A new way of connecting to our cameras

As part of the development of our iOS version of Sidekick (the companion app for our thermal cameras) we have introduced a new way of connecting to our cameras that makes it easier for both iOS and Android users. This software is being released today. 

How it used to work

Up until today you connected to our cameras by setting up a Wi-Fi network called bushnet on your phone. The camera would see this and connect to it and then you could communicate with the camera via the Sidekick app. This works well most of the time but it does take a bit of getting used to. iOS won't let you set up a Wi-Fi hotspot if the phone has no cellular connection, so we had to come up with another way to connect. We've done that and simplified the connection process.

The new way to connect to a camera

We've changed it so, rather than having a hotspot on your phone, the camera hosts the Wi-Fi network (also called bushnet). You connect your phone to the bushnet network (password: feathers) and then can connect to the camera, as before, using the Sidekick app. Once you've done this once, then your phone should connect automatically.

It takes about 2 minutes from when the camera starts until the bushnet network is set up. It will stay up for 5 minutes if nothing is connected to it. If your phone is connected to it then it will keep the network up while you work with the camera.

You can still connect to the camera in the old way. If you set up a bushnet on your phone then the camera will connect to it before it sets up its own version. It will also connect to any other Wi-Fi networks that it knows about first.

Updating your camera

In order to get these updates your camera software will update automatically if it is connected to the internet. To force an update you can go to Advanced, About and press the Run Salt Update Button. 

Upcoming releases

We will soon be releasing a new version of Sidekick for iOS that will have full compatibility with the Android version. That is it will be able to download recordings from the camera.  We'll then update the Android version so the interface is the same on each version.