UniCam vs HomeWatch
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
UniCam
Transform old phones into smart security cameras with AI-powered alerts. Customize notifications to detect specific events, monitor live streams, and communicate remotely. Supports a wide range of IP cameras and offers a privacy-focused design.
- AI Event Analysis for custom alerts
- Repurpose old phones as cameras
- Universal IP camera support
- 24/7 live streaming
- Two-way audio and siren
- Pan-Tilt-Zoom control
- Apple TV integration
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Turn any spare iPhone or iPad into an AI-powered security camera — and tell it, in your own words, exactly what matters. AI EVENT ANALYSIS Type what you want to know — "alert me if a person enters the backyard", "notify me when the baby climbs out of the crib", "tell me if the dog gets on the couch" — and whenever your mobile camera records motion, UniCam's AI reviews the recording and notifies you only when it matches. No more alert spam. Just the moments you asked for. SIRI AND EVENT SEARCH Ask Siri to open a camera, search your events, turn alerts on or off or set up AI Analysis. Say “Show Front Door in UniCam” or “Search UniCam events.” In Events, type “dog in the garden” and UniCam finds the matching events from the last 7 days. KEY FEATURES: * AI Event Analysis: AI reviews the motion recordings from your mobile cameras and alerts you only about what you asked for * Multi-Purpose Mobile Camera: convert old phones into baby monitors, pet cams, dashcams, or security cameras — no extra hardware needed * Universal IP Camera Support: connect ONVIF, RTSP, MJPEG, and HLS cameras from Hikvision, Dahua, Reolink, and many more * 24/7 Live Streaming: watch from anywhere over WiFi, LTE, or 5G — on iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV * Instant Motion Alerts: get notified the moment movement is detected * Two-Way Audio: talk to family or pets, or deter intruders with the built-in siren * Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) Control: manage supported IP cameras remotely with full directional and zoom control * Smart Camera Discovery: auto-detect IP cameras on your local network for quick setup * Groups: see your cameras side by side in a mosaic and build custom multi-camera views * Picture-in-Picture: keep watching your camera while you use other apps * Event timeline: see a thumbnail of every event and play back its recording * Privacy-Focused Design: your data remains secure and private PERFECT FOR: * Baby Monitor: watch your little one with live video and smart, AI-filtered alerts * Pet Camera: check in on your pets and talk to them while you're away * Home Security: turn any device into a WiFi security camera for enhanced protection * Nanny Cam and Dashcam: flexible monitoring wherever you need it APPLE TV INTEGRATION: Stream your mobile and IP cameras directly to your Apple TV for a larger viewing experience. Perfect for comprehensive home monitoring — your baby, pets, and home security on the big screen. QUICK AND EASY SETUP: Create your home security system in minutes with guided onboarding and in-app tutorials — no technical skills required. ECO-FRIENDLY SOLUTION: Repurpose old devices as WiFi cameras or monitors with no hidden costs. Compatible with iOS, iPadOS, and Apple TV. UNICAM PRO FEATURES: * Unlimited Device Connections * Multiple Simultaneous Streams * Enhanced Audio with Walkie-Talkie and Siren * HD Video Quality UNICAM MAX FEATURES: * Everything in PRO, plus AI Event Analysis with custom prompts SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS: Upgrade to UniCam PRO for premium features like HD viewing and unlimited devices, or UniCam MAX to add AI Event Analysis. Subscription auto-renews unless canceled 24 hours before the period ends. Manage subscriptions in Account Settings. ONVIF AND IP CAMERA SUPPORT: UniCam is compatible with a wide range of IP cameras, including those following the ONVIF (Open Network Video Interface Forum) standard, ensuring seamless integration with cameras from various manufacturers. WHY CHOOSE UNICAM? UniCam is the only camera app you need: AI-filtered alerts that tell you what actually matters, ONVIF and RTSP support for your existing cameras, and the power to turn spare phones into smart cameras. Download now and let AI keep watch for you. Privacy Policy: https://unicam.app/privacy-policy/ Terms of Use: https://unicam.app/terms-of-service/
HomeWatch
Monitor and control your HomeKit devices with a glanceable status display. This app offers customizable views for rooms, scenes, and individual devices across Apple platforms, including widgets and menu bar items.
