Comroads beta app now supports Viofo A129

[comroads]

Hi all.

Our recent update added partial support to the awesome A129.
We're in beta right now and would really appreciate any feedback you guys have, but we're making GREAT progress!

Since we're still developing the app, there are a few limitations to working with the A129:
1) Please turn off the A129 GPS if you want to run the app (you won't need it since you'll be using the Comroads GPS data). We're working on fixing this, but until we do, the GPS data in the video doesn't play well with our app
2) The camera wifi name (SSID) needs to include the words VIOFO and A129.

We really would appreciate input on what you think of the idea of the app and how we can make it better.

Download from Google Play Store

Update for April 16th 2019:
App is now MUCH stabler with a completely new UI and much improved performance.

We just released a major update to the app. Much improved interface and the app is now much more stable. Feel free to try and give feedback
Also, here's our new video

Key Features:

- One touch video event generation and automatic downloading from the dashcam.
- Overlay button appears over other apps including navigation. Press the overlay button to generate and download a 30 second video (20 seconds before pressing and 10 seconds after)
- Attach GPS trip data to your dash cam footage.
- Browse the map of your trip and create videos directly from the map.
- When using the Comroads app, your phone stays connected to your 4G network for music and navigation - the app manages your connection to the dashcam automatically and connects/disconnects as needed.
- Unlimited cloud storage for your event videos.
- Choose to upload the videos via your mobile plan or wait for wifi.
- Only records GPS data while you’re driving. Automatically stops when you exit the car.
- Your information is kept private and anonymous.

Coming Soon:

- Request videos from other Comroads drivers near you when you generate an event
- Your car got hit in a parking lot? Check if someone in the Comroads network was nearby when it happened and request their video
-More dash cam integrations, so the app can be used with a wide variety of dash cams

In order to initiate "drive mode" and have the app start looking for your dash cam, you need to either plug your phone into your charger, or press the "no power" button to manually start a trip. If you don't, the app will automatically detect when you start driving and start looking for the camera, but this may take a bit longer.

Once synced with the camera, you will get an overlay button which appears over other apps. Pressing this button will instigate an event starting 20 seconds before the button press, and 10 seconds after. The app will wait for the current file on the dash cam to close, and will then automatically connect to the camera, download the relevant video, and then automatically disconnect.

The app will also record a GPS map of your 10 latest trips. You can later navigate to these trips and then by pressing on a part of the route, create a 30 second video file directly from the map. You can even do this while away from your car, and the next time you get in your car and sync the app, it will automatically connect and download the relevant video!

When you are out of your car, you may receive a notification that the Comroads app is running in the background. Don't worry, it is completely passive and simply waiting for a signal that you are starting a new drive.

 

[viorel.rusu]

Good idea!

 

[viorel.rusu]

Hi, can you make it working on lock screen?
I used it in the usual way and it's seems to work fine till now.

 

[comroads]

We just released a new version to the Play Store.
Now, whenever you start driving, the app will automatically search for the camera. If it finds it, it'll make sure that the date/time of the camera and the phone are synced. If they aren't the app will update the dash cam time/date to the current one so improve the accuracy of video downloading.

Hi, can you make it working on lock screen?
I used it in the usual way and it's seems to work fine till now

We have plans on improving the interface and adding additional features to make downloading easier. We'll also look into adding a lock screen button.

 

[comroads]

We've made great progress and just releaesd a new, much more stable version, and a new video which you can see on the first post

 

[JB-007]

hi, do you plan to release an iOS version of the program?

 

[zs77706]

app is not aviable in german playstore.
please fix this

 

[BCHobbyist]

We've made great progress and just releaesd a new, much more stable version, and a new video which you can see on the first post

Excellent Networked DVR APP for the A129Duo.
Question on GPS data retrieval, Since this APP is designed for APP to APP/ Smartphone to Smartphone networking/sharing it implies leaving the APP/service running while in vehicle. In intro post it states A129 GPS feature must be disabled to use APP GPS so the MAP is actually tracking the Smartphone the entire time, or only within range of A129 Wifi connection?
Keeping A129 Wifi enabled continuously for this APP drops A129 video Bit Rate below 20Mbps causing slightly lower image quality.
If you can design a feature that runs the Smartphone APP + GPS without continuous access to live A129 video stream, then Wifi can be disabled in A129 which restores higher Bit Rate improving video quality. Later after an accident or parked could enable A129 Wifi and download thumbs to APP gallery for full clip download selection. Just an idea to keep A129 Wifi off most of the time to reduce the heat generated by Wifi chip and for best IQ.

