Comparison

Viewu vs CrowsEye

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Viewu

Monitor and manage your Frigate security system with this open-source iOS app. View live camera streams, review past events on an intuitive timeline, and receive customizable push notifications. It offers seamless integration with Frigate Video NVR for enhanced home or office security.

Highlights
  • Event timeline navigation
  • Live RTSP stream viewing
  • Customizable push notifications
  • Frigate NVR integration
  • Privacy-focused data handling
  • Community-driven development
Features
Read full description

Discover the ultimate way to monitor and manage your Frigate security with Viewu, the free, open-source iOS app that seamlessly integrates with Frigate Video. Whether you're keeping an eye on your home, office, or any other important location, Viewu offers robust features to keep you connected and informed. Key Features: - Event Timeline: Easily view and navigate through past events with an intuitive timeline. - Live RTSP Streams: Watch live camera feeds directly from your iOS device for real-time monitoring. - Customizable Notifications: Set up and control push notifications to stay alerted to specific events. - Frigate Integration: Support for Frigate versions 13, 14, 15, and 16 ensuring compatibility and smooth operation. - Privacy First: Your data is yours alone. Viewu does not collect or store any user information, ensuring your privacy is always protected. Viewu is designed with the community in mind. As a community-driven project, it evolves based on user feedback, ensuring it meets your needs and expectations. With its user-friendly interface and powerful features, Viewu makes security management accessible to everyone. Become a part of the Viewu community and help shape the future of the app. Your feedback and feature requests drive our development. Note - Viewu app only supports Frigate Video NVR and no others.

About

CrowsEye

Monitor your home security cameras with AI-powered object detection. Receive real-time alerts, stream live footage, and review recorded events from your iOS devices. Manage multiple NVR installations and track server health.

Highlights
  • AI-powered object detection
  • Real-time push notifications
  • Live camera streaming
  • Recording playback
  • Multi-server support
  • System monitoring
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

CrowsEye is a native iOS client for Frigate NVR, the popular open-source network video recorder with AI-powered object detection. Monitor your security cameras, review recordings, and stay on top of your home surveillance with real-time push notifications, all from your iPhone or iPad. ** Push Notifications (Beta) Receive instant alerts when Frigate detects events on your cameras. Configure notifications per camera with granular controls, temporarily suspend alerts when you expect activity, and stay informed even when the app is closed. Requires Frigate 0.15 or later. Live Camera Viewing Stream live footage from all your Frigate cameras with smooth MJPEG playback. The adaptive grid layout automatically adjusts for standard and ultra-wide camera formats, giving you the best view of your property at a glance. Real-time activity indicators show motion and object detection as it happens. Picture-in-Picture support lets you keep watching while using other apps. Recording Playback Browse and play back recorded footage with an intuitive calendar interface. Easily navigate through hours of recordings and find exactly what you're looking for. Pinch to zoom for detailed inspection of any moment. Review & Detection Events Stay on top of alerts and detections with the dedicated Review page. Browse AI-detected events including people, vehicles, animals, and more. Frigate's powerful detection capabilities are at your fingertips, helping you quickly find important moments without scrubbing through hours of footage. Multi-Server Support Manage multiple Frigate installations from a single app. Quickly switch between home, office, or client locations with saved credentials and auto-login support. Perfect for users managing multiple properties or security professionals. Smart Network Switching Automatically detects when you are on your home network and uses your internal server URL for faster local access, then seamlessly switches to your external URL when you are away from home. No manual configuration needed. System Monitoring Keep tabs on your Frigate server health with real-time metrics including: - Detector inference speed and performance - CPU and GPU utilization - Storage usage across all drives - Per-camera recording storage breakdown - Process monitoring Key Features - Push notifications for real-time event alerts (Beta) - Native iOS experience optimized for iPhone and iPad - Multi-server management with quick switching and auto-login - Automatic network switching between internal and external URLs - Cloudflare Zero Trust support (browser login and service tokens) - Picture-in-Picture for live camera streams - Live motion and detection activity indicators - PTZ controls: Pan, tilt and zoom now appear as a compact horizontal strip on the live view for any camera that supports it - Secure connection to your self-hosted Frigate server - Support for self-signed SSL certificates - Pan and view support for 360 degree security cameras with dewarping and mount position selection. - Save snapshots and clips directly to your Photos library Requirements - Frigate NVR server (v0.14 or later, v0.15+ for push notifications) - Network access to your Frigate instance CrowsEye is designed for users who run their own Frigate NVR installation and want a dedicated, native mobile experience for monitoring their cameras on the go.

Screenshots

Viewu4 screens
CrowsEye4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Viewu at Free against CrowsEye's $2.99. Viewu also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs fortnightly). CrowsEye's advantage is chart position (#186 vs unranked) and review sentiment (82% vs 71%). On rating, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Viewu is free to download; CrowsEye costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Viewu against 4.6 for CrowsEye. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 8 and 10 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 71% of Viewu's written reviews are positive against 82% of CrowsEye's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Viewu ships an update every 3 days, CrowsEye fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Viewu versus CrowsEye: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterViewuCrowsEye
PriceFree — better$2.99
Rating4.5 (8 ratings)4.6 (10 ratings) — better
Positive reviews70.6% of reviews81.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings810 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
Best chart rank—#186 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size63 MB21 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMatthew EhrhartBao Tuan Doan

Customer experience

Viewu

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews17 reviews
Positive70.6%
Neutral0.0%
Negative29.4%

CrowsEye

All ratings10 ratings
Positive90.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative10.0%
Written reviews11 reviews
Positive81.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative18.2%

In-app purchases

None

Viewu

No in-app purchases

None

CrowsEye

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Viewu free?
Viewu is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is CrowsEye free?
CrowsEye costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Viewu or CrowsEye?
CrowsEye is rated higher. Viewu averages 4.5 out of 5 from 8 ratings, while CrowsEye averages 4.6 from 10 ratings.
Do Viewu or CrowsEye have ads?
Neither Viewu nor CrowsEye shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Viewu or CrowsEye?
Viewu ships an update every 3 days, and CrowsEye fortnightly. Most recently, Viewu was updated on October 20, 2026 and CrowsEye on October 25, 2026.

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