iOS Sidekick fully functional with new feature

In the next day or two we will release a new version of the thermal camera companion app Sidekick for iOS. This is now feature compatible with the Android app and there is a new feature that will prompt you to update the location of the camera if it has changed. We've also made it a little easier to connect to the camera's WiFi.

Connecting to the camera's WiFi

We've made it easier for you to connect to the camera's WiFi network for the first time. To do this you wait until the camera has been turned on for 2 minutes, then you click on the , click OK and then join.

The next time you do this it should connect automatically if you're not already connected to a WiFi network.

Downloading videos and events

The main functionality that was missing in the first version of the app was the ability to download videos from the camera to the phone and then upload them to the Cacophony servers. This is needed if your camera doesn't have a connection to the internet.

After you've connected to the camera's WiFi network your camera's name should appear. 

This shows the number of recordings and events that are saved on the camera. When the download button is pressed and you will see the recordings and events count as they are being transferred to your phone.

When your phone is connected to the internet you can upload these recordings by clicking on the storage link at the bottom of the screen and then pressing the upload button. You will see the count change as these are uploaded to the Cacophony servers.

You can also quickly view any recordings by clicking on the arrow beside the recordings. This will show you a list of the recordings. Clicking on any of them will let you view the recordings on the Cacophony portal. Note if these have just been uploaded then they may still be being processed.

Prompt to update location

It's easy to forget to update the location on your camera. At the same time it's really useful to have this information so you have an accurate record of what was where. To help you, we've added a reminder: Sidekick will compare the location that the camera thinks it is in with the current location and if it is significantly different it will ask if you want to update the location.

This image shows all the locations of the thermal cameras used by DOC at Te Waihora. This is a nice example of the sort of data you can get when you remember to update the location of your camera.

Coming next

Our next work on Sidekick will be to update our Android App so it is running off the same code base as the iOS app. That means Android users will also get the location prompt, with new interface.

The next new functionality for Sidekick will be to prompt you to take a photo and give the location a name.