BoardEffect vs Luma Surveillance
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
BoardEffect
This app provides a secure, paperless boardroom experience for volunteer leaders. Access meeting packets, annotate documents offline, and view contact information. It syncs with a web-based portal for comprehensive board management.
- Paperless boardroom
- Download meeting packets
- Offline annotation
- Contact directory
- Resource library access (iPad)
- Board handbook management
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The Leading Board Portal for Volunteer Leadership Worldwide. Make your boardroom truly paperless. BoardEffect’s iOS App connects to your BoardEffect board portal. The App allows your board members to: - Download meeting packets - Fully annotate meeting materials including “sticky notes,” drawing, highlighting, underlining, and strike-through - Read and annotate meeting packets both online and offline - Print or email their meeting packets from the App (optional) - View the full contact directory including members’ head shots, biographies, and contact details - View files from your BoardEffect portal’s Resource Library (iPad only) - Download and annotate your Board Handbook, including bylaws, policies, and other documents The BoardEffect iOS App is free and works in conjunction with your secure BoardEffect web-based portal. For more information about BoardEffect, contact us at (866) 672-2666.
Luma Surveillance
Monitor your security cameras remotely with live video streaming, easy playback, and recording capabilities. Manage multiple devices, customize views, and capture important moments from your tablet or mobile device.
- Live video viewing (single/split screen)
- Search and playback recordings
- Capture snapshots and record video
- Unified app for NVRs and DVRs
- Customize grid views
- Remote PTZ camera control
- Audio support (model dependent)
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The Luma Surveillance app makes it easy to check on what matters – anytime, anywhere. Watch live video, easily search, play back, and save recordings, or take a snapshot all from your tablet or mobile device. • One unified app for all Luma products – including both NVRs and DVRs • Enjoy crystal-clear live viewing of a single or split screen (4, 9, or 16 channels simultaneously) in both portrait and landscape modes with convenient pinch to zoom • Switch between high or standard resolution depending on your remote connection • Customize your grid views for multi-device management – Drag and drop cameras where you’d like them, even across multiple DVRs/NVRs • Easily scan timeline and playback to find recordings and events • Instantly capture snapshots or record videos with a tap of your finger • Add snapshots and video to your photo library for safe keeping or to share with family, friends, or colleagues • Listen or speak to whoever is on the other end (Audio support varies by camera model) • Remotely control pan/tilt/zoom (PTZ) cameras • Swipe to quickly and easily switch between cameras
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: BoardEffect at 58% against Luma Surveillance's 5%. BoardEffect also leads on rating (3.5 vs 1.9) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 11 months). Luma Surveillance's advantage is ratings volume (262 vs 48) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 16.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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.
BoardEffect holds the better App Store score, 3.5 against 1.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Luma Surveillance has 262 ratings behind it against 48, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 58% of BoardEffect's written reviews are positive against 5% of Luma Surveillance's.
BoardEffect ships an update every 2 months, Luma Surveillance every 11 months. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | BoardEffect | Luma Surveillance |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.5 (48 ratings) — better | 1.9 (262 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 58.3% of reviews — better | 4.8% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 48 | 262 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 11 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 10.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 276 MB | 22 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Diligent Corporation | Wirepath Home Systems, LLC |
Customer experience
BoardEffect
Luma Surveillance
Bugs and requests
BoardEffect
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Luma Surveillance
Reported bugs
17 issues- App freezes and requires restart to load cameras
- Remote playback feature non-functional
- Login issues and authentication failures
- App crashes when viewing multiple DVRs simultaneously
- Crashes when switching to 32 camera view
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- WiFi connectivity fails despite strong internet
- App only works with cellular data, not WiFi
- Buffering and 'No Data' errors during playback
- Recent update wiped out clipped files
- Screen orientation flips unexpectedly during playback
- App incompatible with latest iOS versions
- Battery drains to zero during playback
- Night camera feeds show nothing
- App stuck in infinite loop
- Playback stops when switching between cameras
- Time zone playback limitations
- Motion detection sends only email alerts with garbled images
Requested features
14 requests- Complete app redesign from scratch
- Mac OS native support
- Pinch-to-zoom functionality
- VCR-like playback controls (skip forward/backward)
- Motion-detected clip auto-population
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- Video export to phone capability
- Sound on video reviews
- Push notifications for motion detection
- Improved landscape/portrait orientation handling
- Faster camera feed loading
- Better grid view quality settings
- Multi-DVR simultaneous viewing support
- Simplified login process
- Better technical support responsiveness
In-app purchases
BoardEffect
No in-app purchases
Luma Surveillance
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is BoardEffect free?
Is Luma Surveillance free?
Which has better reviews, BoardEffect or Luma Surveillance?
Do BoardEffect or Luma Surveillance have ads?
Which is updated more often, BoardEffect or Luma Surveillance?
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