Is the BI mobile app worth it?

lane777smith

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Wondering from folks who have the BI mobile app if it's worth it or if there are other, better alternatives.
 

wittaj

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Most use the native UI3 that is baked into Blue Iris. It is free. Simply open up a browser and type in the IP address of your BI computer followed by :80 or whatever port number you use for BI.

What the paid BI app has over UI3 is that if you have two-way talk cameras, you can only use that with the paid app as it is not possible with UI3, and the paid app can do push notifications that UI3 cannot do.

Many though will use the Pushover app ($5) and use that to get push notifications. The benefit to this is you will get images whether you are on your network or not. With the paid BI app, you only get images when away from your network if you port forward or keep a constant VPN connection open.

I use UI3 the most, but I do have the paid app as well. I use Pushover as well.
 
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lane777smith

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Most use the native UI3 that is baked into Blue Iris. It is free. Simply open up a browser and type in the IP address of your BI computer followed by :80 or whatever port number you use for BI.

What the paid BI app has over UI3 is that if you have two-way talk cameras, you can only use that with the paid app as it is not possible with UI3, and the paid app can do push notifications that UI3 cannot do.

Many though will use the Pushover app ($5) and use that to get push notifications. The benefit to this is you will get images whether you are on your network or not. With the paid BI app, you only get images when away from your network if you port forward or keep a constant VPN connection open.

I use UI3 the most, but I do have the paid app as well.

Thanks for the tip on Pushover. What plugin is used for Blue Iris with it?
 

wittaj

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Thanks for the tip on Pushover. What plugin is used for Blue Iris with it?
No plug in needed with BI. When you sign up for Pushover you have two options:

  • They give you an email address that you tell BI to send the email to and then Pushover pushes that out to your mobile device.
  • You can set up an API to have the push sent to you using this great thread as a guide.
 

IAmATeaf

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Another thumbs up for the mobile app, a recent update for the iOS app has fixed all the little niggles/bugs that used to bug me

I originally did use UI3 and got the app for the wife to make it as simple as possible for her but the entire family now uses it.
 
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