device local storage or optionally in iCloud. It has integration with Apple Shortcuts app to start recording based on time or location. It can also send webhook request on event detected to any automation service like IFTTT or Zapier.

With a focus on privacy, the app does all the video processing work offline without Internet connection. It does not collect any data from users. Internet connection is only required if you want to receive notification, streaming over the Internet (securely) or save video to iCloud.

With this app, you have a mobile security camera that you could bring to remote sites or for short trips.

Why does AiCam focus on privacy?

As security cameras become smarter and smarter, more of them require cloud server to do processing and storage. However, cloud servers are not entirely safe even with encryption. It means that your video feed is prone to surreptitious use, especially when programming has bugs.

Personal footage is highly sensitive data. People are insecure about the idea that their living room activity or their baby’s image is hacked. Video is powerful data, which hackers have more incentive to spy. That’s why we decided to take bold steps to protect our user’s privacy. Read more about our approach in this blog post.

What data is AiCam app collecting?

What data is AiCam app collecting? Will the data be shared with any third parties? Where will this information be stored?

This app does not collect any data. So it will not share data with anyone.

Data generated by this app (photos, video, history) will be saved locally on your device. Or if you use iCloud and turn it on for this app, then these data will also be saved in your private iCloud storage. We do not have access to your data.

See our privacy policy.

Why didn't I see a cookie banner on this website?

Cookie banners are required to get consent of the users if personal information of visitors is collected by the website. We do not collect user's data. We do not use analytics or tracking tool like Google Analytics. Therefore, you don't need to accept that we can collect your personal information because we do not collect it.

How smart is AiCam?

Most smart security cameras have alerts based on motion detection. However, this can lead to a lot of false and unnecessary notifications from things like animals, cars, and other inanimate moving objects.

AiCam’s most popular AI feature is person detection, which can tell the difference between human and other things. Animal detection can differ between cat, dog, bear and bird. Face recognition helps you get specific notifications for certain family members and friends, or detect unfamiliar people. We consistently update the latest capability of AI computer vision for AiCam.

To help integrate AiCam with your smart home device, we are highly active in enabling automation features connecting with integration services like IFTTT and Zapier. We write a detailed tutorial on this topic.

How do I pay to use AiCam?

AiCam is free to download and access basic features like smart alerts, person detection, event recording. Premium access could be purchase in app to unlock more features.

Premium features include, but not limited to:

Smart Event Detection like pet detection, face recognition, vehicle detection and more
HD/4K recording
Live-streaming
Video exporting
Integration with Apple Siri and Shortcuts
Trigger automation with Webhooks requests
Protect screens with passcode

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Why using a phone as security camera?

What are pros and cons of using a phone as security camera?

Pros: If you have unused devices lying around, AiCam helps you utilize it for a useful purpose. Smartphones have better computing capability than most other electronic devices, therefore enabling many advanced features for security camera. A mobile phone is also different in that it is portable. So using your phone as a security camera lets you protect your property on the go. With cellular and battery integrated, smartphones can still send you alerts and record video in case of internet and power failure in your home.

Cons: For specific use cases that require stable hardware, such as low light, outdoor, as a dash cam, using a phone is not as reliable as having a physical camera.

After all, it depends on what features you expect from a security camera.

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How can I change the name of my device?

To change the name of your device, please do this:

Open AiCam app
Go to Devices screen
Tap on the device you want to edit
Tap on the pencil icon near the device name to change it.

Do I need iCloud to use AiCam?

The AiCam app is designed to work without requiring iCloud. You can still use AiCam even if you have disabled iCloud on your device. However, please note that some features related to iCloud, such as data syncing, may not function correctly.

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If you want to use AiCam with iCloud, make sure to enable iCloud Drive for the app. This will allow you to store video recordings and other data related to AiCam in iCloud. Enabling iCloud Drive ensures that your data is securely backed up in the cloud and can be accessed from any of your devices that are signed in to your iCloud account.

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The AiCam app relies on the system iCloud account of the iPhone/iPad. If you want to change the iCloud account, you will need to do that in the device's Settings app.

