# Kapal for Frigate NVR — Live Cameras, Review, Timeline > Minimal, secure iOS viewer for Frigate NVR systems. (iPhone/iPad app by JudeWorks.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kapal-for-frigate-nvr/id6748327011 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [JudeWorks](https://appshunter.io/developer/1749456254) - Category: Utilities, Photo & Video - Price: Free with in-app purchases - Rating: 4.70/5 from 16 App Store ratings · 11 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 18.5 · 54 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2025-08-01 - Data updated: 2026-09-06 - Monetization: free with in-app purchases - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kapal-for-frigate-nvr/id6748327011/reviews.md ## What is Kapal for Frigate NVR? Your Frigate. In Focus.. Kapal is a native Frigate NVR client for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. It connects directly to your Frigate server—no Kapal account required. LIVE CAMERAS • Customize an adaptive grid with snapshots or live previews, switch camera groups, and choose its density. • Open any camera full screen with zoom, audio, stream selection, and Picture in Picture on compatible streams. • View Birdseye, detection overlays, zones, and recent camera activity when available. • Play HLS and MJPEG feeds, including supported H.265 / HEVC streams. • Try the Universal Video Engine beta for MSE playback, adaptive remote quality, and recovery from brief Wi-Fi interruptions. REVIEW, EVENTS & RECORDINGS • Browse Frigate Review alerts, detections, Events, and untracked Motion. • Search, sort, and filter by camera, object, zone, known name, sub-label, date, or confidence. • Inspect snapshots, boxes, plates, zones, scores, and available H.264 or supported H.265 clips. Adjust playback speed, zoom, and share video or images. • Use Kapal+ Timeline to scrub synchronized multi-camera history, see recording availability and activity, and jump to a date and time. • With Kapal+ Motion Search, draw a region, scan a time range, jump to hits, and save reusable presets. FRIGATE 0.18, GENAI & EXPORTS • Use Frigate’s new live protocol and persistent camera toggles. • Ask Your Cameras what happened and receive a streaming answer from your GenAI-enabled Frigate server. • Summarize Review activity by object and camera, followed by a separate report of concerns flagged by Frigate’s AI. • See GenAI provider status, roles, requirements, and setup guidance. • Switch Config Profiles such as Home, Away, or Vacation without restarting your server. • Browse exports, group related clips into Cases, and download a complete incident. MADE FOR IPHONE, IPAD & APPLE WATCH • Use adaptive iPad layouts with side-by-side details, a sidebar, multiple windows, keyboard shortcuts, and pointer support. • Check cameras, activity, snapshots, supported live views, saved servers, and snapshot complications from Apple Watch. • Keep recent Review activity on your Home Screen with configurable widgets. • Create camera links for Home Assistant notifications that open in Kapal. CONNECTIONS & SYSTEM HEALTH • Connect through local or remote addresses, HTTPS, authentication, VPNs, self-signed certificates, and Cloudflare Access service tokens (beta). • View server status, uptime, storage, detector performance, recording activity, heatmaps, and per-camera health. • See connection quality, stream health, reconnects, stalls, and GPU temperature when reported. • Share a playback report with no video, snapshots, or credentials—and review it before sending. KAPAL+ Kapal+ is a one-time purchase with no subscription or ads. It unlocks Timeline, Motion Search and presets, Ask Your Cameras, Review Activity Summaries, Config Profiles, Cases, the Apple Watch app, multiple servers, automatic failover, Smart Location Switching, Latest Activity widgets, Health Alerts, and ONVIF PTZ controls with presets. Existing owners receive every new 2.0 feature at no extra cost. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Camera and event data is requested directly from your servers. Credentials are protected in the iOS Keychain. Kapal does not provide a cloud NVR or store your camera library. SUPPORT & ROADMAP Found a bug, connection problem, or playback issue? Reach out through Support. Have an idea? Submit it to the in-app Roadmap and vote on what should come next. REQUIREMENTS Kapal requires an existing Frigate NVR installation and network access. Features depend on your Frigate version, permissions, cameras, retained recordings, codecs, go2rtc, GenAI, and network. PTZ requires a compatible ONVIF camera. Health Alert timing is subject to iOS background execution. Kapal is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Frigate project. ## Key features - Live camera grid view - Minimalist interface mode - Full-screen live playback - Review past detection events - Privacy-first design - H.264 event playback support ## Pricing and in-app purchases Base price: Free. **One-time purchases** | Purchase | Price | Type | | --- | --- | --- | | Kapal+ | $2.99 | one-time | ## Recent user reviews (10 of 11) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kapal-for-frigate-nvr/id6748327011/reviews.md ### 5/5 — One of the best apps I’ve used *2026-09-02* Hands down, the app is beautiful, easy to use, and well thought out. The dev is responsive and super happy to help when a bug shows up. The layout and UI just makes sense. There’s a lot of buttons and switches that make Frigate a versatile