Launching BI app from text message?

[dexterdom]

Hi folks,
I have configured an alert on my front door camera to send me a text message and image whenever motion is detected at my front door.
Does anyone know of a way to launch the BI app directly from within the text message so I can view the live video feed and possibly interact with the person at the front door (camera has 2 way audio)?

I'm running iOS 8.4.1 (iphone 5s), BI server 4.1.4.0, BI app 1.50.04.

 

[fenderman]

Why not use push notifications to the app?

Sent via Taptalk

 

[dexterdom]

Hi there
A couple reasons:
1) I'm not always consistently logged into BI on my iphone so I wouldn't want to miss a notification if an alert is triggered while I'm not logged in.
2) notifications don't seem to work to my iphone. After I log into the BI app I check the server status and do see an active connection to my client. However when I click the "test button" (in the alert notification screen) I keep getting "test message sent to 0 devices". this is over my LAN and I confirmed that I have the firewall disabled on my BI server (Windows 7 Pro 64 bit)


Incidentally I just discovered how to launch the BI app from an SMS text. I inserted blueiris://open within my message and upon receipt it becomes a clickable link that launches the BI app.

 

[fenderman]

Hi there
A couple reasons:
1) I'm not always consistently logged into BI on my iphone so I wouldn't want to miss a notification if an alert is triggered while I'm not logged in.
2) notifications don't seem to work to my iphone. After I log into the BI app I check the server status and do see an active connection to my client. However when I click the "test button" (in the alert notification screen) I keep getting "test message sent to 0 devices". this is over my LAN and I confirmed that I have the firewall disabled on my BI server (Windows 7 Pro 64 bit)


Incidentally I just discovered how to launch the BI app from an SMS text. I inserted blueiris://open within my message and upon receipt it becomes a clickable link that launches the BI app.

You dont have to be logged into the app to get push notifications...
if you are not getting notifications make sure the permissions are properly set for the app.

 

[dexterdom]

You dont have to be logged into the app to get push notifications...
if you are not getting notifications make sure the permissions are properly set for the app.

Hi fenderman,
Thanks for the tip - I was able to get notifications working to my iphone. I completely missed the part about enabling push on the mobile options screen (even though it was clearly stated on the Alert Config page!). For curiosity's sake, I'll enable both SMS texts and the BI notifications for next couple of days to see which is consistently "quicker" in reaching my phone.

Now I'm trying to figure out how to have the BI app launch and immediately display my front door camera. Is this possible? In the app options I changed "After login show" to "1st camera/group" but it goes to my 6-up camera display (I have 6 cams total). I also added the camera to a "front_door" camera group hoping it would appear in the app as a group but I don't see it. It would be nice if we could select a specific camera or group in the app as a default display.

 

[fenderman]

Hi fenderman,
Thanks for the tip - I was able to get notifications working to my iphone. I completely missed the part about enabling push on the mobile options screen (even though it was clearly stated on the Alert Config page!). For curiosity's sake, I'll enable both SMS texts and the BI notifications for next couple of days to see which is consistently "quicker" in reaching my phone.

Now I'm trying to figure out how to have the BI app launch and immediately display my front door camera. Is this possible? In the app options I changed "After login show" to "1st camera/group" but it goes to my 6-up camera display (I have 6 cams total). I also added the camera to a "front_door" camera group hoping it would appear in the app as a group but I don't see it. It would be nice if we could select a specific camera or group in the app as a default display.

The groups should appear in alphabetical order...so try naming the group a-front door...if you are not seeing the app, make sure the user has access to that group.

 

[dexterdom]

The groups should appear in alphabetical order...so try naming the group a-front door...if you are not seeing the app, make sure the user has access to that group.

I renamed the group as you suggested but still don't see it in the drop down list within the app. I'm logging in with an administrator account so it should have access to the group (I checked the user settings and there are no group restrictions).
Just to be clear, the app setting I'm referring to is "After login, show". Are you saying that I should be seeing my group within that drop down?
The only options I currently have are:
Menu
Cameras
1st Cam/Group
Alerts

 

[fenderman]

I renamed the group as you suggested but still don't see it in the drop down list within the app. I'm logging in with an administrator account so it should have access to the group (I checked the user settings and there are no group restrictions).
Just to be clear, the app setting I'm referring to is "After login, show". Are you saying that I should be seeing my group within that drop down?
The only options I currently have are:
Menu
Cameras
1st Cam/Group
Alerts

No you wont see the group on that dropdown..but it should be the first group that shows up in the camera view...so it should be showing up when you select 1st cam/group

 

[fenderman]

Note, that you wont see a group in the mobile app until you place at lease 2 cameras in the group...if you only need a single cam first, the place it as the first camera from the top left in the blue iris server...the mobile app displace the cameras in the order they are placed in the server display.

 

[dexterdom]

I really appreciate the time you're taking to help me out
I created another group called b-other,so now I have 2 cams in a-front group and 4 cams in the b-other group. I see both groups in the app now.
The problem now is the "All cameras" group that keeps wanting to stay at the top of my list, so when I select 1st cam/group it goes to the "All cameras" view instead of my a-front group.
Here is a screenshot of what I mean:

 

[fenderman]

I really appreciate the time you're taking to help me out
I created another group called b-other,so now I have 2 cams in a-front group and 4 cams in the b-other group. I see both groups in the app now.
The problem now is the "All cameras" group that keeps wanting to stay at the top of my list, so when I select 1st cam/group it goes to the "All cameras" view instead of my a-front group.
Here is a screenshot of what I mean:

To remove the all camera group...in the bi pc server, to the left of the ptz controls, select all cameras from the dropdown...then select the group settings icon (looks like a gear, last one on right)...then uncheck enable group webcast stream.

 

[dexterdom]

To remove the all camera group...in the bi pc server, to the left of the ptz controls, select all cameras from the dropdown...then select the group settings icon (looks like a gear, last one on right)...then uncheck enable group webcast stream.

That did it! I can live with having 2 cameras in the a-front group. I wish there was a way to select specific cameras or alter the mobile layout in the app itself. Thanks again for your help.

 

[fenderman]

You can setup a single camera to be the first m.. Just make it the first camera on the blue iris server..

Sent via Taptalk

 

[dexterdom]

You can setup a single camera to be the first m.. Just make it the first camera on the blue iris server..

Sent via Taptalk

Yes I ended up just removing my groups, disabling the All cameras view and moving the front door cam to the first position.