Error: "Cannot load ML model"

AiCam shows the error message "Cannot load ML model" when opening the Camera screen

The error message "Cannot load ML model" is a generic response that indicates the application failed to load the machine learning model necessary to run its AI detection feature.

There are several reasons why this may occur. One possible reason could be that your device is not connected to the internet. During the initial startup, the app requires an active internet connection to fetch a decryption key from the Apple server to decrypt the ML model used by the application. However, after the initial start-up, the app does not require an active internet connection to function correctly.

If you encounter this error message, make sure that your device is connected to the internet and try restarting the application. If the issue persists, you may need to uninstall and reinstall the application. Additionally, ensure that your device meets the minimum system requirements for the application and that you have adequate storage space available.

If the problem still persists, you can contact us for further assistance.

Why streaming works with Wi-Fi but not with 3G/4G

Why live video streaming works with Wi-Fi but not with 3G/4G/LTE

There could be various reasons why live video streaming works with Wi-Fi but not with 3G/4G/5G while using the AiCam app (which uses WebRTC for live video streaming). Some possible reasons are:

1. Network speed and stability: Wi-Fi usually offers higher network speeds and greater stability compared to cellular networks like 3G/4G, which can result in a better video connection. It's possible that the user's cellular data connection is not strong enough to support WebRTC video.

2. Firewall restrictions: Sometimes cellular network providers block certain ports or protocols used by WebRTC, which can hinder proper connectivity. On the other hand, Wi-Fi may not have such restrictions.

3. Quality of Service (QoS) settings: Cellular networks may have stricter QoS settings applied to data traffic compared to Wi-Fi, which can lead to delays and packet loss in video transmission. This can adversely affect the quality of the video stream.

4. Device compatibility: Another possibility is that the user's device might not be compatible with the specific combination of WebRTC implementation being used along with the cellular network provider's configuration.

To resolve this issue, you can try the following steps:

- Check if the cellular network signal strength is sufficient for video calling.
- Try using a different 3G/4G/LTE to see if that solves the problem.
- Ensure that there are no firewall/port restrictions from the cellular network service provider.
- Test video streaming with another device on the same cellular network to see if the issue persists.

Can AiCam work as a HomeKit security camera?

No. HomeKit Secure Video is a service which is only available for authorized manufacturers (see Apple MFi Program). We are just a small team and don't have the resource for it.

How to view the camera using other iCloud account

How can I view the camera without sharing same iCloud account

If you have a device which uses a different iCloud account, you can add it as a guest device. To add a guest device, tap on the button "Pair guest device" at the bottom of the Devices screen. A guest device can view the camera live feed and receive push notification, but cannot view the event history.

My device is not shown in Devices screen

My device is not shown in the Devices screen

AiCam uses iCloud for data exchange and authentication. The streaming device and the viewing device must use the same iCloud account for this to work. The iCloud service may take some time to sync the data.

If you have a device which uses a different iCloud account, you can add it as a guest device. To add a guest device, tap on the button "Pair guest device" at the bottom of the "Devices" screen. A guest device can view the camera live feed and receive push notification, but cannot view the event history.

How to exclude video from auto delete?

How to exclude video or event history from auto delete?

Event history and videos are automatically deleted if they are older than certain days (configurable in settings). To exclude an event history from auto-delete, you can bookmark it in the History screen.

How to improve the accuracy of facial recognition?

How to improve the accuracy of facial recognition (familiar face detection) of AiCam?

To improve the accuracy of the familiar faces and unfamiliar faces detection, you can add more face images of the person to the app. The face should be captured from different angles as possible. The facial recognition works by comparing the captured face image from live camera with all the face images stored in the app. If the two images are similar, then the app will classify the captured image as the same person as in the stored image. That means the accuracy will increase with the number of imported images.

Note: All images are stored and processed locally on-device. Facial recognition will work without internet connection.

Devices screen shows more devices than I have

If you uninstall and reinstall the AiCam app, a same device may appear twice in the Devices screen. You can safely delete the duplicated entry by tapping on it and then tap on the Delete button.

