What's missing from Dashcams?

[Mauronic]

Hey guys, I am helping a client bring new dashcam to market and I wanted to get your input and feedback. I recognize that you can only do so much to differentiate products on the camera / hardware side so I wanted to pay special attention to the user experience, especially on the app.

1) What are the most important 3 things to get right in a dashcam app?

2) What 3 things are missing from dashcam apps today that you would like to see in the future?

3) How do you feel about evidence & incident reporting features? For example, making your own crime report or providing footage if prompted by police looking for evidence in your area?

(If you are interested in providing 1-1 feeback or participating in a an upcoming beta program, feel free to DM me)

pete

 

[kamkar]

Welcome to the forum.

Your questions dont make much sense to me, for one it is rare someone complain about a cameras app..
I cant say i can recall anyone requesting features in the APP, but smart features in the camera are often requested, like pushing events to cloud storage and maybe notifications when parked and there is a event.
Evidence and incident reporting, well how to go about probably differ from state to state or at least from country 2 country, i have shared recordings i made of a accident right in front of me, but i just took that off the memory card at home ,put it on a thumb drive and then went to the police station with it as there is no way to digitally provide footage to the police here.
But i would never share at the site of a event, mine or others, if i was in a event i would just add footage to insurance claim. from there it is their job to duke it out who is to blame. Only in fatal accidents would a actual crash investigator be on scene, the regular cop, well they direct traffic / escort ambulances, but otherwise have no say in a accident here, and they will also only show up if it is bad or traffic are blocked.
If you just had a fender bender and call them, you would probably be told off.
I have also tried to report a very bad driver, that in 30 seconds did so many serious offenses that they could just go and collect his license, but police did not care before i brought in media ( TV ) So i am not doing that again as i want to preserve my naive dream that my country are fully functional or at least avoid the rage knowing that the country are not functional in many areas.

I am getting a new system too soon ( kickstarter ) it will be my first time with a so called smart camera, and i am also going to put a SIM card in it, but as i am extremely little addicted to phones i dont think that the SIM card will last long before i cancel it, but ! i am going to give it a chance, thats all i can do.

 

[Mauronic]

I noticed that most Dashcam apps are rated under 2 stars so that is what I was referring to.

The police would not allow you to send a link to a video?

Do you have a link to the kickstarter project?

 

[kamkar]

I think i could link to a youtube video, but i would assume even in weak old Denmark a court would prefer raw un - edited footage, but to get things moving i would assume a link to a video would be fine.
Some UK police departments do have a digital solution for dashcam owners to turn in traffic offenders, but it is not a national thing as i understand it.

The kickstarter are over now but it is also on indigogo, the camera are called dride 4K

Dride 4K | Next gen connected dashcam

4K, remotely accessible, heat resistant, radar based motion detection, GPS, 4G LTE, dual cam, rear cam

www.kickstarter.com

It is kind of a bastard system, i am signed up for the dual 4K version ( front & rear ) + 4G but as i understand it each camera will require a memory card, so they just sync up, i assume like some Garmin cameras also can do, via bluetooth i assume.
The 2 cameras are not wired together but rather use wifi.
I also think that the rear camera might now be fitted with radar too, at least for the backers that have seen launch get kicked back 4 times or so by now.

Denmark being probably the most digitized country in the world, you would assume got their " poo " together in that regard, but that have never been the case. These days 1000 of hunters have missed out on the premiere of deer season due to a new police database not working, i am myself waiting on the #2 month now for a permit to procure a silencer for my airgun, something that with the old working system took a few days, but they have tried to launch the new system for about half a year now.

10 years ago the police database / system was also to be updated, 500 million DKkr was poured into this, and the resulting software did not work at all and was just trashed, so half a billion out of the window ( only 6 million Danes in the country )

I am not much of a APP user myself, though as a tester i must look at that aspect too, but the ones i have the most experience with ( Street Guardian and Viofo ) their APPs work fine for me in general, though little flaws have been noticed of course.
Could also just be i am a inexperienced APP user, i normally delete those on my phone, a devise i use no more than 5 minutes daily on average, and a devise i truly hate.
the WIFi transfer speeds have in general been slow on all dashcam systems, but things are lighting up here, though bulk transfer of files are still not recommended, but at least now it dont take 6 min to DL a 3 min video to your phone.

