<![CDATA[Is there such a thing as an app-free IP camera any more?]]>Is there such a thing as an app-free IP camera any more? Just point your browser at an IP, log in, and see what's there?

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/topic/d293e518-e332-4c44-bb4b-b41c68fe48ac/is-there-such-a-thing-as-an-app-free-ip-camera-any-moreRSS for NodeFri, 19 Jun 2026 21:56:57 GMTFri, 05 Jun 2026 13:01:57 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Is there such a thing as an app-free IP camera any more? on Sat, 06 Jun 2026 10:40:46 GMT]]>@makdaam @mwl
That said, I know of no evidence or reports that TP-Link cams should be trying to send anything to Alibaba (or other Chinese servers).

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.itu.dk/users/sebastian/statuses/116702736953909029https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.itu.dk/users/sebastian/statuses/116702736953909029Sat, 06 Jun 2026 10:40:46 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is there such a thing as an app-free IP camera any more? on Fri, 05 Jun 2026 23:43:02 GMT]]>@mwl yes (mostly?) maybe?

Does video LAN client (VLC) count as an app in this case? It’s not vendor proprietary app.

I have some low end cameras off of Amazon in the last year that I can point VLC at and watch videos.

I may have needed the bender app to prime things. And I’m not even sure about that.
Let me know if you want to know more or have links.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://oldbytes.space/users/drscriptt/statuses/116700150634461319https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://oldbytes.space/users/drscriptt/statuses/116700150634461319Fri, 05 Jun 2026 23:43:02 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is there such a thing as an app-free IP camera any more? on Fri, 05 Jun 2026 20:20:38 GMT]]>@mwl Anything onvif-compliant.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/AMS/statuses/116699354772422010https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/AMS/statuses/116699354772422010Fri, 05 Jun 2026 20:20:38 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is there such a thing as an app-free IP camera any more? on Fri, 05 Jun 2026 18:02:05 GMT]]>@mwl I have an Amcrest which is entirely accessible via Safari. The HTML/JS/CSS is slow to load and provides a quirky UI, but it works.

I can also point VLC at the right port and watch the stream without authentication. That's why it sits behind a no-UPNP router.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://toad.social/users/grumpybozo/statuses/116698810022237943https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://toad.social/users/grumpybozo/statuses/116698810022237943Fri, 05 Jun 2026 18:02:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is there such a thing as an app-free IP camera any more? on Fri, 05 Jun 2026 17:35:39 GMT]]>@mwl Antiques store?

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://bsd.network/users/kurtm/statuses/116698706030338168https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://bsd.network/users/kurtm/statuses/116698706030338168Fri, 05 Jun 2026 17:35:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is there such a thing as an app-free IP camera any more? on Fri, 05 Jun 2026 15:01:04 GMT]]>@viq @mwl I've been using Reolink cameras for several years, and while they do need the app to do initial configuration, you can enable RTMP, HTTP, HTTPS, and RTSP servers from the config. Be aware that they are cloud connected by default (and thus can be accessed externally), but that can be disabled.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://pdx.social/users/auspiciousllama/statuses/116698098224892732https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://pdx.social/users/auspiciousllama/statuses/116698098224892732Fri, 05 Jun 2026 15:01:04 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is there such a thing as an app-free IP camera any more? on Fri, 05 Jun 2026 14:44:19 GMT]]>@brouhaha ty!

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://io.mwl.io/users/mwl/statuses/116698032312494875https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://io.mwl.io/users/mwl/statuses/116698032312494875Fri, 05 Jun 2026 14:44:19 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is there such a thing as an app-free IP camera any more? on Fri, 05 Jun 2026 14:09:57 GMT]]>@mwl flock cameras seem to be pretty wide open…]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://tines.spork.org/objects/1ff952a5-f668-43f4-b2f0-fc2bd0bdd9d6https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://tines.spork.org/objects/1ff952a5-f668-43f4-b2f0-fc2bd0bdd9d6Fri, 05 Jun 2026 14:09:57 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is there such a thing as an app-free IP camera any more? on Fri, 05 Jun 2026 14:00:01 GMT]]>@mwl
The search keyword is "RTSP".

