NAS recording directly from Streamie is a great feature, but it had a significant shortcoming. If you were streaming lots of cameras, then I had to limit decoding of those cameras to just key frames while recordings were being saved to the NAS. Basically this means that for several minutes at a time, every ten minutes or so, each on-screen camera would only update every several seconds. Not ideal.
The cause of this annoyance is the capacity of the GPU. When recording is enabled, a ten-minute buffer file is created for each camera. At the ten minute mark, each of those files is read and converted to a playable mpeg file. For reasons I don’t understand, this process of format writing the data involves the GPU, and it would freak out if I tried to write the recording files while also deciding and displaying lots of cameras.
This release introduces a solution. Each recorded camera is still written to a buffer file, but it is written in “spf” format (Streamie Packet File). This is basically just an ordered list of audio and video packets, with enough metadata to be able to play it back.
When the ten minute interval occurs, these files are copied as-is to the NAS without any further processing. As such, on-screen playback can continue without being degraded.
But how do you play an SPF file? Well, there’s a new UI component to the iOS and tvOS apps: you can browse, play, share and save your recordings on the NAS directly from within the app.
- NAS recordings now use ".spf" (Streamie Packet File) for NAS recordings.
- App integration for playing, managing, sharing NAS recordings.
- Resolves an issue where the intro tutorial could not be dismissed on a small screen device.
- Improves text labels on devices with tiny screens and large font settings.
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 (but you can also reach us by phone). Download Streamie today. Lastly, Streamie is solar powered!