DS cam vs Blue Iris
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
Blue Iris
Access and manage your home camera network remotely through a secure client for the Blue Iris PC software. View live streams, review recordings, and receive alerts from your cameras. Offers advanced controls and two-way audio for compatible devices.
- Manage multiple Blue Iris installations
- Receive push notification alerts
- Fast H.264 streaming
- Control PTZ and two-way audio
- Review and download recordings
- Broadcast live video from device
- Geofencing alerts
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This app is a CLIENT for the Blue Iris Windows PC software. In order to make use of this app, you must have Blue Iris version 6 installed and running on a Windows PC or VM. Instructions for connecting this app to the PC software are found in the Remote Access chapter of its Help file. This app provides a single point of contact to your home camera network. There is no need to insecurely open individual cameras to the Internet. This app connects using a secure and session-based protocol--no passwords are transmitted in plain text. Remote access does require router configuration or NGROK, which you can test without the app by using Safari. You should see your Blue Iris login page. Key features include: - Manage multiple Blue Iris installations - Geofencing: set status, send alerts, and more in response to device location * - Control the shield icon, schedule and profile selection - Receive iOS push notification alerts when a Blue Iris camera is triggered or there is a critical status message - Fast H.264 streaming - Control PTZ, IR and more for any camera that’s also controllable at the Blue Iris PC - Listen to and talk to any camera that’s also supported at the Blue Iris PC - Navigate cameras by tapping and swiping - Review recordings as stored on the Blue Iris PC, up to 64x speed - Download recorded video from the Blue Iris PC to the iOS device - Selectively delete recordings from the Blue Iris PC - Broadcast live video from the iOS device directly into a Blue Iris PC camera window - Remote control DIO output signals on compatible devices - Baby monitor functionality: continue to listen to audio with app closed or device in standby ** * Note that continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. ** Note that continued use of audio streaming running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: DS cam at Free against Blue Iris's $9.99. Blue Iris's advantage is rating (3.7 vs 3.0) and update cadence (every 4 days vs every 4 months). On ratings volume, 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
DS cam is free to download; Blue Iris costs $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Blue Iris holds the better App Store score, 3.7 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 172 and 418 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 32% of DS cam's written reviews are positive against 56% of Blue Iris's.
DS cam ships an update every 4 months, Blue Iris every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | DS cam | Blue Iris |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $9.99 |
| Rating | 3.0 (172 ratings) | 3.7 (418 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 31.8% of reviews | 55.8% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 172 | 418 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #47 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 85 MB | 31 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | +4 |
| Developer | Synology Inc. | Ken Pletzer |
Customer experience
DS cam
Blue Iris
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
Blue Iris
From 418 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Reliable and stable
- 🔒 Secure remote access
- 👍 Comprehensive features
- 🚀 Smooth video playback
- 💡 Useful push notifications
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
- 🔋 Drains battery on mobile devices
- 👎 Outdated and dated UI design
- 🔍 Difficult to navigate and configure
- 🚫 Requires Blue Iris desktop software
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
Blue Iris
Reported bugs
5 issues- Inability to save video clips
- Inconsistent behavior when switching between live view and playback
- Push notifications not working reliably
- Cameras sometimes shown as offline when they are not
- Crashes when rotating device or accessing certain features
Requested features
5 requests- Add support for VPN connections
- Improve video scrubbing and playback controls
- Implement a more modern and responsive UI
- Allow for more granular user permissions and access levels
- Provide better integration with home automation systems
In-app purchases
DS cam
No in-app purchases
Blue Iris
No in-app purchases