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/brouhaha/statuses/116697858143406573https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/brouhaha/statuses/116697858143406573Fri, 05 Jun 2026 14:00:01 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is there such a thing as an app-free IP camera any more? on Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:50:56 GMT]]>@mwl I do that with Dahua stuff

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.bsd.cafe/users/jaalsa/statuses/116697822442919251https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.bsd.cafe/users/jaalsa/statuses/116697822442919251Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:50:56 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is there such a thing as an app-free IP camera any more? on Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:38:02 GMT]]>@mwl Yes, but I bought it about 12 years ago.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.ca/users/TallSimon/statuses/116697771692344732https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.ca/users/TallSimon/statuses/116697771692344732Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:38:02 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is there such a thing as an app-free IP camera any more? on Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:24:42 GMT]]>@makdaam @mwl
yes, it is always a good idea to look at what packets the cam is trying to send (tcpdump, wireshark, ..)

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.itu.dk/users/sebastian/statuses/116697719292877767https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.itu.dk/users/sebastian/statuses/116697719292877767Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:24:42 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is there such a thing as an app-free IP camera any more? on Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:23:14 GMT]]>@sebastian @mwl just make sure to block them explicitly from accessing the Internet. A lot of the cheap chinese cameras stream directly to Alibaba cloud from the moment they turn on, sometimes over HTTP (without S).

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://chaos.social/users/makdaam/statuses/116697713514387216https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://chaos.social/users/makdaam/statuses/116697713514387216Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:23:14 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is there such a thing as an app-free IP camera any more? on Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:20:21 GMT]]>@mwl I have a fairly recent eufy video camera that can do rtsp after I configured it in the app then blocked it from the internet. Kinda nice that they put supposedly random auth credentials on there. Still don't trust the thing

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://masto.hackers.town/users/nobody/statuses/116697702174665827https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://masto.hackers.town/users/nobody/statuses/116697702174665827Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:20:21 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is there such a thing as an app-free IP camera any more? on Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:19:18 GMT]]>@mwl

yes, plenty, look at the standard. i think that s what you are looking for (?).
these cams might *also* come with an app, but no need to use it.

https://www.onvif.org/conformant-products/

at the cheap end of the spectrum, many tp-link cams (vigi, tapo) support it.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.itu.dk/users/sebastian/statuses/116697698033528891https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.itu.dk/users/sebastian/statuses/116697698033528891Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:19:18 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is there such a thing as an app-free IP camera any more? on Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:13:55 GMT]]>@mwl I've heard that people dealing with Home Assistant are quite happy with Reolink cameras. AFAIK able to work fully locally, I don't know if they have something that you can point a browser at, or you need something that understands rtmp.
Also https://docs.frigate.video/frigate/hardware may give some ideas.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.hackerspace.pl/users/viq/statuses/116697676843051129https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.hackerspace.pl/users/viq/statuses/116697676843051129Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:13:55 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is there such a thing as an app-free IP camera any more? on Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:10:01 GMT]]>@mwl I briefly looked into this when I got cameras a few years back, it seemed like I needed RTSP, which led me to use Reolink. But, even still they had me use an app to set it up. Maybe industrial-grade cameras would be more likely to not require the app non-sense.

When I moved from wifi IoT devices to zigbee devices I was really happy with not needing an app for those. There's gotta be something like that for cameras.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://nutmeg.social/users/chris/statuses/116697661521776922https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://nutmeg.social/users/chris/statuses/116697661521776922Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:10:01 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is there such a thing as an app-free IP camera any more? on Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:09:58 GMT]]>@mwl only if you code an esp32-cam yourself.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://bertha.social/users/eltonfc/statuses/116697661341835250https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://bertha.social/users/eltonfc/statuses/116697661341835250Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:09:58 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is there such a thing as an app-free IP camera any more? on Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:06:43 GMT]]>]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://snac.bsd.cafe/bpl/p/1780664803.543045https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://snac.bsd.cafe/bpl/p/1780664803.543045Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:06:43 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is there such a thing as an app-free IP camera any more? on Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:06:21 GMT]]>@mwl

I have an old D-Link DCS-942L Camera that works like this, but its certs might be out of date now. It also emails stills or short videos if there is activity or sound (and works in the dark too). No app. YEAH!

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://tilde.zone/users/sirwumpus/statuses/116697647103220260https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://tilde.zone/users/sirwumpus/statuses/116697647103220260Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:06:21 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Is there such a thing as an app-free IP camera any more? on Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:04:20 GMT]]>@mwl you can do that with a Reolink camera I have, I think you can also point VLC and them too

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodonapp.uk/users/runningrobderby/statuses/116697639210810822https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodonapp.uk/users/runningrobderby/statuses/116697639210810822Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:04:20 GMT