# DS cam

> Mobile surveillance camera monitoring and management for Synology NAS/NVR. (iPhone/iPad app by Synology Inc..)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ds-cam/id349087111 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Synology Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/321493109)
- Category: Utilities, Lifestyle
- Price: Free
- Rating: 3.00/5 from 172 App Store ratings · 283 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 15.0 · 85 MB
- Languages: German (Germany), Danish, American English, French (France), Italian, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and 11 more
- Released: 2010-01-21
- Data updated: 2026-08-27
- Monetization: free
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ds-cam/id349087111/reviews.md

## What is DS cam?

You must own a Synology NAS or NVR to run this app, and be running the latest Surveillance Station to get the complete set of features.

DS cam makes it possible to monitor and receive alert notifications from all your surveillance cameras set up on a Synology DiskStation. Smart features such as PTZ, patrols or lens control allow for perfect control of your cameras in real-time, while advanced filters make it easy to pinpoint any specific event from large lists of recordings. You can even perform all essential management tasks, from disabling a camera to unlocking and deleting a snapshot. 

Find all detailed features about the app on our website:
www.synology.com  > Solutions > Surveillance > Surveillance Mobile > Specifications
https://www.synology.com/dsm/7.2/software_spec/surveillance_station

## Key features

- Real-time camera monitoring
- Alert notifications
- PTZ, patrol, and lens control
- Advanced recording filters
- Essential management tasks
- Snapshot management

## What do users think of DS cam?

Overall sentiment: negative

**Pros**

- 🚀 Works great
- 👍 Good and useful app
- 🚀 Fast and stable
- 👍 Completely control camera recordings
- 👍 Toggle through events easily

**Cons**

- 🐛 Regular app crashing
- 🐛 Crashes frequently
- 🐛 Cannot scroll back in timeline without issues
- 🐛 Event viewer rarely works
- 🐛 Slow and clunky
- 🐛 Keeps buffering
- 🐛 Crashes constantly
- 🔋 Battery drain
- 🐛 Push notifications not reliable
- 🐛 Cannot click on push notifications
- 🐛 No bookmarks or advanced filtering
- 🐛 Cannot download h265 videos
- 🐛 Notifications missing thumbnails
- 🐛 Slow login process
- 🐛 Loses remembered connections
- 🐛 Slow to connect
- 🐛 Notifications stopped working
- 🐛 Crashes iPhone 14 Pro
- 🐛 Incompatible with older Surveillance Station versions

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Regular app crashing
- Cannot scroll back in timeline without issues
- Event viewer rarely works
- Keeps buffering
- Crashes constantly
- Battery drain
- Push notifications not reliable
- Cannot click on push notifications
- Cannot download h265 videos
- Notifications missing thumbnails
- Slow login process
- Loses remembered connections
- Slow to connect
- Notifications stopped working
- Crashes iPhone 14 Pro
- Incompatible with older Surveillance Station versions

**Most requested features**

- Selective motion notifications
- Custom notification sounds
- Ability to categorize alerts
- Live scrubbing on timeline
- Bookmarks and advanced filtering
- Ability to download h265 videos
- Faster login process
- Ability to retain remembered connections
- Apple TV app
- Dark mode for all screens
- Ability to quickly switch between cameras

## Recent user reviews (10 of 283)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ds-cam/id349087111/reviews.md

### 1/5 — Not a great app

*2026-07-13, version 5.12.0*

I am a fan of Synology but not if this app. Many times a camera’s image will freeze or there is a spinning wheel in the camera. The app should be smart enough to restart the connection to that camera. I think better thought needs to be put into this. Contact me and I can help test it. Look forward to your reply.

### 3/5 — Decent app

*2026-06-11, version 5.12.0*

Decent app with basic functionalities. I wish it would support Face ID to provide a quick access and better user experience. I noticed that when a session is opened via WiFi, if you try to access the app again via another connection (LTE, 5G etc…), you need to open a new session.

### 1/5 — Poorly designed app

*2026-05-19, version 5.12.0*

Web app drops can’t connect remotely, then have to travel to site to enable quick connect. Poorly designed app.

### 3/5 — OK but needs a few tweaks

*2026-05-12, version 5.12.0*

Reasonable app. Does most things. One annoyance though is the login regularly fails when connected to a VPN. I have to disconnect from the and force kill to be able to logo again. Push notifications aren’t affected.

### 5/5 — Nice little cam app

*2026-03-22, version 5.12.0*

This is a nice little app for my two security cams (TP-Link). Suggestion - It would be great if you could pop a camera out into PiP (Picture in Picture) on the iPad .

### 4/5 — Good app with some cool features

*2026-03-21, version 5.12.0*

Like the app but I wish there was a way to set notification sound separately and have it custom.