Error: "Deny streaming request"

Error: "Deny streaming request because of mismatched secret token" or "Deny streaming request from unknown device"

If you receive these errors displayed on the camera screen of the streaming device, that means another device is trying to view the camera livestream of this device but cannot because the access is denied. Each device has a unique password / secret token, which is random generated on-device and is used to authenticate the streaming request. Only registered devices listed in the Devices screen can view the camera livestream. All devices signed in with the same iCloud account will automatically be registered and listed in the Devices screen.

You may have a same device listed twice in the Devices screen. This can happen if you delete the AiCam app and reinstall it. Then the old duplicated entry (device) will not be able to view the streaming. Please go to Devices screen and delete the duplicated device.

You may want to compare the device ID (after the # icon in the Devices screen) on both the viewer and camera devices. A same physical device should have the same ID.

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See this FAQ to learn more how secure is livestreaming.

Error: "Unable to connect to device ..."

AiCam shows an error message "Unable to connect to device ..." or you cannot view the camera live feed

Check the setting:

First, make sure that:

You have the same setting for "Local Network Mode" on both streaming and viewing devices (AiCam app > Settings > Streaming). If you want to view the live feed over 4G/LTE or internet, ensure that you have "Local Network Mode" turned OFF.
Access to Local Network is allowed for AiCam (Settings app > Privacy > Local Network)

Then force quit the app on both devices and retry again.

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Check the network:

AiCam uses a direct peer-to-peer connection for video streaming to ensure data privacy. The limitation is that it may not work, whether your device is behind a firewall or connected to a limited network, like a corporate network. Some cellular network providers may limit P2P connection. In this case, please retry with another network provider. Please see this FAQ for more detail.

You can check your network connection by opening this URL on both streaming and viewing devices:

https://networktest.twilio.com/

Note: We do not use Twilio, but their network testing website is helpful to see if the current network connection is limited since we use the same WebRTC technology.

Sometimes just disconnecting then reconnecting your devices with the Wi-Fi or 3G/4G/LTE will resolve the issue.

How secure is the video livestream?

How secure is the video livestream feature of AiCam?

AiCam is a video camera app that offers video streaming via WebRTC technology [1]. With this technology, the video stream is end-to-end encrypted on a peer-to-peer connection.
If both devices are on the same Wi-Fi network, the video stream is transmitted securely through the local network. The video stream is only transmitted through the internet if your devices are on different networks.

However, there are instances where users may prefer not to connect to the internet. Good news because we have Local Network Mode! This feature allows you to stream video via your local Wi-Fi network only. This feature is also helpful when both devices are connected to the same Wi-Fi network but have no internet connection.
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How to enable Local Network Mode‍

Follow these steps to enable Local Network Mode:
- Step 1: Open AiCam
- Step 2: Go to Settings > Streaming
- Step 3: Enable Local Network Mode on both streaming and viewing devices

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What is WebRTC?

[1] WebRTC is a Google-developed technology used by many products such as Google Hangouts and Discord and many others to allow real-time video chat. Its direct peer-to-peer communication makes it possible to transmit encrypted streams from one device to the other. However, some limitations will interfere with its operation if the network connection of your device is limited or behind a firewall. You can test your connection as described here. When establishing this type of connection between two devices, they exchange negotiation messages, which tell them how to form a peer-to-peer connection. All negotiation messages are securely encrypted on-device, and only devices in the same iCloud account listed in "Devices" screen in AiCam app can decrypt them. You can learn more about WebRTC and how it works here.

Tips for improving AiCam's stability

Keep AiCam running on the screen in foreground to prevent the app from entering sleep mode. (i.e. Do not press the home and power button)
Turn on Do Not Disturb mode
Disable receiving phone call from other devices
Connect to a stable internet network (if you use iCloud) & power source
Tap on the “orange lightbulb” icon in camera view to dim display
Enable Guided Access to reduce app crashes. See this tutorial for more details
Turn on "Low Power Mode" in AiCam > Settings > Camera
Use lower camera resolution

Why does the camera stop running?

