I’ve got a loooooong todo list, but not much of it is really “calling to me” at the moment. Thankfully, the release of v4.3.2 didn’t immediately reveal any new bugs (yay). So….
I ended up focussing on Modules. I’ve brought them up to parity with Functions. You can import / export a module. And there’s a new “Discover” option for browsing ready-to-use modules beyond those that are built into the app. This has me thinking that maybe the built-in modules aren’t needed any longer, if I export and add each to the Discover content. We’ll see.
Other than that, this release largely concentrated on incremental improvements. Tidying up. Housekeeping. That sort of thing. In particular, I resolved a regression that has significantly improved what I call the “time to first frame”: when you start a stream, you should see the video actually start playing much faster now.
Streamie use is really growing. It was a bit stagnant for a while. That eventually turned into slow growth. And now that growth rate is itself growing (rapidly) which is really encouraging to see. Seeing a “good month” is always nice, but seeing significant month-over-month growth for months on end is great stuff. You like me! You really like me!
In other news, an electronics design firm reached out to discuss partnering on a custom camera system. Big “ifs” still remain. Will they get the job? What’s the best way that Streamie can be a part of it? White-label Streamie? License the tech to them? Exciting stuff, even if it is still quite tentative. Related to that: I’ve been wanting to do a white-label app of some sort for system installers, but it is impossible to get them to think outside the black plastic NVR box that they know so well.
Fixes
- Fixes (maybe) an issue that can occur while streaming using both Focus and Looper modes simultaneously. [DV] UPDATE: did not fix it.
- Fixes a ridiculous streaming issue that often resulted in an immediate "-12909" error when streaming, followed by the stream starting successfully. The fault lies in a couple places. First, an immediate snapshot request puts the StreamingSession in .onDemand decode mode. Shortly after that, we want every frame decoded which can happen mid-GOP, which causes a decoder error (obviously). We're checking for that now with a videoDecodeNeedsKeyFrame Bool in StreamingSession. Second, resumeSink() is called after the stream is started. This can happen AFTER the first key frame is received by StreamingSession, which means we now have to wait until the next key frame is received before decoding can start. We now have a resume argument to startStream() on CameraProfile and CameraStreamControl. All this means is that basically I introduced a regression a little while back, and now the "time to first frame" is much improved.
- Fixes the RTSP Camera Configure screen help text for the Scheme field which gave "HTTP" as an example, when it should have said "RTSP" which is the only supported protocol at the moment (other than RTSPS, I suppose).
- Fixes a typographic issue on the Functions screen where I accidentally referred to functions as "lambdas" (which is the internal name).
Improves
- Improves the Google Nest Integration configuration screen by automatically trimming "http://" off the front of the Client ID, in case a user accidentally thinks the value should include that prefix, which is unfortunately common.
- Improves the pull-to-refresh functionality in the various File Server Configure Screens, so that they actually pull the details of the file server itself.
- Improves the Cloud Record service. Begin/Finish/Abort operations are now carried out by Penguin. Upload operations are still performed directly by Streamie. This change allows the API servers to be aware of ongoing transfers and to be able to delete failed multi-part uploads.
- Improves the "fullscreen" support by properly maintaining the aspect ratio of the item. With cameras, the problem was not evident. With modules, they were warped to fit the screen. Also, if you're a weirdo who has a group that scrolls horizontally, it should not correctly compute the x-offset for centering the item.
Adds
- Adds support for import, exporting and discovering Modules. In addition to the built-in modules, there is now a small selection of Modules you can find using the "Discover" option, much like with Functions.
- Adds support for Modules that can include a JSON payload instead of a URL, which makes it a lot easier to set up a module (you don't have to have a place to host a JSON file or JavaScript or whatever). Specifically, this applies to Clock, Custom and Weather.
- Adds an "App Store" button in the Junk Drawer screen.
- Adds support for doing on-the-fly 30 second recordings of remotely streamed cameras. I don't know how I managed to _not_ have this in place like a year ago.
Changes
- Changes the 30 second recordings from MOV to MP4 (with no audio).
- Changes the HelpService (help.streamieapp.com) so that it sorts articles by created date instead of updated date. It was kind of weird seeing release notes sorted by whenever I last tweaked something.
Updates
- Updates the Help web service with layout improvements, relative dates (for "last updated") and other such things.
- Updates the web Help Service so that it will only show content for an Article if the full URL (including the current article title) is used. In any other case, such as /a/articleId or /a/articleId/some-old-or-wrong-title, we will redirect the caller to the correct url
- Updates Streamie's release notes URL for v4.4.0.
Created: 1 month ago
Updated: 4 weeks ago
Author: Curtis Jones
Topics: Modules Google Nest Release Notes Record to Cloud
Streamie provides a best-in-class user experience on your iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and Apple Silicon Mac, with an intuitive user interface that makes it simple to discover, stream, record, monitor and share your HomeKit, Google Nest, Ubiquiti UniFi Protect and ONVIF-compatible IP and RTSP cameras. Streamie keeps you informed with motion event notifications and it works with most cameras using its advanced audio and video codec support. You can watch your cameras from anywhere, record 24/7 to your private NAS, remotely manage multiple locations, device permissions and seamlessly synchronize settings across your devices; configure Hubitat smart home automations, live stream to YouTube and rely on the in-app technical support system when you need help -- and you can also reach us by phone. Download Streamie today for all of your CCTV needs.