Set up security cameras in Home on iPad

You can use the Home app to view video activity captured by your home’s HomeKit Secure Video cameras when a person, animal, vehicle, or package delivery is detected.

The video captured by your cameras is privately analyzed and encrypted on your home hub device (HomePod, Apple TV, or iPad) and securely uploaded to iCloud so that only you and those you share it with can view it. See the Home accessories website for a list of compatible security cameras.

If you subscribe to iCloud+, you can view the last 10 days of activity from one to an unlimited number of HomeKit Secure Video cameras. The 50 GB iCloud+ plan supports a single camera, the 200 GB iCloud+ plan supports up to five cameras, and the 2 TB iCloud+ plan supports an unlimited number of cameras.

Note: Video content doesn’t count against your iCloud storage limit.

Camera options

When you add a HomeKit Secure Video camera in the Home app, you’re asked to choose streaming and recording options and assign the camera to a room. By default, the camera is marked as a favorite and appears in the Home tab. To edit those settings later, touch and hold the Camera button, then tap to see these options:

Room: A camera can be located in a room inside your home, or you can create a room for an outside location such as your front porch or back yard.
Notifications: Choose to receive notifications when the camera detects activity, changes status, or goes offline.
Recording Options: You can create separate recording settings for when you’re home and when you’re away. For example, when you’re home, you might choose to stop streaming and recording from a camera inside your home, but continue to stream and record from an outdoor camera.
Note: The Home app uses the location of devices belonging to members of the home to switch between Home and Away modes. For example, when you leave for work with your iPad, the camera switches from the When Home settings to the When Away settings.

Set up notifications

In the Home app , tap , then tap Home Settings.
Tap Cameras & Doorbells.
Tap the camera for which you’d like to configure notifications.
Tap Notifications, then turn on Activity Notifications.
You can choose to receive notifications based on these factors:
- The time of day
- When someone is or isn’t home
- When a clip is recorded
- When any or a specific motion is detected
  When you choose a specific motion, you receive a notification when the camera detects people, animals, or vehicles, or when a package is delivered. For a package to be detected, it must be within the camera’s view after delivery.
  Tip: Choosing a specific motion, rather than any motion, results in fewer clips (and fewer clip notifications) and less video to review. For example, if you choose to detect people, your camera won’t capture the movement of leaves on a tree or a squirrel leaping from branch to branch.

Create Activity Zones

You can create zones that focus your camera on the most important areas within its view—your front walkway but not the sidewalk behind it, for example. You can then be alerted when motion is detected in these zones.

Note: You can create Activity Zones only for cameras set up to record when a specific motion is detected. Activity Zones don’t affect motion detection automations.

Tap Home in the sidebar, touch and hold the camera, then tap .
Tap Activity Zones, tap the video to create a zone, then tap Add Zone.
To have your camera detect motion only outside the zone you defined, tap Invert Zone.
Create any additional zones you want within the camera’s view—one for the driveway and another for the mailbox, for example.
Tap Done.

To remove an activity zone, tap Select Activity Zones, tap inside a zone, then tap Clear.

The iPad screen showing an activity zone within an image taken by a doorbell camera. The activity zone encompasses a front porch and walkway, but excludes the street and driveway. Cancel and Done buttons are above the image. Add Zone and Invert Zone buttons are below.

View video

Tap Home in the sidebar, then tap the camera.
Live video should play automatically.
Swipe through the timeline at the bottom of the screen to browse recorded clips.
Tap a clip to play it.
Pinch the clip open left and right to show the timeline, then drag to go forward or back through the video.
Tap Live to switch back to live video.

When you set up the camera to detect specific motion, the timeline displays unique symbols for people, animals, vehicles, and packages.

You can also view live and recorded video in the Home app on your Mac with macOS 10.15.1.

Choose access options

To allow other people to view video from your cameras, follow these steps:

Tap , then tap Home Settings.
If you have more than one home, tap the name of the home you want to grant access to.
Below the People heading, tap a person.
Tap Cameras, then choose an option.

To learn how to allow other people to view video from your cameras, see Allow others to control accessories in your home.

iPad User Guide