- Glanceable room status with color-coded indicators
- Control scenes and devices within rooms
- View camera feeds, weather, and website content
- Customizable home and lock-screen widgets
- Menu bar items for Mac with real-time updates
- Extensive interface customization options
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I made an app for my Apple Watch to see a glanceable status of our home and to control our HomeKit devices. It worked so well on the watch, that I expanded it to a dashboard app for all our Apple devices. I have now added a configuration interface to make it compatible with any HomeKit enabled home setup. I hope some of you will find it useful. HOME VIEW The circle / grid with icons on the home view shows a color coded status of the rooms of the home: red when a door is open, yellow when a window is open, orange when the heating is on, cyan when lights are on and green when nothing is on. On the iPhone, iPad, tvOS and Mac the app also shows the time, date, cameras, feeds, events, reminders, a website and weather information. When there is rain, it will show a rain graph. ROOM VIEWS When a room is selected, the circle layout will show the scenes you can control in that room. The grid layout also shows the devices that can be controlled in that room. Additionally the room view has an information section. To the right it can show any characteristics from your devices. Below is a detail view that can show a camera view, a website, a temperature, humidity and climate history graphs. WIDGETS Fully customisable lock-screen and home-screen widgets. Tap / Clicking a widget item to go directly to a room view, execute a scene or launch any url-scheme. Customisable complications on the Watch can have actions to go directly to a room view and execute any scene. MENU BAR ITEMS On the Mac any HomeKit characteristic can be added to the menu bar and is kept up to date. CUSTOMISATION The interface can be fully customised. The user can add their own background images and icons from the photo library. Customise gradient overlays, icons, fonts, colours and more. Make it your own…
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: HomeWatch at none against UniCam's 10. HomeWatch also leads on review sentiment (60% vs 33%) and rating (4.8 vs 4.5). UniCam's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (52 vs 4). On price, ads and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. UniCam sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. HomeWatch asks for nothing beyond the download.
HomeWatch holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: UniCam has 52 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 33% of UniCam's written reviews are positive against 60% of HomeWatch's.
UniCam ships an update every 3 weeks, HomeWatch every 2 months. Both last shipped on November 3, 2026.
| Parameter | UniCam | HomeWatch |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (52 ratings) | 4.8 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews | 60.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 52 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 98 MB | 61 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | nittbit | Peter Vogels |
Customer experience
UniCam
HomeWatch
Bugs and requests
UniCam
Reported bugs
39 issues- Pan/Tilt not straight on iOS
- Last update erased account and purchases
- Login issues after payment
- Premium locked cameras
- No PTZ options after subscription
Show 34 moreShow fewer
- Camera not working (Hikvision DS-2CD2083-I)
- No manual IP entry
- App crashes with >4 cameras
- No sound, poor settings
- Cameras not working locally after update
- No default resolution setting
- Dahua NVR not supported
- HTTPS connection error
- Crashes when purchasing
- PTZ fault in ONVIF
- Subscription/account required
- No remote access without port forwarding
- App unusable after last update
- New account system terrible
- Purchased version limited to 4 cameras
- Video stream freezes
- Constant subscription popup
- Original purchase cancelled, forced to subscribe
- Hack attempt after installing
- New version cut features, introduced subscription
- Forgets DVR settings
- Sender not authorized error
- Half screen green
- Video stream freezes often
- Crashes frequently
- Pro version lost after update
- Cannot PTZ
- SDP stream not working
- 1/4 screen visible, rest green
- Freezes on Apple TV/iPad
- No cameras detected
- Hikvision not supported (port issues)
- No ONVIF detection
- No widgets
Requested features
8 requests- Option to zoom on Apple TV
- Picture-in-picture support on tvOS
- Support for JPEG streams
- Add PTZ support for cameras
- Default view setting for Apple TV
Show 3 moreShow fewer
- iCloud sync for cameras
- Launch directly into multi-cam screen
- Add PTZ controls
HomeWatch
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
UniCam
- PRO - 1 Month$3.991 Month
- MAX - 1 Month$9.991 Month
- PRO - 6 months$19.996 Months
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- PRO - 1 Year7 Days trial$29.991 Year
- Starter Version2 variants$1.99
- Standard Version2 variants$3.99
- Advanced Version$7.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- PRO version$9.99
HomeWatch
No in-app purchases