I must admit that my eyes are old and tired so doing settings changes on a larger phone screen are quite nice, for the small dashcam LCD screens i for sure need my reading glasses.

Normally i run with the default settings, so 3 min segment size - MAX bitrate / image quality - +1 or 2 hours time zone ( depending on summer time or not ) - speed stamped on footage + time & date
When i use parking guard i normally only do so for 1 hour on the build in timer, that cover all my shopping and at home i have CCTV from my 2 floor apartment on the parked car, i normally use low bitrate always recording for parking guard.

All of this have always worked fine for me in the APP, but there are of course features i dont really touch like EV value as i dont have tint in my car

 

[DashCamMan]

Most dash cam apps are rated low not due to features but due to compatibility issues. Check the low ranked apps and the most common complaints are:

1. Connectivity doesn't work at all with some phones
2. Frequent disconnects between phone and camera
3. App crashes
4. Having to disable mobile data to connect to camera
5. Slow download times of videos

Doesn't matter how many features you have,if 1 to 3 are happening to a user, they will write a bad review. Solving the first 3 items above will minimize bad reviews but won't differentiate your app.

Check out the Garmin Drive app. Has 3.9 rating on Google Play and 4.7 on the App store. No amazing features but I suspect the app design and coding is more robust and works on a wider range of phones, hence the higher rating.

 

[thomas-dash]

It would be nice if the app had a feature where you could save different “profiles” that would allow you to change different dash cam settings with as few clicks/touches as possible.

For example, you could have a different profile for night and day time driving where the exposure settings are changed for each camera just by selecting the profile. Just something where you don’t have to click through a bunch of menus and set a bunch of different options in order to optimize the camera for the particular time of day you’re driving.

 

[Ralph2]

In my limited opinion, what most needs improving is WiFi. It needs to be accessible to a local network just as all your other gadgets.. phone, tablet, laptop etc. are.

 

[Nigel]

Some UK police departments do have a digital solution for dashcam owners to turn in traffic offenders, but it is not a national thing as i understand it.

It is national, just that not all police forces have joined yet, and some tried to do it their own way - our police forces are allowed some independence. There is however a national forensics centre that will analyse the evidence properly for the police forces, if they ask, and will be able to cope with almost any format.

Submitting evidence to them normally requires original files, so an app doesn't really have much it can do to help, other than to enable access to the files, and maybe provide some cloud storage for the files, or make use of the users Google Drive, providing a link for the user to paste into the police report/upload webpage. Some users are not very capable of accessing files on memory cards, or in phone storage.

Uploading the files to cloud storage is also good for insurance claims, although then it doesn't need original files, instead you can make a single video clip out of the 2 or 3 files around the incident, with an overlay the of the rear camera, the user just needs to mark the start and end of the section to upload.

Most dash cam apps are rated low not due to features but due to compatibility issues. Check the low ranked apps and the most common complaints are:

1. Connectivity doesn't work at all with some phones
2. Frequent disconnects between phone and camera
3. App crashes
4. Having to disable mobile data to connect to camera
5. Slow download times of videos

Doesn't matter how many features you have,if 1 to 3 are happening to a user, they will write a bad review. Solving the first 3 items above will minimize bad reviews but won't differentiate your app.

Check out the Garmin Drive app. Has 3.9 rating on Google Play and 4.7 on the App store. No amazing features but I suspect the app design and coding is more robust and works on a wider range of phones, hence the higher rating.

Might help if the app could talk to the camera via Bluetooth instead of wifi, so that people don't have all the connection problems. For most purposes, wifi is not really required, only when a lot of data needs to be transfered. The settings could easily be configured via bluetooth, including turning on the wifi and assisting the user with correct wifi configuration of their phone.

 

[Screen name taken]

I never use a dashcam app. Well apart from a time sync.

 

[Mauronic]

Most dash cam apps are rated low not due to features but due to compatibility issues. Check the low ranked apps and the most common complaints are:

1. Connectivity doesn't work at all with some phones
2. Frequent disconnects between phone and camera
3. App crashes
4. Having to disable mobile data to connect to camera
5. Slow download times of videos

Doesn't matter how many features you have,if 1 to 3 are happening to a user, they will write a bad review. Solving the first 3 items above will minimize bad reviews but won't differentiate your app.