### 2/5 — Pinch zoom quality terrible

*2026-03-14, version 5.12.0*

Not sure what you done but when I select a 4K quality stream and try to zoom in the quality is terrible compared to doing it on a pc.  I can’t see details any more but I know they see these on my surveillance station. Kinda defeats the point in having a mobile app if you put such a terrible software zoom in that I can see much. 

Can you PLEASE make this open source and we will all fix it.

### 2/5 — Super buggy

*2026-02-28, version 5.12.0*

This thing is just plain bad. More often than not after dragging the time slider to go back in time it will lose audio; only way to get it back is to quit and restart, but then you’re back at live so that means it’s pretty hit and miss to listen to audio from the past at all. Going back in time produces wildly long delays before video starts playing. Why does Synology not care enough to fix this thing?

### 1/5 — No downloading video

*2026-02-19, version 5.12.0*

App is a bit slow and clunky. Parts are downright broken; it keeps telling me to give it access to my photo library in order to download video (it already has write access to the library).

### 3/5 — It’s not great

*2026-02-05, version 5.12.0*

It’s slow, buggy, and the app doesn't have critical alerts, but seems to work well enough otherwise. I get notifications that I need to update the app for encryption but I’m on the latest version. It records and sends me notifications, so it has the basics covered.

## Frequently asked questions about DS cam

### What is DS cam?

DS cam is a mobile application that allows you to monitor and receive alerts from surveillance cameras connected to your Synology DiskStation or NVR. It provides real-time control over your cameras and tools to manage recordings and snapshots.

### What are the key features of DS cam?

Key features include real-time camera monitoring, alert notifications, PTZ (Pan-Tilt-Zoom), patrol, and lens control. It also offers advanced filters for recordings and essential management tasks like disabling cameras or deleting snapshots.

### Is DS cam free to use?

Yes, DS cam is a free application. However, it requires you to own a Synology NAS or NVR and have the latest Surveillance Station software installed to function.

### What devices is DS cam compatible with?

DS cam is designed for mobile use and is compatible with devices that can run the application. The specific operating system requirements can be found on the app's listing or the Synology website.

### What is the primary use case for DS cam?

The primary use case for DS cam is to provide users with a convenient way to monitor their home or business security cameras remotely. It allows for quick checks, immediate alerts for events, and management of recorded footage from anywhere.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 5.12.0 — 2026-01-14

What’s New
1. Added support for toggling notifications for a wider range of specific event types.

Fixed Issues
1. Fixed an issue where live streaming via QuickConnect might remain stuck on the loading screen after the app returns from the background.

### 5.11.0 — 2025-09-10

Fixed Issues
1. Fixed an issue where the app might experience abnormal memory usage when playing videos from certain Reolink cameras.

### 5.10.0 — 2025-03-26

Compatibility & Installation
1. This version is only compatible with iOS 15 and above.

Fixed Issues
1. Fixed an issue where thumbnails for certain H.265 cameras might not appear in the cameras, recordings, notifications, or Smart Time Lapse lists.
2. Fixed the issue where the Notification tab might get stuck during loading and push notifications might not display properly if port 8089 was blocked.
3. Fixed an issue where the camera stream might take up to 20 seconds to load if multicast was previously enabled.

### 5.9.0 — 2024-07-23

What's New
1. Added support for the wireless Synology Camera CC400W.
2. When downloading recordings incompatible with the Photos app, the download destination will be automatically changed to the Files app. 

Fixed Issues
1. Fixed the issue where H.264 camera streaming might not display properly when using software decoding.

### 5.8.0 — 2024-04-30

Important Note
1. As hardware decoding is now widely supported by smartphones, consumes fewer resources, and offers better performance than software decoding, software decoding will be discontinued starting from DS cam 5.8.0 for iOS.

What's New
1. Added a debug function that provides diagnostic data to streamline and accelerate the troubleshooting process.

Fixed Issues
1. Adjusted the zoom-in function so that the center of zoom is now based on the current position of the user's fingers.
2. Enhanced hardware decoding compatibility for iOS 17 to support video playback from a wider range of camera brands.
3. Fixed an issue where users in China might not be able to sign in via QuickConnect.
4. Fixed an issue where users might not be able to sign in again when using versions of DSM older than 4.2.

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## More apps by Synology Inc.

- [DS photo](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ds-photo/id321493106)
- [DS audio](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ds-audio/id321495303)
- [DS file](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ds-file/id416751772)
- [DS finder](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ds-finder/id429865523)
- [DS video](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ds-video/id540949418)

All apps by Synology Inc.: https://appshunter.io/developer/321493109

## Related topics

[synology surveillance](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/synology-surveillance) · [synology ds cam](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/synology-ds-cam) · [surveillance station](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/surveillance-station) · [ds finder](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/ds-finder)

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*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 2026-08-27.*