 

[Mtz]

Unfortunately this APP is not working for me. I have a lot of experience from few years with dashcams but Comroads just refuse to connect to my Xiaomi Redmi smartphone with Android 6..
First is asking me to Forget Network. After I am forgetting the network and trying to connect it is asking me for A129 Wi-Fi password. After I enter the password is not connecting, asking forever the password. After some time is giving me the error that the APP is not connecting properly...
Looking at the Wi-Fi state from my smartphone is not connecting. If I am connecting it manually from smartphone menu the APP is asking me to Forget the network. And this is forever...

enjoy,
Mtz

 

[TvCristi]

same for me on Huawei mate 10 pro and a129

 

[comroads]

Hi all and thanks for the feedback!

@Mtz - can you please PM me? We're in beta so expect issues, but yours sounds more serious than we've seen. We'd really like to troubleshoot it. We've tested on Redmi note 4 and MA1 and it works well, so there's no reason it should work for you.
"Forgetting the network" is natural because the Viofo app creates a permanent network profile in the phone and then the phone will try and connect each time it detect the camera and you'll lose internet connectivity. Once you "forget" the network, we can create a profile through the app and make sure to keep you disconnected from the camera unless it needs to download a video segment.

@zs77706 We are looking into this now. We initially removed Germany from the approved country list because of the very strict privacy laws in your country, which will make it difficult to provide the full Comroads service we want to (legality of sharing video filmed on the roads is difficult).
We can however in the meantime offer the app as a means to easily manage and retrieve your own footage, and expand it to Germany once we can implement automatic license plate blurring.
Would this be something that you think would be of interest?

@BCHobbyist - You make a valid point. From tests we've done, the video is still very good even with the wifi enabled.
What you're proposing is pretty difficult. The GPS data on the A129 is stored INSIDE the video file. So in order to create a map of the videos in the camera, we would need to open and scan EVERY SINGLE VIDEO FILE in the camera, which would take a while. PC Software like registrar viewer do this on the PC, but you have to understand that the read/write speed and processing power of a PC is MUCH faster than a wifi connection + phone/dash cam processing, so this solution would be VERY time consuming.
The app stays disconnected from the camera all the time, but does connect automatically when needed. If you disable the wifi on the dash cam, it defeats the purpose of the app, which aims at doing everything for you and making the whole process of retrieving video from the device seamless and hassle-free. The normal user would expect to create an event in the app, and within a few minutes have the event on the phone without doing anything else.

@TvCristi What's same for me ?

 

[JB-007]

Hi all.

Our recent update added partial support to the awesome A129.
We're in beta right now and would really appreciate any feedback you guys have, but we're making GREAT progress!

Since we're still developing the app, there are a few limitations to working with the A129:
1) Please turn off the A129 GPS if you want to run the app (you won't need it since you'll be using the Comroads GPS data). We're working on fixing this, but until we do, the GPS data in the video doesn't play well with our app
2) The camera wifi name (SSID) needs to include the words VIOFO and A129.

We really would appreciate input on what you think of the idea of the app and how we can make it better.

Download from Google Play Store

Update for October 9th 2018:
We just released a major update to the app. Much improved interface and the app is now much more stable. Feel free to try and give feedback
Also, here's our new video

Key Features:

- One touch video event generation and automatic downloading from the dashcam.
- Overlay button appears over other apps including navigation. Press the overlay button to generate and download a 30 second video (20 seconds before pressing and 10 seconds after)
- Attach GPS trip data to your dash cam footage.
- Browse the map of your trip and create videos directly from the map.
- When using the Comroads app, your phone stays connected to your 4G network for music and navigation - the app manages your connection to the dashcam automatically and connects/disconnects as needed.
- Unlimited cloud storage for your event videos.
- Choose to upload the videos via your mobile plan or wait for wifi.
- Only records GPS data while you’re driving. Automatically stops when you exit the car.
- Your information is kept private and anonymous.

Coming Soon:

- Request videos from other Comroads drivers near you when you generate an event
- Your car got hit in a parking lot? Check if someone in the Comroads network was nearby when it happened and request their video
-More dash cam integrations, so the app can be used with a wide variety of dash cams

In order to initiate "drive mode" and have the app start looking for your dash cam, you need to either plug your phone into your charger, or press the "no power" button to manually start a trip. If you don't, the app will automatically detect when you start driving and start looking for the camera, but this may take a bit longer.