Why does the camera stop running and display an orange banner?

Some time you see the live camera stop running and the camera button turned gray. The app also displays an orange banner telling why the camera is stopped running.

The reason is: When the camera is running and something (e.g. receiving a phone call) interrupts or uses the camera / microphone, then the AiCam app will stop the camera. Normally the app will try to resume running the camera after the interruption is ended, sometime just after several seconds, sometime after several minutes, depends on how long the iOS system blocked the using of the camera / microphone.

For better stability you can use Guided Access mode. Please see this FAQ.

Why my device is overheating?

If you receive a push notification or the camera display saying that the device is overheating. It means your device used a lot of power and get overheating. The AiCam app monitors actively the device temperature and precautionary pause running if the device get hot and resume running when it is cooler. If the device is stopped running because it is hot, it is still under the allowed temperature limit defined by Apple. If the device is hotter than the allowed temperature defined by Apple, the OS will show a black screen with a red thermometer and the device is not useable until it get cooler. It may be annoying that the app cannot monitor for events, but it will not impact the hardware as you can still open and use other apps.

The overheating problem may occur with older models like iPhone SE (1st gen) because they do not have much compute power required for running AI algorithms. You can do the following to avoid overheating on your device:

Avoid placing the device in a high-temperature area like under the sun or near a window.
Activate "Low Power Mode" in AiCam > Settings > Camera section
Choose lower camera resolution (720p is recommended)
Select fewer events for monitoring

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Why is Event Detection disabled while streaming?

Why is Event Detection disabled on some device while live-streaming is active?

Older devices (iPhone X and models before) do not have Apple Neural Engine onboard (or not accessible for developer). Without a dedicated Neural Engine for running Machine Learning algorithms, all the AI work must be done on CPU or GPU and require more power. Streaming also requires power for encoding and decoding video data. To reduce energy usage and avoid overheating, Event Detection is disabled when a live-stream session is active and is automatically enabled again when there is no live-stream session. While viewing a live-stream, you can manually trigger video recording on the viewer device.

How to integrate AiCam with IFTTT or Zapier?

With AiCam you can trigger other services like IFTTT or Zapier using webhook request. Any service which support receiving webhook request would also work.

To use send webhook request from AiCam app you need to activate it and enter needed information in AiCam > Settings > Notification > Web Request Configuration.

Which URL or data you need to enter there depends on which service you use.

For IFTTT see https://ifttt.com/maker_webhooks
For Zapier see https://zapier.com/page/webhooks

We write a detailed tutorial on this topic.

Can I record video on purpose?

AiCam records video automatically when an event is detected. Supported events are for example Human Detected, Vehicle Detected, Unfamiliar Face, etc. You can also record video manually when viewing a live-stream using the Record button on the live-stream viewer.

In addition, you can trigger video recording manually or automatically (based on configured time, location or other triggers) using Apple’s Shortcuts app. Check out this tutorial on automating AiCam with Apple's Shortcuts app.

What is the purpose of the shield button?

What is the purpose of the "shield button" on the home screen?

The shield button on the home screen is used to enable or disable monitoring mode. When monitoring mode is disabled (button is switched to gray color) then the camera will not detect or record any events, even if the camera is open. So, when you want the camera to stop recording events, you can either close the camera or turn OFF monitoring mode.

For example, when you want the camera to stop monitoring and recording what’s going on, e.g. a private moment, but your camera device is unreachable. You can still turn it off from your viewing device.
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You can also enable or disable monitoring mode based on location or time schedule by using Apple's Shortcuts app. AiCam has integration with Siri shortcuts to automate your workflow. See this tutorial for more details.

What is the "orange light" icon in Camera screen?

What is the purpose of the “orange light bulb” icon in camera view?

The icon is used to dim the screen to reduce energy usage and save power.

Didn’t found answer to your question?

We are always available to help you.
If you have questions about the app, features, or just need any help, feel free to get in touch with us, and one of our Support Specialists will help you.