Dash cam software?

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Angus66

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I've been using the app that goes with my new dash cam (Miofive S1 Ultra) for about a week or so, and while it works OK it's a little limited, clunky & not very intuitive.

Is there a 3rd party app (or apps) that works with multiple brands/models of dash cams? Or I am stuck with the manufacturers app?
 
Mobile app?
 
By the number of views this thread has received and lack of responses, I'll assume there's nothing available other than the app manufacturers creates & offers.

I'm somewhat surprised no one done this, as I've seen a lot of complaints about functionality app from various brands.

Maybe user error is actually the root cause for many of the problems users report?
 
Yes the mobile apps are usually trash.

I just use a web browser with the IP address to access the videos on my VIOFO.
 
Angus66 said:
By the number of views this thread has received and lack of responses, I'll assume there's nothing available other than the app manufacturers creates & offers.

I'm somewhat surprised no one done this, as I've seen a lot of complaints about functionality app from various brands.

Maybe user error is actually the root cause for many of the problems users report?
Click to expand...

It is unreasonable to expect a software developer to provide an app to a device they do not have the base code for, much less, possibly the SDK for onboard hardware. On top of that, you would have to expect to pay for the app or at least suffer ads while you accessed the camera. Add to that, they will likely be tracking you as well. You can open a trouble ticket with the vendor and explain what you find lacking. As for user errors, my experience after 36 years of maintenance and tech support is that users do not read the manual, or if they have, their reading comprehension is very poor.
 
lufa6977 said:
users do not read the manual, or if they have, their reading comprehension is very poor.
Click to expand...

Lol I totally agree especially the comprehension bit but hey I'm guilty of both at times too.
RTFM
 
Lol @ the tracking paranoia.
 
mentadent said:
Yes the mobile apps are usually trash.

I just use a web browser with the IP address to access the videos on my VIOFO.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the suggestion - I never would have thought of that!

Is your camera IP address static? or does it change from session to session?
 
lufa6977 said:
It is unreasonable to expect a software developer to provide an app to a device they do not have the base code for, much less, possibly the SDK for onboard hardware. On top of that, you would have to expect to pay for the app or at least suffer ads while you accessed the camera. Add to that, they will likely be tracking you as well. You can open a trouble ticket with the vendor and explain what you find lacking. As for user errors, my experience after 36 years of maintenance and tech support is that users do not read the manual, or if they have, their reading comprehension is very poor.
Click to expand...
Just to clarify, I don't expect anything - I just asked if anything was available.

So there's no need to be rude and/or defensive - I simply asked a question.

As far as your 36 years of experience goes, you've NEVER seen someone create & make available an app/program for a specific purpose?

While I'm not in the coding/software/IT business, I've seen plenty of passion projects produced over the years (since 1990 when I got into pcs @ 33 years old) to replace/create/modify an existing program to be more functional/stable/etc.

Also, I brought up the point that user error could be contributing to many complaints - I'm not sure why you felt the need to restate it?

Lastly, learning (operation, features, etc.) about a product by reading a user manual these days to learn about a product isn't as black and white as it once was. Many user manuals from (especially but not limited to) Chinese vendors, aren't nearly as helpful as they once were.

Many are little more than poorly written quick start guides filled with poor translations, and minimal (and often conflicting) information.

EDIT: I'd also be willing to pay (a reasonable price) for an app if it could work with multiple different brand of cameras, like GPS Player does for playback and editing.
 
Last edited:
On VIOFO it is http://192.168.1.254
If you use the free app 'WifiMan' you can get the IP addresses of the device you are connected to.
 
Angus66 said:
Just to clarify, I don't expect anything - I just asked if anything was available.

So there's no need to be rude and/or defensive - I simply asked a question.

As far as your 36 years of experience goes, you've NEVER seen someone create & make available an app/program for a specific purpose?

While I'm not in the coding/software/IT business, I've seen plenty of passion projects produced over the years (since 1990 when I got into pcs @ 33 years old) to replace/create/modify an existing program to be more functional/stable/etc.

Also, I brought up the point that user error could be contributing to many complaints - I'm not sure why you felt the need to restate it?

Lastly, learning (operation, features, etc.) about a product by reading a user manual these days to learn about a product isn't as black and white as it once was. Many user manuals from (especially but not limited to) Chinese vendors, aren't nearly as helpful as they once were.

Many are little more than poorly written quick start guides filled with poor translations, and minimal (and often conflicting) information.