Check out the Garmin Drive app. Has 3.9 rating on Google Play and 4.7 on the App store. No amazing features but I suspect the app design and coding is more robust and works on a wider range of phones, hence the higher rating.

Really good points. It's actually really hard to reliably connect and transfer files from a hardware device to a phone and handle medial playback and sync. Even a well resourced and skilled engineering team can stumble with device/OS specific issues relating to BlueTooth and WiFi - especially for Android.

I think the basic usability part has to get nailed first but as you said that alone won't add a tremendous amount of differentiation. It seems that consumers will tolerate a buggy, hard-to-use app, especially if you can get most of the benefit of a dashcam without it.

I don't know how Garmin got such a high rating because I scrolled through pages of reviews and the majority of them were bad!

Might help if the app could talk to the camera via Bluetooth instead of wifi, so that people don't have all the connection problems. For most purposes, wifi is not really required, only when a lot of data needs to be transfered.

Do you mean, for example, that you would like to see WiFi only required for file transfer & live view as opposed to adjusting camera settings ?

What features (dashcam or app) would you like to see?

Personally I find the features like monitoring my car's location and getting parked car indicident alerts to my phone appealing. But that requires dedicated LTE / Hotspot.

 

[Nigel]

Personally I find the features like monitoring my car's location and getting parked car indicident alerts to my phone appealing. But that requires dedicated LTE / Hotspot.

That is very desirable, if you are targeting certain customers, but for most people it far too complex. Personally I would rather not know about parked car incidents until I get back to the car and need to deal with it, otherwise when interrupted in the middle of an important meeting, am I going to rush off to the car, or stay in the meeting worrying about what has happened? And then when I do get back to the car I find that it was nothing but a gust of wind and there is no sign of anything wrong!

You need to define your customers before you decide on the features to include, for both the app and the camera. Some people can understand having multiple network connections on their phones, and why the camera app might not work when you are at home and the phone has connected to the home wifi instead of the camera wifi, but for the majority of people, even if they are capable of working that out, it is more effort than they are prepared to put into extracting a file off the camera, easier to take the memory card out and put it in a card reader. Bluetooth connections don't have the same issues, just install the app, pair with the camera (everyone knows how to do that), and it is working. If the App can use Bluetooth to send the the wifi connection details to the camera over Bluetooth then the camera can connect to the same network as the phone, sometimes the home network, sometimes the car's AP, and then there should be no connection difficulties for video streaming!

Do you mean, for example, that you would like to see WiFi only required for file transfer & live view as opposed to adjusting camera settings ?

Just make it easy to use! Most dashcam companies are only using the wifi, even though most dashcams do have Bluetooth available, and Bluetooth can communicate with the phone app without the user needing to connect to the right network first. If you get back to the car and the camera wants to send a parking impact notification to warn you to check your paintwork, wifi is not a good way to do it because the phone quite likely won't be connected, but Bluetooth will work OK, a noise from the camera will also work, but it is not as user friendly.

I don't know how Garmin got such a high rating because I scrolled through pages of reviews and the majority of them were bad!

I suspect that when a Garmin customer has problems, they generally put a lot of the blame on themselves, while with most dashcam brands they only blame the manufacturer! The different brands have different types of customer.

What features (dashcam or app) would you like to see?

Wireless rear and internal cameras would be fantastic, and a great sales feature, but your not going to manage that!

 

[kamkar]

I am very much in favor of no notifications, it is one of the things that are making millions of people sick today, with their damn phones.
So while i will test that on the dride 4K when i get it, i dont think it is something i would use much, just like the remote access to my home CCTV system is also not something i use, and actually most often i cant do that as it is not connected to the internet unless i plug it in.
CUZ as you might have figured out too, wifi are not really something i use, and BT and GPS on my phone are turned off as really i dont need it in day to day actions so why have it on.
I did use BT on my previous phone so i could do hands free in the car, even if on average i only get a phone call while driving every 3 - 4 months, change of phone and touch screen on car head unit dying and i am not able to do hands free in the car.

I do also recognize that on this matter i am the odd one out, and what i despise the whole world are crazy about.