tool. This app shows exactly what makes sense, but also doesn’t hide anything. If you use Frigate, this is the iOS app to use. **Developer response:** Thank you so much! This means the world to me! I’m thrilled that you’re enjoying the app. I’ve invested a significant amount of time into it, striving to create an app that I’d be proud to use and recommend. There are still many exciting ideas in the pipeline. I genuinely appreciate you taking the time to write this thoughtful review. ### 5/5 — Solid Frigate Interface *2026-08-03* App is clean, easy to configure. Connectivity with frigate server is stable and reliable. **Developer response:** Thank you so much for taking the time to review! This really means the world to me! ### 5/5 — Good App *2026-07-29* Kapal is a good app with a great developer. It’s impressively good to see features and fixes continually being added to an app with a smaller dev team. Not to mention, the app is visually beautiful. I had a small issue with the app and it was resolved very fast via email. **Developer response:** Thanks so much—I really appreciate you taking the time to leave this review. I’m also really glad you reached out by email instead of just living with the issue or giving up on the app. I genuinely enjoy hearing from people who use Kapal, whether it’s a bug, a feature idea, or just general feedback. Those conversations help shape where the app goes next. Thanks again for giving Kapal a chance, and for the kind words. They really do mean a lot. ### 5/5 — Solid app for Frigate mobile access *2026-07-26* The user interface is simple and intuitive. The app is well made and looks modern. My only complaint is that admin features such as server restarts or camera feature switches like recording and detection are not hidden for view-only users. These features don’t work when logged in with an unprivileged account, but they are still visible. **Developer response:** Hello! Thank you so much for this thoughtful review. I’m working on the next version now and i will have these requests baked in. If you have suggestions like this please send me an email from the support area of the app and I’ll always see what I can do! This means the world to me! Thanks again! ### 5/5 — Great viewer for Frigate NVR *2026-07-10* This is the app I’ve been missing! A few things I’m hoping you can add in the future though: 1) easier way to switch between servers if you have multiple defined. It’s buried a few taps deep right now. 2) a way to deep link into a particular camera from another app (e.g. home assistant) so I can have a notification from HA launch Kapal into a camera live feed or recording. Thanks for the great work! **Developer response:** Thank you so much for the kind words! It really means a lot to hear that Kapal is the app you’ve been missing. I also really appreciate you taking the time to write up such thoughtful feedback. Good news on your first request: an easier way to switch between multiple servers is already coming in v1.9. I completely agree that the current flow takes too many taps, so that should be a much smoother experience soon. I also love your second idea. Deep linking directly into a specific camera from apps like Home Assistant makes a ton of sense, especially for notifications, and I’m going to add that to the roadmap as well. I’d like to get both of these completed for you. Thanks again for the encouragement and for helping make Kapal better! ### 5/5 — Finally a good Frigate viewer! *2026-04-11* Just switch from android and struggled between the meh frigate apps available on iOS. Kapal just works, connected to my frigate over https and it’s seamless. This is the app you want. **Developer response:** Thank you so much! Reviews like this really pump me up to take Kapal to the next level. I’m really excited about the next couple of features in the pipeline. If you ever have any suggestions or issues, please reach out via the contact button in the app! Thank you again for your time and kind words! ### 5/5 — I can’t believe it’s free! *2026-03-17* I love this app! It is the best way to view my Frigate installation on iOS. It just works **Developer response:** You are too kind. Super happy that you enjoy it. Tell your nerdy NVR friends :) ### 5/5 — Needs a valid ssl cert but developer has contacted me and we will work on it. *2026-03-09* Just set up Cloudflare ddns and tunneling. App is improving and developer eager to get it working for everyone. **Developer response:** Edit 3/11/26: 1.5 is now out which lets you connect with whatever network combo you have now. Thank you again! Original: Hi — thank you for taking the time to leave feedback. I won’t get into specifics here, but I’d genuinely love to better understand your setup. I personally run a very similar self-hosted/DDNS configuration and it works well on my end, so there may be something small we can adjust. I’m a solo developer and I personally respond to every email. If you’re open to it, please reach out directly at hey@judeworks.app — I’ll work with you one-on-one to figure it out. Also, you’re absolutely right about visibility around support. Adding a clear support email on the landing screen is a great idea, and I’ll be including that in the next release. Building this has been a bit of a leap of faith — detailed feedback during development is rare (I’ve heard from roughly 0.002% of users), and I’m genuinely grateful to those who reach out. It directly shapes what gets improved next. If you’re willing, I’d really