DS cam vs Auto Audio
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
Auto Audio
Read full descriptionHide full description
The app will provide 8 solutions for recording the sound. 1 Record from Apple Watch. In Watch OS 5, could record the sound when the watch screen is off. When this App records the sound in the background in Apple Watch, sometime, a red icon of microphone will be displayed at the top middle of Watch Screen. That means, this App is recording the sound in the background status. Just tap this red icon, this App will be displayed again. After finishing the recording, the record file will be transferred to the iPhone automatically. In iPhone, when we tap the file folder icon on the top left corner in the main tab controller, the file from watch will be displayed. In Watch App, tap the table cell, the detail of the record sound will be displayed. We will see a transfer button. If we need to transfer the record file to iPhone again, please tap this button. 2.Auto: When this App is inactive, just tap this App icon, this App could record the sound automatically.When you need to record the sound as soon as possible, you may like this solution. If you need to get this solution, just make the fast tab page appear before you press the home key. 3 Intelligent: this App could start recording the sound when the pitch level of sound is over the indicted level of starting record. It could stop recording when the pitch level of sound is below the indicted level of stopping record. If you need to record the sound when it is higher than some pitch level, just make the intelligent tab page appear. 4 Gesture: gesture double tap or pinch could create the different size sound files. The larger size is more qualified. The smaller size could save the disk space and the sound is also qualified. If you need to use this solution, just make the gesture tab page appear. 5 Proximity: Cover the top part of the iPhone screen , this App will record the sound. Cover the iPhone screen again, this App will stop recording. In some situation, you do not want to tap the device screen, then this solution is yours. For example, you could use one book to cover the top part of the iPhone screen, or use your hands, your clothes,and even use your face.If you need to use this solution, just make the proximity tab page appear. 6 Delay the action : delay the recording after 0 - 30 seconds. In some situations, you want to record the sound after a little time, then this solution may help you.If you need to use this solution, just make the timer tab page appear. 7 Standard recording the sound, if you just want to record the sound by tapping the button directly, this App is yours. Just make the timer tab page appear, ensure the delay is zero second, and tap the button of Record One Audio Clip. 8 Repeat recording. Some times, you may need to record the sound files after the indicted duration. In the timer tab page, tap the button - record the audio by interval. In iPhone or iPad, this App could also continue recording the sound in the background. You could set your preferences. So tap the button at the upper right corner of the main view, you could set your own preferences from the setting view. These preferences includes the max duration of the sound file, the sound pitch level for start record and stopping record. You could also indict whether enable the background record when this App is inactive. After the file is created, you could send the sound file by email account in your device.By using the iTune File Sharing features, you could export the record sound to the iTune computer such as Mac PC. Tap the To iCloud button, the new view will display the item : iCloud Drive, tap this item to export the file to iCloud. In the main view, just tap the upper left button, you could view the file folder, the sound file size and sound duration will be displayed. The user could rename the sound file. You could play the sound file according to your needs.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: DS cam at Free against Auto Audio's $0.99. Auto Audio's advantage is update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 4 months) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). On 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; Auto Audio costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
DS cam ships an update every 4 months, Auto Audio every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | DS cam | Auto Audio |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $0.99 |
| Rating | 3.0 (176 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 31.8% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 176 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 4 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 85 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Synology Inc. | 方 沈 |
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
Auto Audio
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
DS cam
No in-app purchases
Auto Audio
No in-app purchases