Hell i dont even have ring tones on, on my damn phone, so you will have to be mighty lucky if you call me and i pick up on that call, most time i see someone have called and i call back as i assume it is important,,,,, and then most times i get let down as it is just some BS that could easy wait for next time i meet with the person.

it have taken me 15 years give or take, to educate the 10 or so people that have my number that, they can call day and night if it is important, but please do not call if it is just something that can wait, and if you need a shoulder to cry on, TXT that to me and i will be there ASAP, even with today's gas prices.

 

[DAP]

The only time I can think of that I would use the app on my phone would be if I needed to show the video to a cop on the scene of an accident. In all other cases, it would be more convenient to pull the memory card and view it on my computer. Phone screens are too small to properly view dashcam video.

 

[kamkar]

A lot of people do all kinds of stuff on their little phone screen, but they are cheating them self, but just live happily ignorant.
But those people will probably fly off the handle if you dont bring your A game in your APP.
Personally i am happy to do settings on the phone, as i always forget my reading glasses and despite threatening to do so for years still haven't gotten a pair of glasses to be in the car all the time.

I also absolutely do NOT get why some people would want to play a game on their little phone screen, or watch a movie there, but millions of man hours are spent on phones every day doing just that.

 

[DT MI]

...to show the video to a cop on the scene of an accident.

Even then it would likely be less hassle and faster to just keep an OTG reader in the car (along with your spare mSD ) card and use it to view videos.

Amazon.com : Otg Card Reader

 

[Ralph2]

The only time I can think of that I would use the app on my phone would be if I needed to show the video to a cop on the scene of an accident. In all other cases, it would be more convenient to pull the memory card and view it on my computer. Phone screens are too small to properly view dashcam video.

Would it not be so much easier to just connect your PC to the camera by WiFi like you can with your laptop and view/copy/move any file you like.

 

[kamkar]

If transfer speeds are good then yes, but if not it will be like trying to playback footage from a memory card in a very old card reader, and you will have a laggy experience.
Also we have to factor in, the dashcam wifi antenna are small and weak and not really a long range antenna, i can just see my home wifi router when in the car parked on the other side of the building, but i doubt i could see the dashcam wifi if i stood in my kitchen window with the phone in my hand and looked at the car 20 - 25 M away.

Smart cameras in the future should in my opinion consider a proper outside wifi antenna, or some other way to get better Tx / Rx capabilities.
Not all people live in a home made of soft materials or have a router or wifi extender near where the car is parked.

The latest wifi 5 & 6 standards would be very fine i think ( not really much into wifi ) but i think both offer good speeds if you are within reasonable range.
I get 500 mbit on my phone in the living room with the router, but it do drop to a little over 400 mbit if i test from my bedroom, where if doors open and me lying in bed i can actually see into my living room.
Otherwise there are a solid wall between the 2 rooms, though i do think it is just a 1 brick thick wall ( too old building to have concrete walls i think,,,, it is a pre war building ( ww2 )
In my car the speed would probably be 10 mbit at best,,,,,, i must try this when i go for a drive soon.

 

[Lothar]

Personally I find the features like monitoring my car's location and getting parked car indicident alerts to my phone appealing. But that requires dedicated LTE / Hotspot.

Useless feature for me.
I can already track my car from the car manufacturer's app. Why would I want to use another app? Any new car bought recently(within the past 5 years) from any of the major manufacturers is already a "connected" car.

Getting notified about parked car incidents does not make a difference whether you get notified instantly or when you get to your car. It does not make insurance claims faster, or better.
You will never catch the person because they would have pulled of and ran long after the incident and before you get there. That is what a hit and run is. Instant notification on a dashcam app or cloud dashcam feature is not going to fix that.

 

[Lothar]

Would it not be so much easier to just connect your PC to the camera by WiFi like you can with your laptop and view/copy/move any file you like.

The transfer speed won't be any faster though, so what is the benefit of lugging a laptop around?
Most dashcam files are named by date/time so the files are not that hard to find.

 

[Nigel]

In my car the speed would probably be 10 mbit at best,,,,,, i must try this when i go for a drive soon.

I was getting zero, until I set up an old router as a repeater, now with the car 40m from the house I can get 100mbit.
Not many people are going to do that though, so I think for most people, connecting the camera to home wifi is not an option, so running the app on a PC for file access is not an option, unless the app can receive data from the camera via the car internet connection... but that will probably turn itself off for power saving before you manage to download your videos!