Once synced with the camera, you will get an overlay button which appears over other apps. Pressing this button will instigate an event starting 20 seconds before the button press, and 10 seconds after. The app will wait for the current file on the dash cam to close, and will then automatically connect to the camera, download the relevant video, and then automatically disconnect.

The app will also record a GPS map of your 10 latest trips. You can later navigate to these trips and then by pressing on a part of the route, create a 30 second video file directly from the map. You can even do this while away from your car, and the next time you get in your car and sync the app, it will automatically connect and download the relevant video!

When you are out of your car, you may receive a notification that the Comroads app is running in the background. Don't worry, it is completely passive and simply waiting for a signal that you are starting a new drive.

hi, do you plan to release an iOS version of the program?

 

[JB-007]

Hi all.

Our recent update added partial support to the awesome A129.
We're in beta right now and would really appreciate any feedback you guys have, but we're making GREAT progress!

Since we're still developing the app, there are a few limitations to working with the A129:
1) Please turn off the A129 GPS if you want to run the app (you won't need it since you'll be using the Comroads GPS data). We're working on fixing this, but until we do, the GPS data in the video doesn't play well with our app
2) The camera wifi name (SSID) needs to include the words VIOFO and A129.

We really would appreciate input on what you think of the idea of the app and how we can make it better.

Download from Google Play Store

Update for October 9th 2018:
We just released a major update to the app. Much improved interface and the app is now much more stable. Feel free to try and give feedback
Also, here's our new video

Key Features:

- One touch video event generation and automatic downloading from the dashcam.
- Overlay button appears over other apps including navigation. Press the overlay button to generate and download a 30 second video (20 seconds before pressing and 10 seconds after)
- Attach GPS trip data to your dash cam footage.
- Browse the map of your trip and create videos directly from the map.
- When using the Comroads app, your phone stays connected to your 4G network for music and navigation - the app manages your connection to the dashcam automatically and connects/disconnects as needed.
- Unlimited cloud storage for your event videos.
- Choose to upload the videos via your mobile plan or wait for wifi.
- Only records GPS data while you’re driving. Automatically stops when you exit the car.
- Your information is kept private and anonymous.

Coming Soon:

- Request videos from other Comroads drivers near you when you generate an event
- Your car got hit in a parking lot? Check if someone in the Comroads network was nearby when it happened and request their video
-More dash cam integrations, so the app can be used with a wide variety of dash cams

In order to initiate "drive mode" and have the app start looking for your dash cam, you need to either plug your phone into your charger, or press the "no power" button to manually start a trip. If you don't, the app will automatically detect when you start driving and start looking for the camera, but this may take a bit longer.

Once synced with the camera, you will get an overlay button which appears over other apps. Pressing this button will instigate an event starting 20 seconds before the button press, and 10 seconds after. The app will wait for the current file on the dash cam to close, and will then automatically connect to the camera, download the relevant video, and then automatically disconnect.

The app will also record a GPS map of your 10 latest trips. You can later navigate to these trips and then by pressing on a part of the route, create a 30 second video file directly from the map. You can even do this while away from your car, and the next time you get in your car and sync the app, it will automatically connect and download the relevant video!

When you are out of your car, you may receive a notification that the Comroads app is running in the background. Don't worry, it is completely passive and simply waiting for a signal that you are starting a new drive.

hi, do you plan to release an iOS version of the program?

 

[comroads]

hi, do you plan to release an iOS version of the program?

Hi JB. We do plan on releasing an iOS version, but it's still a few months away unfortunately.

 

[Dm3k1]

Hi JB. We do plan on releasing an iOS version, but it's still a few months away unfortunately.

Please let us know when that is!!! Is there any feature that would allow an auto upload when you return home? This looks like it would involve some extra logic (such as upload when connected to XXX Wi-Fi). Also is there a way to do continuous upload (similar to Dride)?

My dash cam being stolen, it would have been really handy to get those clips as they were scoping my car!

 

[comroads]

Please let us know when that is!!! Is there any feature that would allow an auto upload when you return home? This looks like it would involve some extra logic (such as upload when connected to XXX Wi-Fi). Also is there a way to do continuous upload (similar to Dride)?

