I have a 10” Android tablet that I use to display a group of four Wyze outdoor cameras. I want the tablet to sit on a shelf and always display these cameras live. Most days one or more camera streams crashe within hours of launch. Even viewing a single camera feed continuously only works a day or so before crashing. On my phone I view a camera, then usually leave the app within a few minutes. The tablet on a shelf is a different feature for me. Are there any minimum specs for an Android tablet that will insure stable views of camera groups for several days at a time without crashing. Looking for guidance. Thanks
It might be better to look at Network Video Recorder security systems (NVR) for your needs.
Probably depends largely on your budget. But avoid tablets with less than 4g of memory; the larger memory, the better.
Also, the Wyze app flip-flops between portrait and landscape modes. Consider using Tinycam Pro, instead.
Good suggestions from @p2788deal & @StevenA. But you may find you can’t use your existing cameras or the cost is more than you hoped.
It would be helpful if you could post what brand/model is the tablet? What type of internet speeds do you see? What type of router do you have?
Reason is we don’t know if the tablet is causing your issues or your connectivity. I would hate to suggest an upgraded tablet and later you find out it’s a connectivity problem caused by a neighbor using their antiquated microwave for their afternoon popcorn.
Before you spend any money I would ask myself “why won’t the tablet stream one camera for x number of days”. When it crashes how do you recover? Do you ever have to restart the Wyze app or the android OS.
Do you have any TV’s that use wifi to stream (not cable). How is the quality. Do you see excessive buffering. This could help determine where to look.
Once you can run one camera for say 48 hours then i would submit you have at least usable connectivity. It then becomes easier to determine where your dollars should be spent. Then the question becomes what happens with 2 cameras, 3 cameras, etc.
As an aside I’ve been thinking about doing what your proposing using the Wyze “Monitor“ function. I’ve tested it for about 8 hours with good success. Now I’m dwelling on where to place it.
I use Xfinity for Internet. The modem is in bridge mode and connects to a eero device which serves as the home router and Wi-Fi. My TV streams fine using the same Wi-Fi as the tablet running the wyze app. Nothing runs on the Android tablet except the Wyze app. I have various models of wyze cameras, and it appears the wyze app crashes while displaying a view from any camera model . What is the “Wyze monitor” you refer to? How is that different than viewing a camera or group of cameras from the wyze app running on an android device? I am just looking for a reliable way to view a camera live stream 24x7, without needing notifications or automations. I do have the wyze cam plus subscription . Thanks
All good data. On the surface your connectivity looks good.
You’ve pointed the finger at the wyze app. It should not be crashing. The monitor mode I was referring to is the tab at the bottom of the home screen labeled “Monitoring’. It is a convenient way to monitor 4 cams at a time. I don’t believe it is much different than a group of 4 cameras.
You didn’t specify the type of tablet you have. That would be good to know. If it’s underpowered it definitely could be worthy of an upgrade. A final thought before you pull out the checkbook–have you tried web view from a desktop or laptop. Although not conclusive it would at least let you know if your on the right track as it removes the tablet from the equation . If you can stream 4 cameras for a few hours then that would be a good indicator that it’s the tablet that’s the issue.
If you decide to upgrade the tablet I would suggest the following considerations:
Memory–as much as you can afford. My minimum would be 8gb. Beware of the claims being made - - huge amounts of memory for cheap prices. The latest scam is to include the ram disk as real memory in thier specs-unethical.
Storage–not critical. 128gB minimum should suffice.
Battery - - unimportant as it will be plugged in 24/7.
Connectivity - - this one is interesting. If possible get a unit that has wifi 6 or 7. The differences with wifi 5 are huge. Problem is all of the current budget oriented tablets are wifi 5. It seems only the top of the line units offer 6 or 7. It can be a difference of $200-300.
Reliability–your going to use the tablet in a way that the vendors really didn’t think would be mainstream. On 24/7 365. I would gravitate towards the well known brands as they do more testing than the smaller vendors. Samsung, Google, Apple, Lenovo would all be at the top of the list.
An update. This discussion caused me to bring my own solution to the forefront. I even explained it to the better half last night and she thought it was a good idea. I decided to put my tablet into an extended test to see if it can run for days without manual intervention. I’m using a Samsung a9+ with 8gB of memory. I think I paid $180? a few months ago. Running for 13 hours, so far so good.
I am using a Lenovo 10” Android tablet. Not sure what version of Android, but RAM is only 2 GB. As you mentioned, I don’t think the other specs are of much concern. I will try the “monitor” mode function for a while, instead of my camera “group”. Wondering if all it takes is more RAM. Somewhere Wyze should have suggested specs for this viewing mode, but I have not been able to find anything yet
With only 2 GB of RAM, are you stuck on an older version of the Wyze app? I realize that some users have chosen to remain on app v2.50x, but I wonder if you’d have a more stable streaming experience with a current app version. Since v3x, the Android Wyze app has required a 64-bit OS, but if your current tablet has only 2 GB of RAM, then I suspect it’s probably running 32-bit Android or even Android (Go edition).
I would submit that 2gB is barely enough to use the unit for email and web surfing and of course the mainstream tablets do not have provisions for adding ram.
Others may chime in but I’ve never seen a Wyze document that gives minimum specs.
Just for testing you might try some of the following (testing only).
Set the screen resolution to the lowest quality possible.
Turn off all notifications
Set the cameras to stream lowest quality. Typically 360.
Turn off bluetooth
Turn off anything you can think of.
I realize your crippling the machine but if you see some success you can then add things back in that are critical ie notifications.
Good luck and let us know your findings.