DS cam vs Plex Dash
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
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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
Plex Dash
Monitor your Plex Media Server in real-time. Track streams, DVR recordings, and server resources with detailed graphs. Manage media artwork and refresh libraries directly from your device.
- Real-time playback status
- DVR recording monitoring
- Bandwidth and resource graphs
- Top media and user history
- Artwork management
- Library refresh
- Server log inspection
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** You'll need a Plex Media Server and an active Plex Pass to use this app ** ** From the same people who brought you the Plex app ** ** PS - If you’re new to Plex, download the Plex app first ** Pop quiz, hotshot: how many streams is your Plex Media Server dishing out RIGHT NOW? What’s your most-watched movie in the past month? Is that CPU you picked up from a sketchy eBay vendor up to the task? More importantly, are you sure that’s the best poster for Speed (1994)? Plex Dash is a tool created by obsessive Plex Media Server admins for obsessive Plex Media Server admins. Get real-time status of playbacks, DVR recordings, Sync conversions, and more. Monitor bandwidth and server resources with sexy graphs. Dig deeper and learn about top items or individual user history. Fix up artwork. Refresh libraries. Inspect nerdy media details. If it all goes south, check out the raw server logs. MASTER YOUR MEDIAVERSE Who’s streaming what right now? Plex Dash answers in spades. Gorgeous Now Playing tiles keep you apprised of all the latest shenanigans, across all of your servers. Put that giant iPad to great use by duct-taping it to the wall (landscape, duh); lean back, pet your hairless cat, and keep an eye on your empire. DIVE UNDER THE HOOD Server up to something? DVR recording? Media Optimizer doing its… optimizing? You get a chonky lightning bolt to make sure this doesn’t go unnoticed. ONE-HANDED CURATION Browse and change artwork from the palm of your hand while checking out at your local co-op. It’s like that other swipey app, but with less risk of disease.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Plex Dash at 81% against DS cam's 32%. Plex Dash also leads on rating (4.6 vs 3.0) and update cadence (monthly vs every 4 months). 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.
Plex Dash holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Plex Dash has 2.2K ratings behind it against 172, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 32% of DS cam's written reviews are positive against 81% of Plex Dash's.
DS cam ships an update every 4 months, Plex Dash monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | DS cam | Plex Dash |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.0 (172 ratings) | 4.6 (2.2K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 31.8% of reviews | 81.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 172 | 2.2K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Monthly — 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 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 85 MB | 36 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Synology Inc. | Plex Inc. |
Customer experience
DS cam
Plex Dash
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
Plex Dash
From 2.2K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Useful for monitoring server status
- 🚀 Convenient mobile access to server information
- 💡 Ability to change artwork remotely
- 🔒 Works seamlessly with Plex account
- 👍 Easy to set up and use
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes or bugs
- 🔍 Limited functionality compared to web interface
- 🔍 Clunky navigation and user interface
- 🔍 Lacking advanced server management features
- 🔍 Slow to update or refresh server information
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
Plex Dash
Reported bugs
3 issues- Difficulty connecting to server or finding servers
- Crashes when viewing server graphs
- Inaccurate or incomplete playback history
Requested features
6 requests- Add ability to manage users and permissions
- Integrate more server administration functions
- Improve library browsing and media details
- Provide more detailed playback statistics
- Add support for GPU monitoring
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Allow remote server control and updates
In-app purchases
DS cam
No in-app purchases
Plex Dash
No in-app purchases