appreciate connecting. ### 5/5 — Having issues without a valid ssl cert but developer has contacted me and we will work on it *2026-02-13* We were planning to use this to monitor our garage remotely. We don't have a website host so we cannot acquire a secure ssl cert. Hopefully we can get it working. The developer seems interested and eager to make sure the app works for all situations. **Developer response:** Hi — thank you for taking the time to leave feedback. I won’t get into specifics here, but I’d genuinely love to better understand your setup. I personally run a very similar self-hosted/DDNS configuration and it works well on my end, so there may be something small we can adjust. I’m a solo developer and I personally respond to every email. If you’re open to it, please reach out directly at hey@judeworks.app — I’ll work with you one-on-one to figure it out. Also, you’re absolutely right about visibility around support. Adding a clear support email on the landing screen is a great idea, and I’ll be including that in the next release. Building this has been a bit of a leap of faith — detailed feedback during development is rare (I’ve heard from roughly 0.002% of users), and I’m genuinely grateful to those who reach out. It directly shapes what gets improved next. If you’re willing, I’d really appreciate connecting. ### 1/5 — Useless without valid ssl cert. Too clever by half. No option to go to site without it. *2026-02-08* We were planning to use this to monitor our garage remotely. We don't have a website host so we cannot acquire a secure ssl cert. We don't NEED a ssl cert. If somebody wants to see gravel and a garage door, go for it. Seems it only works on a LAN. Ok so if I'm THERE I don't need it. I need it when I'm AWAY. We go through a ddns. However, this app is too clever by half, not allowing us to connect through our ddns because the app thinks we're too stupid and will get hacked by our own site via iphone. Hey, lets us have the option to continue like any other app would do. 1 star b/c it is a non-functional app unless you go get/or pay for an ssl cert which i can't do anyway because i am hosting my own Frigate feed. "Contact dev: Tap on settings." Of course, settings is nowhere to be found because I cannot log in to my service. **Developer response:** Hi — thank you for taking the time to leave feedback. I won’t get into specifics here, but I’d genuinely love to better understand your setup. I personally run a very similar self-hosted/DDNS configuration and it works well on my end, so there may be something small we can adjust. I’m a solo developer and I personally respond to every email. If you’re open to it, please reach out directly at hey@judeworks.app — I’ll work with you one-on-one to figure it out. Also, you’re absolutely right about visibility around support. Adding a clear support email on the landing screen is a great idea, and I’ll be including that in the next release. Building this has been a bit of a leap of faith — detailed feedback during development is rare (I’ve heard from roughly 0.002% of users), and I’m genuinely grateful to those who reach out. It directly shapes what gets improved next. If you’re willing, I’d really appreciate connecting. ## Frequently asked questions about Kapal for Frigate NVR ### What is Kapal? Kapal is a minimal and secure viewer for your Frigate NVR system, designed for iOS and iPadOS. It allows you to monitor live camera feeds and review past detection events with a focus on privacy and performance. ### Does Kapal have ads? No, Kapal does not contain advertisements. It is built with a privacy-first design and does not include any third-party trackers or analytics. ### What devices does Kapal support? Kapal is available for iPhone and iPad devices, offering a native experience optimized for both platforms. ### How often is Kapal updated? The latest version of Kapal is 1.5, and it was last updated on March 11, 2026. This indicates a commitment to ongoing development and improvements. ### Can I review past events with Kapal? Yes, Kapal allows you to browse and replay past detection events, provided they are recorded in H.264 format by your Frigate system. ### What is the age rating for Kapal? Kapal has an age rating of 4+, making it suitable for a wide range of users. ### What are the in-app purchases for Kapal? While the app is free, it offers in-app purchases. Specific details on what these purchases unlock are not provided in the description, but they are typical for enhancing functionality or features. ### Does Kapal require a Frigate NVR system? Yes, Kapal requires an existing Frigate NVR system to function. It acts as a viewer and interface for your established NVR setup. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 2.0.1 — 2026-09-04 2.0.1 • Fixed live view freezing or falling back to snapshots on cameras that stream video without an audio track, including many Hikvision models. • Fixed the video from a doorbell model appearing stretched because of its unusual aspect ratio. • Live Grid Previews can now show real motion: choose Snapshots, Balanced, or Smooth under Camera Settings, with a separate switch for cellular. • Saved server addresses are preserved when reconnecting or updating. • Kapal no longer sends repeated PTZ requests to cameras that don't support it. • Playback diagnostics are clearer and more accurate. • Smaller fixes and refinements throughout. ### 2.0 — 2026-08-28 Kapal 2.0 is the biggest update I’ve shipped, arriving as Kapal begins its second year. When I released the first version, I hoped a few people would find it useful. Your reviews, bug reports, ideas, and messages have shaped it ever since. I’ve spent countless hours refining the experience across iOS and iPadOS, and I’m incredibly proud—and genuinely happy—to see how far Kapal has come. Thank you. A BRAND-NEW VIDEO ENGINE • The Universal Video Engine streams over MSE, like Frigate’s dashboard. • In testing, it starts faster and has been more reliable than the Classic engine. • Away from home, it can begin with a lighter stream and step up in quality as the connection allows. • It recovers from brief Wi-Fi interruptions. • Try it under Settings › Support. It remains opt-in while feedback is gathered. • Both the Universal and Classic engines support Frigate 0.18’s new live protocol. READY FOR FRIGATE 0.18 • A new Motion lane reveals movement that was not tracked as an object and opens the matching recording. • Smarter stream detection recognizes likely sub-streams in common Frigate configurations. • Supported detection, recording, and snapshot toggles now persist across server restarts. • For Kapal+ owners, a new GenAI settings page explains provider status, roles, requirements, and setup. • Playback diagnostics can be reviewed and shared without video, snapshots, or credentials. A FULL IPAD REDESIGN Major screens now adapt to the available space instead of stretching the iPhone layout: • Live video with controls, settings, and activity beside it. • Side-by-side Events, Review, Motion, and selected details. • Timeline layouts built for portrait and landscape. • Adaptive camera grids and sidebar navigation. • Stage Manager and multiple windows. • Keyboard shortcuts and pointer interactions. A COMPLETELY NEW APPLE WATCH APP Kapal now comes to your wrist. Browse cameras and saved servers, check recent activity and snapshots, open supported live views, and add snapshot complications to your watch face. TIMELINE, SETTINGS & SYSTEM • Timeline has graduated from beta, gained a full-screen presentation, and now finds footage using lightweight recording data—dramatically reducing data use, especially on cellular. • Settings and System have been redesigned for clarity. • Connection quality, stream health, reconnects, stalls, storage, and GPU temperature are easier to understand. • Reconnect behavior is smarter when a server is temporarily unreachable. • Brand-new users now receive a guided tour before connecting their first server. NEW IN KAPAL+ • Motion Search: draw a box and find every moment something moved there. • Motion Search Presets: save a region and its tuning, then run it over any time range. • Ask Your Cameras: ask what happened and receive a streaming answer from Frigate’s GenAI. • Review Activity Summaries: see activity by object and camera, plus a separate AI report of possible concerns. • Config Profiles: switch Home, Away, Vacation, or any profile you created in Frigate. • Cases: browse the new Exports screen, organize related clips, and download a complete incident. • Smart Location Switching: save home and remote addresses and let Kapal choose the reachable one. • Apple Watch: included as a new Kapal+ experience. These join Timeline, Multiple Servers, Automatic Failover, Latest Activity widgets, Health Alerts, and PTZ Camera Control. Every new Kapal+ feature in 2.0 is included for existing owners at no extra cost. Thank you for supporting independent development. There are also dozens of fixes and refinements throughout the app, many inspired directly by your reports. Please keep them coming. If something doesn’t work, reach out through Support. If you have an idea, submit it to the in-app Roadmap, vote on what matters, and help shape what comes next. ### 1.9 — 2026-07-14 Kapal 1.9 is here—and it’s one of our biggest updates yet! A Completely Revamped Live Camera View The portrait camera experience has been rebuilt from the ground up. Your live video remains front and center, while useful information and controls are now conveniently available below the stream. The new camera panel includes: • Live connection and stream status • Quick access to available stream qualities • Active detection information • Snapshot sharing • Camera feature controls • Recent camera events New PTZ Camera Controls Kapal+ users can now control compatible ONVIF PTZ cameras directly from the live view. PTZ support includes: • Pan and tilt controls • Press-and-hold directional movement • Zoom in and out • Direction pad and joystick control styles • Compact and expanded control sizes • Quick access to camera presets Cloudflare Tunnel Support — Beta Kapal can now connect to Frigate servers running behind a Cloudflare Tunnel. This makes it easier to securely access your Frigate server remotely without directly exposing it to the internet. Cloudflare Tunnel support is currently in beta, and we would love to hear about your experience. Faster Server Switching with Kapal+ Managing multiple Frigate servers is now much faster. Kapal+ users can quickly switch between saved servers without returning to setup or repeatedly entering connection details. Thank You to Our Roadmap Community A huge thank-you to everyone who votes and submits feature requests through the Kapal Roadmap! Your feedback directly helps shape the future of Kapal, and many improvements in this release were inspired by your ideas. Please keep the requests and votes coming—we’re listening. Performance and Reliability Improvements • Improved live-stream connection and fallback behavior • More reliable H.264 and HEVC video playback • Improved event clip compatibility and playback recovery • Faster clip loading with smarter caching • Improved server connection and authentication handling • Better camera health monitoring and automatic failover • Improved background-task reliability • Numerous interface refinements, stability improvements, and bug fixes throughout the app ### 1.8.1 — 2026-06-30 Kapal+ Health Alerts are here. Offline camera alerts have been expanded into a new Health Alerts section, now with low-storage warnings for your Frigate storage locations. This update includes: - New low-storage alerts with per-storage GB thresholds - Health Alerts now combines camera offline alerts and storage alerts in one place - Fresh health checks when opening the Health Alerts page, so camera status and storage amounts are up to date - Improved playback compatibility for some H.265/HEVC event clips, including cameras that produce `hev1` tagged video files - Video playback errors are now shown in a cleaner location instead of covering the video preview - Smoother live camera snapshots with less bursty loading, better WebP handling, and improved fallback behavior on slower Frigate systems - More forgiving local connection checks for slower networks, VPNs, and busy Frigate servers - Improved filter loading so cached camera and label filters are preserved when startup metadata is slow to respond - Fixed an Activity by Camera text layout issue in System stats - General polish and reliability improvements for alert handling, playback, snapshots, and connection handling A sincere thank you to everyone who reaches out with logs, screenshots, camera models, and detailed issue reports. That feedback is a huge part of why I can keep improving Kapal across more real-world Frigate setups. My family will only let me buy so many cameras, so reports from your systems help me fix things I could not reproduce on my own. If you run into any issues, please email me from inside the app. Those reports really do help shape fixes and improvements. ### 1.8 — 2026-06-27 New Feature: Timeline (Kapal+) Timeline is now in Kapal+ as an early release, and I’m genuinely excited to finally ship it. It’s already usable and already useful, and we’re committed to improving it over the next few months based on how you use it. What this changes for you: - Quickly jump through your Frigate history with Timeline scrubbing and go straight to event moments, instead of hunting through clips one by one. - See everything that happened around an event, not just one camera at a time, with Play all cameras at once for much better context. - Use local network playback where needed (Only on local network) for better reliability in busier environments. - Turn on settings that match your workflow, like Default zoom, Snap to events, and Group related events, to review events your way. Thanks to everyone supporting the app. Your support has made this possible. We also added the most requested feature with the same focus on real-world use: practical, hands-on monitoring that can actually be used daily. For feedback, suggestions, or bug reports: - Use Contact Support from the App section in the app, or - Email us at support@judeworks.app Need ideas for fixes or features? Check out Roadmap in-app and submit your request directly. ## Apps similar to Kapal for Frigate NVR | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Viewer for Frigate](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/viewer-for-frigate/id6760414150) | 5.0 (3) | Free | Utilities | | [Viewu](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/viewu/id6502717790) | 5.0 (7) | Free | Utilities | | [Securex Nvr](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/securex-nvr/id6742030555) | 3.7 (12) | Free | Utilities | | [Lumen for Frigate](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lumen-for-frigate/id6760238729) | 2.0 (3) | Free | Utilities | | [Unraid Deck - Server Manager](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/unraid-deck-server-manager/id6757081677) | 4.7 (23) | Free | Utilities | | [CrowsEye](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/crowseye/id6756637453) | 4.6 (10) | $2.99 | Utilities | ## More apps by JudeWorks - [HA Monitor for Home Assistant](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ha-monitor-for-home-assistant/id6503596723) - [Living Frame](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/living-frame/id6503719516) - [BayScout: Auction Deal Alerts](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bayscout-auction-deal-alerts/id6504303031) - [ReelTracker](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/reeltracker/id6590614990) - [Play Poster](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/play-poster/id6730111434) - [DueView: Stats for Reminders](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/dueview-stats-for-reminders/id6744546366) All apps by JudeWorks: https://appshunter.io/developer/1749456254 ## Related topics [frigate](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/frigate) · [frigate nvr](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/frigate-nvr) · [viewer for frigate](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/viewer-for-frigate) · [phocus for x1d/h system](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/phocus-for-x1d-h-system) --- *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 2026-09-06.*