# Blue Iris — user reviews > 283 indexed App Store user reviews of Blue Iris by Ken Pletzer, rated 3.70/5 from 418 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/blue-iris/id585350145/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/blue-iris/id585350145.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 223 · 4★ 48 · 3★ 37 · 2★ 27 · 1★ 83 ## What do users think of Blue Iris? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 🚀 Reliable and stable - 🔒 Secure remote access - 👍 Comprehensive features - 🚀 Smooth video playback - 💡 Useful push notifications - 👍 Intuitive user interface **Cons** - 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs - 🔋 Drains battery on mobile devices - 👎 Outdated and dated UI design - 🔍 Difficult to navigate and configure - 🚫 Requires Blue Iris desktop software **Commonly reported bugs** - Inability to save video clips - Inconsistent behavior when switching between live view and playback - Push notifications not working reliably - Cameras sometimes shown as offline when they are not - Crashes when rotating device or accessing certain features **Most requested features** - Add support for VPN connections - Improve video scrubbing and playback controls - Implement a more modern and responsive UI - Allow for more granular user permissions and access levels - Provide better integration with home automation systems ## Newest reviews (16 of 283) ### 3/5 — Family sharing doesn't work. *2026-08-15, version 2.08.09* Family sharing doesn't work, it doesn't even show up anywhere in family members device it wants another $10.00 per family member. ### 2/5 — Buggy *2026-07-07, version 2.08.09* Always having issues, unreliable ### 3/5 — Works? *2026-04-19, version 2.08.03* Latest update fixed the issues, but rating 3 for now because the app was completely unusable for like a month prior to the fix. ### 4/5 — Good app. Bad update *2026-04-05, version 2.06.06* With the most recent update- video is no longer playing smooth. It like skips randomly. Overall blue iris is great though (v4). I know they want you to update to version 5- but everything I read seems to refer to problems with updates. As someone who already has a reverse proxy with https running- I don’t see any major new benefits that would be worth the risk yet… ### 2/5 — Cams not loading *2026-04-04, version 2.06.06* Not sure what happened with the update, but for about a week now when i access the cameras on my phone camera not loading or takes for ever to load. Never had this problem before. I am on the last Bi desktop version and iphone 16 pro max plus version ### 3/5 — New colors are bad *2026-04-01, version 2.06.01* Please change the new color scheme. It looks really bad. Other style updates are great. ### 2/5 — Usually great update for iOS 10 required *2026-03-31, version 2.06.01* Since updating to iOS 10 the calendar no longer shows dates, just lines making it difficult to navigate through past footage. ### 3/5 — Latest app version unusable on older iPads *2026-03-31, version 2.06.01* Own a bi5 perpetual License however support is expired and updated the latest App Store BI app on an iPad , it now crashes / Won’t load cameras, and support not reachable. Is otherwise an awesome bit of software I bought ### 4/5 — New color scheme is hard on the eyes *2026-03-30, version 2.06.01* Overall, the product has been pretty good for me over 5 or so years but the new color scheme in the most recent version is atrocious and difficult for old eyes. I would love a way to go back to the previous colors. ### 3/5 — Glitchy update *2026-03-30, version 2.06.01* The update released this morning is notably, faster, but the general view of all cameras doesn’t show 70 to 80% of the cameras due to some sort of a glitch. I hope they fix that. ### 1/5 — Does not support family sharing *2026-01-31, version 2.04.06* I’ve tried to share this with one other user in my family group but it keeps asking for another $13 so one star. ### 1/5 — Doesn't work *2025-10-30, version 2.04.06* This won't connect with my iPhone 13 Pro Max. I'm not trying to port forward. Just a simple connect fails. BI customer service is no help Owen ### 3/5 — Feels like someone’s side project *2025-09-20, version 2.04.06* The app is mostly useable with some bugs, but it just feels outdated or neglected. I paid for the App expecting a better experience than the web UI and the only advantage for me is push notifications in the App, when they work. I mostly use the web UI with different notifications now and regret buying the App. ### 2/5 — Keine Pflege *2025-09-17* Die App passt immer weniger zu den Funktionen des Servers. Das mitgelieferte Web Interface kann mehr als diese App! Mittlerweile zeigt die App auch nur noch sporadisch recordings an. Wird immer schlechter. ### 2/5 — Developer won’t fix it *2025-07-27, version 2.04.06* Had an issue with this having almost 100gigs of data. Emailed developer. Ya it’s a know issue. Almost two years later no fix. Poor apps and support. App is 10 years old and outdated. ### 2/5 — Developer won’t fix it *2025-06-15, version 2.04.06* Had an issue with this having almost 100gigs of data. Emailed developer. Ya it’s a know issue. Almost a year later no fix. Poor apps and support. App is 10 years old and outdated. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Glitchy update *2026-05-01, version 2.08.08* The latest update no longer supports the original version of the server for playing back surveillance videos. They also didn’t fix the bug where most of the cameras in the main view are intermittently not showing up. Perhaps it works with the newest version of server, but the original version which supposed to still work, is no longer supported. Very disappointing. ### 1/5 — Playback is jerky and slow *2026-04-27, version 2.08.08* Latest update causes playback to be super slow or never start. Not good at all. Please revert this release. ### 1/5 — Constantly crashes *2026-04-19, version 2.08.03* Please fix, app constantly crashing while scrolling through cameras… ### 1/5 — App is not great any more! *2026-04-14, version 2.06.09* The app does not load correctly, it does not show the saved videos. Overall it is not a great use of the app anymore ### 1/5 — Horrible Update *2026-04-09, version 2.06.09* Please fix this update! The last version was so much better!!! My cameras will hardly load and playback. ### 1/5 — New update broken on iPadOS *2026-03-31, version 2.06.01* App work. Fine until recent update. Now it won’t load properly on iPadOS ### 1/5 — New version not working on older ipad *2026-03-30, version 2.06.01* This new version killed the ability to monitor cam with version 17 ipad please correct the situation ### 1/5 — Wtf *2026-03-30, version 2.06.01* I updated the app and it’s completely broken, cannot even get past the spinning circle, can’t go back so, what the hell! ### 1/5 — Leider auf älteren iPads kaputt *2026-03-29* Nach dem letzten Update funktioniert die App auch nach reinstall nicht mehr! ### 1/5 — Flaky *2026-02-20, version 2.04.06* When it works it’s great but when it doesn’t it’s an all day job to get it back online. So far it’s been off for two months and I can’t get it to work so it’s junk. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — THE BEST CHOICE *2026-03-13, version 2.04.06* This is the single most Valued Software for me personally. I have used this software , running on PC, for over 2.0 years. It has proven to be invaluable to Me, Family, Homes, Friends, & Business iNorth Central Florida. Single handedly has made arrests by video capture, provided quality a consistently and always is being improved upon by Ken, Jennifer, and Team. I want to take a sentence to let You guys know….the support, the product and the continuous improvements to software that always seems flawless always, is so appreciated. Thank from Me, my Family, and Our Community, Your Team has consistently kept Us much safer with Blue IRIS watching like Hawks We are Very Grateful Cheers & Love Rob D. in Florida ### 5/5 — BI5 *2026-01-24, version 2.04.06* Great app client. Cannot wait to see this really shine with the update for version 6! ### 5/5 — Must Have App *2025-12-02, version 2.04.06* If you run Blue Iris desktop this is a no brainier purchase. I have been using it since the initial release and the developer remains dedicated to customer satisfaction. I use this app daily and It has become the primary app for viewing my IP cameras. You will not be disappointed! NOTE: You do have to run Blue Iris desktop on your PC in order to use this app. ### 5/5 — こんな素晴らしい監視カメラアプリがあるなんて、、 *2025-08-29, version 2.04.06* これまでパナの純正を使っていましたが使いにくくて。、縛りもきついし。 BLUE IRISを知ることができて本当に良かったです。自宅内、18台の監視カメラを気持ちよく管理できています。外部から（スマホから）の監視も素晴らしくスムーズ。 不満というか、希望があるとすればバックアップサーバ（ハングアップすると外から見えなくなるので同じサーバーを動かしておきたい）用のライセンスは本体ライセンスを使わせてほしい。現状では２本買いなさい、、がルールのようです。 ### 5/5 — Antiquated UI but gets the job done *2025-05-18, version 2.04.06* The UI is antiquated and the app could use a refresh (though supposedly this is coming soon with BI 6?), but the app is reliable and gets the job done. I’ve found it to be very stable and am able to key in on cameras quickly when I receive an alert. Full disclosure, I use HA to send alerts to my devices and use the app solely for monitoring (not alerts) - easier when you have a lot of devices that you want alerts sent to to but only want to pay for the app on one or two devices ### 5/5 — ios apple watch version *2024-12-10* Please, make apple watch version at least to use geolocation to be able to desactivate alarm automaticly when children who have apple watch come back home from school. I think a lot of your client with this feature and it could an opportunité for you to get more cash. Thanks ### 5/5 — Excellent App *2024-06-04, version 2.04.05* This is an excellent app for BI. It has most of the feature of the UI3 interface. I just wish it has a filter for alerts like that of the UI3 in Safari. ### 5/5 — The Ideal Match for Blue Iris Enthusiasts! *2024-03-28, version 2.04.05* Blue Iris has been an absolute game-changer in surveillance! Needless to say this app’s design makes monitoring my property simple, yet offering crystal clear live feeds directly to my phone and iPad. The customization options in this app are user-friendly, allowing me to finangle the settings exactly how I want. Definitely deserves a five-star rating! ### 5/5 — Really good and support is great *2024-01-25, version 2.04.05* Used for a couple of years and recently had occasion to use support. Great service and resolved my issues. Definitely recommend. ### 5/5 — Using for 1 year plus, Excellent! *2024-01-24, version 2.04.04* I have a small sever running Ryzen 5700G, 2tb M2, 16gb RAM…etc for Blue Iris. I also have about 6 cameras connected in different fashion (POE, WiFI, USB). No issues at all from this application. It is lightweight, not tons of features which is fine, it just works. I send “critical” updates to my phone when a person is detected in the AI of the server, that works fine. Solid app. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-29.*