DS cam vs Amcrest View Pro
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
Amcrest View Pro
This application connects with Amcrest IP cameras and HDCVI DVR/NVR systems. It allows users to configure their cameras and view live feeds from any location globally.
- Connects to Amcrest IP cameras
- Supports HDCVI DVR & NVR systems
- Remote camera configuration
- Global live camera viewing
- Easy setup
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Amcrest View is used in conjunction with Amcrest IP Cameras as well as HDCVI DVR & NVR systems. Configure your cameras together with the Amcrest View app to see your cameras from anywhere in the world!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: DS cam at 3.0 against Amcrest View Pro's 2.7. Amcrest View Pro's advantage is ratings volume (2.4K vs 172) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 15.0). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads 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.
DS cam holds the better App Store score, 3.0 against 2.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Amcrest View Pro has 2.4K 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 27% of Amcrest View Pro's.
DS cam ships an update every 4 months, Amcrest View Pro every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | DS cam | Amcrest View Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.0 (172 ratings) — better | 2.7 (2.4K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 31.8% of reviews — better | 27.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 172 | 2.4K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 3 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 8.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 85 MB | 76 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Synology Inc. | Amcrest |
Customer experience
DS cam
Amcrest View Pro
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
Amcrest View Pro
From 2.4K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fast and responsive
- 🔒 Good security features
- 👍 Easy to set up and use
- 💡 Useful as a baby monitor
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent connectivity issues
- 🐛 Unreliable motion detection and notifications
- 🐛 Buggy and glitchy app
- 👎 Confusing and unintuitive interface
- 🔋 Camera goes offline randomly
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
Amcrest View Pro
Reported bugs
5 issues- App crashes when trying to access playback or settings
- Cameras disappear from the app at random times
- PTZ functions no longer work
- Push notifications have stopped working
- Difficulty reconnecting cameras to new WiFi networks
Requested features
5 requests- Add ability to customize motion detection settings
- Improve playback functionality and timeline controls
- Implement better support for multiple cameras
- Allow firmware updates through the app
- Optimize app for larger iPhone screens
In-app purchases
DS cam
No in-app purchases
Amcrest View Pro
No in-app purchases