EDIT: I'd also be willing to pay (a reasonable price) for an app if it could work with multiple different brand of cameras, like GPS Player does for playback and editing.
Click to expand...

Not being rude or defensive...but you are being thin skinned and reading more into it than is necessary or was intended.
 
lufa6977 said:
Not being rude or defensive...but you are being thin skinned and reading more into it than is necessary or was intended.
Click to expand...
Not being thin skinned at all, but we obviously have different opinions on what constitutes rude or defensive posts.
 
Angus66 said:
Is there a 3rd party app (or apps) that works with multiple brands/models of dash cams? Or I am stuck with the manufacturers app?
Click to expand...
There used to be several apps available that worked with multiple dashcams, but the dashcam manufacturers keep adding new features, changing the app interfaces, and then the general purpose apps either don't work or don't support the new features, so you end up needing to use the manufacturer app anyway. For someone to keep their app up to date for all current dashcams would be a huge amount of work, and most people want the app for free, so they are not going to sell enough.

It would be nice if the dashcam manufacturers could all get together and define a standard app interface that they all comply with, and while they are at it, a standard cloud server interface that they all comply with, then we could have multiple third party apps and third party clouds, maybe partly funded by the dashcam manufacturers so free the customers, at least for the basic functions, with maybe charges for more advanced features like cloud storage.

I don't see it happening though, the apps are part of what the manufacturers are selling, a good app helps sell the dashcams, bad apps push customers to move to the better manufacturers, there is not much incentive for them to cooperate, and no agreement on what cloud services should be provided or how they should be paid for. Nextbase iQ is sold on its "fantastic" cloud features that they wouldn't want to share with anyone, but most people have no interest in them, and years after announcement, their somewhat expensive Roadwatch AI that people have been paying a subscription of £9.99 per month (£119.88 per year) for, is still in the state of "*Coming Soon" - good money for something that doesn't exist!


Which processor does the Miofive S1 Ultra use? There may be another app that works OK for the basic functions, many of the Novatek based cameras have basically the same interface, but I suspect Miofive uses something else...
 
Nigel said:
There used to be several apps available that worked with multiple dashcams, but the dashcam manufacturers keep adding new features, changing the app interfaces, and then the general purpose apps either don't work or don't support the new features, so you end up needing to use the manufacturer app anyway. For someone to keep their app up to date for all current dashcams would be a huge amount of work, and most people want the app for free, so they are not going to sell enough.

It would be nice if the dashcam manufacturers could all get together and define a standard app interface that they all comply with, and while they are at it, a standard cloud server interface that they all comply with, then we could have multiple third party apps and third party clouds, maybe partly funded by the dashcam manufacturers so free the customers, at least for the basic functions, with maybe charges for more advanced features like cloud storage.

I don't see it happening though, the apps are part of what the manufacturers are selling, a good app helps sell the dashcams, bad apps push customers to move to the better manufacturers, there is not much incentive for them to cooperate, and no agreement on what cloud services should be provided or how they should be paid for. Nextbase iQ is sold on its "fantastic" cloud features that they wouldn't want to share with anyone, but most people have no interest in them, and years after announcement, their somewhat expensive Roadwatch AI that people have been paying a subscription of £9.99 per month (£119.88 per year) for, is still in the state of "*Coming Soon" - good money for something that doesn't
Click to expand...
That's a great summation/history lesson that (because I'm new to the dash cam world) I wasn't aware of.

My thought process was based on many dash cams looking like clones of each other, that the internals might be the same as well.

Now I know better (y)
Which processor does the Miofive S1 Ultra use? There may be another app that works OK for the basic functions, many of the Novatek based cameras have basically the same interface, but I suspect Miofive uses something else...
Click to expand...
I don't know what processor Miofive uses for the S1, but I'll try to find out.

They don't specify what image sensor(s) they use, so it might be harder than usual to get an answer from them.
 
Angus66 said:
My thought process was based on many dash cams looking like clones of each other, that the internals might be the same as well.
Click to expand...
That was often the case 10 years ago, there was either Amberella based cameras or Novatek based cameras, and the Novatek based ones could all use the same app since they all used the Noavatek supplied firmware and just changed the logos. These days there are many differences, and the dashcam companies that went no further than changing the logo have gone out of business.

Angus66 said:
They don't specify what image sensor(s) they use, so it might be harder than usual to get an answer from them.
Click to expand...
I think I saw that it was a Sony IMX415, a decent sensor in sunshine, but not much good at night.
 
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