My dash cam being stolen, it would have been really handy to get those clips as they were scoping my car!

Hi Dm3k1.
Well, we don't upload continuously. The idea of the app is that it stays disconnected from your camera during your drive and only connects automatically when it needs to do something, like download an event file.
All the users are anonymous and the upcoming release (today/tomorrow) will also include a fully anonymous guest login where you don't even need to enter your email.
What happens is that while you're driving the app maps your drive with your phone's GPS and correlates it to your dash cam footage. This allows us to generate "event videos", which are 30 second videos:

1) Manual event generation by button, in-app or via overlay: download 30-second event video from dash cam to phone and then to the cloud. In the future we plan to add activation via voice-command and dedicated Bluetooth button.
2) Manual event generation by pointing on a location on your journey map. After you complete a trip with the Comroads app running, you can just enter the map from the trips menu and touch a part of the map where you want video from. When you press the “Create new event” button, the app creates a new event and adds it the to queue. The next time you enter your car the app will automatically connect to your dash camera and download the video from that segment. You can create as many of these event videos as you like
3) Telematic event generation. In the app settings you can choose to enable automatic telematic event generation. This allows the app to generate and download events automatically based on detection of telematic instances using your phone’s sensors such as hard brakes, sudden hard acceleration (from being rear-ended for example), sudden lane changes etc. The higher the level, the more sensitive the detection, so feel free to adjust according to your preferences.

And last but definitely not least, and the main feature we hope to be able to get working soon:
4) Soon we will also add “protection mode”. In this mode, when a user creates an event, they will be able to anonymously request event videos from nearby users from the community (provided they have protection mode enabled in their app). These event videos will be generated automatically based on the proximity of the user and the probability that they were able to view the originating user’s event. This includes users that are parked. So in theory, when you had you dash cam stolen, using our protection mode, you would have been able to check out footage from drivers who passed by your car while it was parked and maybe seen the people who were scoping out your car.

 

[JB-007]

Hi JB. We do plan on releasing an iOS version, but it's still a few months away unfortunately.

a few months away!? great! OK, I figure that a 'few months' means 3 months, so, therefore, I will look forward to your iOS App on February, 1, 2019 or SOONER ~. thanks

 

[JB-007]

Hi Dm3k1.
Well, we don't upload continuously. The idea of the app is that it stays disconnected from your camera during your drive and only connects automatically when it needs to do something, like download an event file.
All the users are anonymous and the upcoming release (today/tomorrow) will also include a fully anonymous guest login where you don't even need to enter your email.
What happens is that while you're driving the app maps your drive with your phone's GPS and correlates it to your dash cam footage. This allows us to generate "event videos", which are 30 second videos:

1) Manual event generation by button, in-app or via overlay: download 30-second event video from dash cam to phone and then to the cloud. In the future we plan to add activation via voice-command and dedicated Bluetooth button.
2) Manual event generation by pointing on a location on your journey map. After you complete a trip with the Comroads app running, you can just enter the map from the trips menu and touch a part of the map where you want video from. When you press the “Create new event” button, the app creates a new event and adds it the to queue. The next time you enter your car the app will automatically connect to your dash camera and download the video from that segment. You can create as many of these event videos as you like
3) Telematic event generation. In the app settings you can choose to enable automatic telematic event generation. This allows the app to generate and download events automatically based on detection of telematic instances using your phone’s sensors such as hard brakes, sudden hard acceleration (from being rear-ended for example), sudden lane changes etc. The higher the level, the more sensitive the detection, so feel free to adjust according to your preferences.

And last but definitely not least, and the main feature we hope to be able to get working soon:
4) Soon we will also add “protection mode”. In this mode, when a user creates an event, they will be able to anonymously request event videos from nearby users from the community (provided they have protection mode enabled in their app). These event videos will be generated automatically based on the proximity of the user and the probability that they were able to view the originating user’s event. This includes users that are parked. So in theory, when you had you dash cam stolen, using our protection mode, you would have been able to check out footage from drivers who passed by your car while it was parked and maybe seen the people who were scoping out your car.

Don't forget us iOS Users! Why would you leave us out?! Can't wait to see all this on the iOS App that you will have on February 1, 2019 or SOONER. thanks!

 

[comroads]

New version released with much improved user interface and much better performance and stability!
Also updated the video in the original thread with a demonstration of the app

 

[JB-007]

where's the iOS app? was a "few months away" in October 2018...