Camera operation mode

Introduction

Originally, the application was designed to work on the background. The background means that it worked regardless if the app was running on the display or minimized or even closed. This was possible because there was a background process that the app was running on. Unfortunately, this kind of operation brought many problems. Android phones starting from the Android version 8 do not like, for security reasons, when a background process takes photos, records videos or uses a microphone. Due to this fact, it was highly recommended to keep the app running on the screen. By keeping the app on the screen the app wasn't considered by the Android as a background app and the stability and reliability was better.

Starting from the version 3.6.0 the application has changed its behaviour and begun to run as a ordinary application, not as a background process. This has many advantages - the app now runs much more reliably and also it is much more stable. The Android system do not consider the app as a background process and do not tend to terminate the app suddenly like it happened before. The only disadvantage is that the app must run on the display of the smartphone. When the app is closed or minimized, the app finishes its job.

When you keep the app on the screen, the app shortly switches to a screen saver, which dims the screen to save power consumption ant to not disturb at night. When the screen saver is shown, the app continues to work - it detects motions, you can connect to it, watch live stream, etc. When the app is on the screen, or when the screen saver is shown, the app works as expected.

Following paragraphs explain the differences between Application and Service (background) modes.

Application mode

Since the version 3.6.0, this is the default mode of the app. In this mode, the app runs as an ordinary application, so when you close the app or minimize it, the app completely finishes its job. Advantage of this mode is that it runs much more reliably and stable. As said before, you must keep the app on the screen. After a short while, the app switches to a screen saver, which shows a black screen and dims the display as much as possible. When the app shows the screen saver, it continues to work. Application mode is the recommended mode.

Service (background) mode

This is the mode of the app versions prior to 3.6.0. The app runs on the background in this mode, but due to the Android security rules, especially from the Android 8.0 and up, it is still highly recommended to keep the app on the screen. If you minimize or close the app, it will continue to work, but the app is an adept to be terminated by the Android system anytime.

How to switch between modes

Starting from the version 3.6.0, when the app runs in the Application mode by default, you can switch the app to the "old" background mode, if you are not satisfied with the Application mode. To do so, open the main menu on the camera (click on the three dashes in the top left corner on the main screen), select Operation mode and change it to the Service mode or Background mode. You can go back to the Application mode anytime by using the same steps. Note, that the Application mode is the recommended mode.