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Dave and the team discuss Alexa’s new name, DJI drones and security, Apple’s upcoming 5G phones, the expected demise of the iPhone Mini line, Jeff Bezos not being an astronaut, the chip shortage, smart home spending predictions, Netflix adaptive a Twitter account into a series, Google’s ad revenue, Sony’s Playstation milestone, Facebook’s changes to protect younger users, and more.
Doug in Stevensville, Michigan listens to the podcast and is calling via the AskDave button on our site and asked: “I have an iPad Pro with a lightning port and I’d like to hook an external camera up to it and set it in my window to use as a monitoring device. Is there a way to hook a camera up to this and is there software to make this work as a security device? I appreciate any response you got.”
Doug, there are lightning to USB connectors so you may be able to plug in a camera directly if you really want to, but neither the camera nor the tablet were built for that and the connection may be short lived.
If you want to use your iPad as the screen for a security system youre better off using WiFi cameras or ethernet cameras connected to your home network.
There are plenty of apps that can connect to network-enabled cameras in the Apple App Store and network cameras are not reliant of specific drivers installed on the device acting as a screen but instead just stream the data through the network and can be read by standard apps.
There are small cameras that may work for you since they would be pretty discreet and wouldnt need to be wired. For example, Amazons Blink cameras work off of AA batteries and look like a black or white square that will be less unappealing than a regular security camera.
The added advantage of cameras like that is that theyre expected to be used with smartphones and tablets so you can expect support and updates for years and its unlikely that theyll suddenly stop working like something connected to the lightning port itself probably would.
Any wireless camera also gives you two extra advantages: 1) You can charge your iPad while its acting as a security monitor, and 2) You can take your iPad with you around the house and not need to be tethered to a camera to act as a monitor.
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