DS cam vs TP
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
DS cam
Monitor and receive alerts from your Synology surveillance cameras. Control PTZ, patrols, and lens functions in real-time. Easily filter recordings and manage essential tasks like disabling cameras or deleting snapshots.
- Real-time camera monitoring
- Alert notifications
- PTZ, patrol, and lens control
- Advanced recording filters
- Essential management tasks
- Snapshot management
Read full descriptionHide full description
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
TP
Configure and manage your network devices remotely. Monitor network status, manage clients, and change settings from your smartphone or tablet. Supports both standalone device management and centralized control for multiple devices.
- Configure Omada devices
- Monitor network status
- Manage clients
- Standalone mode for individual devices
- Controller mode for centralized management
- Local and cloud access
Read full descriptionHide full description
Omada app is used for configuring and managing your Omada devices. You can change settings, monitor the network status and manage clients, all from the convenience of a smart phone or tablet. STANDALONE MODE Standalone mode is designed for managing EAPs or wireless routers right away without having to spend time configuring a controller. Each device is managed separately. This mode is recommended for networks which only have a few EAPs (or wireless routers) and require only basic functions, such as home network. CONTROLLER MODE Controller mode works together with a software Omada Controller or a hardware Cloud Controller, and is suitable for managing multiple devices (including gateways, switches and EAPs) centrally. Controller mode allows you to configure and automatically synchronize unified settings to the devices in the network. Compared to Standalone Mode, more configuration options are available and supports to manage more devices in Controller mode. You can manage devices in Controller mode in two ways: via Local Access or Cloud Access. In Local Access mode, the Omada app can manage devices when the Controller and your mobile device are in the same subnet; in Cloud Access mode, the Omada app can access the Controller across the internet so you can manage your devices wherever you are. Compatibility List: The controller mode currently supports hardware cloud controllers (OC200 V1, OC300 V1), software Omada Controller v3.0.2 and above. (To experience more features support and more stable services, we recommend that you upgrade your controller to a new version). Standalone Mode currently supports the following models (with latest firmware): EAP245 (EU)/(US) V1 EAP225 (EU)/(US) V3/V2/V1 EAP115 (EU)/(US) V4/V2/V1 EAP110 (EU)/(US) V4/V2/V1 EAP225-Outdoor (EU)/(US) V1 EAP110-Outdoor (EU)/(US) V3/V1 EAP115-Wall (EU) V1 EAP225-Wall (EU) V2 ER706W (EU)/(US) V1/V1.6 ER706W-4G (EU)/(US) V1/V1.6 *The latest firmware is required and can be downloaded from https://www.tp-link.com/omada_compatibility_list. More devices supported by the app are coming!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: TP at 4.6 against DS cam's 3.0. TP also leads on update cadence (every 10 days vs every 4 months) and review sentiment (58% vs 32%). DS cam's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
TP holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 172 and 616 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 32% of DS cam's written reviews are positive against 58% of TP's.
DS cam ships an update every 4 months, TP every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | DS cam | TP |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.0 (172 ratings) | 4.6 (616 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 31.8% of reviews | 58.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 172 | 616 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 10 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 85 MB | 149 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Synology Inc. | TP-Link Systems Inc. |
Customer experience
DS cam
TP
User reviews
DS cam
From 172 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Works great
- 👍 Good and useful app
- 🚀 Fast and stable
- 👍 Completely control camera recordings
- 👍 Toggle through events easily
Room to improve
- 🐛 Regular app crashing
- 🐛 Crashes frequently
- 🐛 Cannot scroll back in timeline without issues
- 🐛 Event viewer rarely works
- 🐛 Slow and clunky
TP
From 616 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Easy to use
- 👍 Convenient remote management
- 🚀 Fast and simple setup
- 👍 Powerful network management features
- 🚀 Seamless configuration
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and connection issues
- 🔒 Lacks 2FA support
- 👎 Limited functionality compared to web interface
- 👎 Slow performance and UI
- 🐛 Unreliable device discovery
Bugs and requests
DS cam
Reported bugs
16 issues- Regular app crashing
- Cannot scroll back in timeline without issues
- Event viewer rarely works
- Keeps buffering
- Crashes constantly
Show 11 moreShow fewer
- 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
Requested features
11 requests- Selective motion notifications
- Custom notification sounds
- Ability to categorize alerts
- Live scrubbing on timeline
- Bookmarks and advanced filtering
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- 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
TP
Reported bugs
6 issues- App crashes when accessing local controller
- Cannot reboot devices from the app
- Firmware update breaks cloud access
- Incompatible organization error
- Wireless client information not displayed
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Wireless device signal strength not shown
Requested features
6 requests- Add landscape mode support
- Improve 2FA integration
- Increase network speed reporting limit
- More advanced configuration options
- Persistent user settings and preferences
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Provide a 'clear all logs' function
In-app purchases
DS cam
No in-app purchases
TP
No in-app purchases








