Developer of SecuritySpy here. Just to chime in on a few of the points made above:
It's true that port forwarding makes your system available to the public Internet, and it's reasonable to worry about this. SecuritySpy makes this as safe as possible: clients are automatically blocked after a few failed login requests, and we use a custom web server with no server-side scripting or known vulnerabilities to exploit.
The alternative is a virtual network like Tailscale or ZeroTier - these are considered more secure because only pre-authorised members can even attempt connections. These do work with most Internet connections, and they work well. You can just keep them running all the time on your devices, and benefit from seamless, secure connections.
A.Goldberg makes a good point about remote access convenience. Our rationale for not implementing proxy servers for remote access is that this requires expensive server infrastructure, and we would have to pass on the costs to users in the form of subscriptions. It's a selling point of SecuritySpy that your data is completely under your own control - local analytics, local recording, direct web/app access (where port forwarding is possible).
SecuritySpy is subscription-free. Every purchase comes with an initial 2-year support period that offers continued free updates and access to technical help. Renewal is optional - the software will continue to work fully whether you renew or not.
We always recommend wired PoE cameras to our customers, especially for outdoor use where WiFi signal is often poor due to relatively thick external walls. Even indoors where the signal might be good, wired cameras are so much better in terms of reliability and performance, and they also won't slow down your WiFi network for other devices with their constant video streaming.
SecuritySpy supports both HomeKit and Home Assistant in terms of events (e.g. turning on a light when motion is detected, or triggering recording when a home motion/window/door sensor is triggered), though not for video streaming.
Both motion-triggered and continuous 24/7 capture are supported by SecuritySpy, all recorded to local storage and accessible within the macOS application, via the web interface, or from the iPhone / iPad / Apple TV / Android apps.
Thank you for your response. It's great to hear the input of developers (or the owner, perhaps). I've had interest in SecuritySpy for probably 10 years+ but I have never given it a shot. I've always thought the stability of Macs would be great for cctv. I appreciate the fact you guys are taking advantage of the Apple Silicon GPU power to integrate AI object detection, that's very convenient and adds a lot of value.
I understand your argument about port forwarding and the sensible consideration and recommendations. I still don't think it's ideal. I would also add list implementing VLANs, changing default ports, whitelist IPs or at least geoblocking. Tailscale, Wireguard, ZeroTier, etc would be the better solution.
For remote/mobile push notifications without Port Forwarding, VPN setup or tunnel service, etc the easiest solution is probably Pushover which offers email to push notifications on iOS and Android. As I recall it supports image attachments too, so if you can configure email alerts from the VMS/NVR with an image attachment, you can at least have a preview of what your camera is seeing. The one caveat is finding an email with SMTP that won't delay or eventually block the emails. Pushover does have an API, if SecuritySpy can support that it's direct communication but adding alert images this way would require scripting, not really my expertise.
I have no concept of the cost and effector to develop, deploy, and maintain a remote access system. I also know nothing of your user base or your company''s size/resources. But strictly form a user standpoint I think it's a service a lot of people would be willing to pay for out of simplicity. Many pay $10-20 per month for Ring/Nest/Blink/Wyze (the prices keep increasing... and all have major limitations). Assuming it's practically feasible, if you offered an annual add-on remote access service, explaining to customers the benefits, why it costs extra, and that it's not mandatory (and old methods will work), I think people would but pat for it. I would pay extra for that. Or offer it standard and build the cost into support extension fees if it's not a dramatic cost. Apple users already pay a premium and value things that just work. Just my $0.02.
RE: SSpy subscription costs... technically that is true. But as I understand your licensing terms you get 2 years of "support" with a license purchase- which includes technical assistance and updates. I do think it's important to highlight that in order to continue support/updates past 2 years SSpy requires an annual fee of 20%*** (
***based on 3 year renewal- I did not catch that after the first two glances) of the full licensing cost prior to the renewal date or 75% after. This isn't super apparent on the website unless you actually read the TaC or google the licensing model. (I would make that fine print more visible).
To be clear, I'm
not criticizing your pricing model - every product puts costs in different places. Besides, probably the most similar software Blue Iris has a very similar licensing model. I like to calculate such costs on 5yr term- average home user has 4-8 cameras, so using SecuritySpy (2yr license +3yr renewal price) is $200-$400/5yrs ($40-$80/yr... a lot cheaper than Ring, definitely cheaper than most pro VMS, this excludes the Mac cost of course). It's also the only legitimate Mac VMS I'm aware of, at least that has a long track record. Blue Iris is $300/5yr w/updates (+PC) + $10 mobile app licenses. UniFi Protect has no licensing costs, the UNVR/UNVRi only costs $200-300 (+ HDD/s) but their proprietary cameras cost 2x+ more than they probably should and many of their models have atrocious image quality especially in low light and darkness.
Some questions for you, if you don't mind
1) Can SecuritySpy send HTTP Webhooks/commands natively? MQTT?
2) In what format is the video footage saved locally? Is it proprietary or is it compressed into a common video format?
3) How does a late model Intel Mac handle Security Spy AI detection vs a new low end Apple Silicon Mac (Mini)?
4) Are cameras that use HTTPS compatible? (I forget if AxisOS 12 cameras are HTTPS by default now or HTTPS only)
4) Do you have any feature roadmap for SSpy you are able to share? Any expansion of additional AI related features?
Anyways, I'd love to give SecuritySpy a trial one of these days. I have an application where SSpy might actually be a decent fit. My newest Mac, by that I mean 7-8 years old, is a 2018 MBP 15" that I'll be replacing one of these days - it's probably not the ideal Mac for this use. I'd prefer to do a test on my new Mac (14" MBP) to get a more accurate experience of its capabilities. In actual use I'd probably buy a Mini for SSpy.
