SpyFocus app live view vs older cam, any delay?

Lag is mostly down to your wifi and how far the camera is from the router. I tested mine in two different rooms and the delay changed noticeably. The app itself seems snappy, but if your signal is weak, you’re going to see that old familiar delay. It’s not magic, it’s just a camera on your network.

My cat’s the reason I bought one too, but I stopped trusting the live view for real-time stuff. The app adds its own little buffer on top of whatever your wifi is doing. I’ve seen it show movement a solid second or two after it actually happened, which is fine for checking if the cat’s alive, not so great if you want to watch anything live.

I noticed the delay is still there, just shorter. It’s not instant like watching TV, but it’s close enough that I can see my dog get up from his bed and walk to the water bowl without that weird frozen gap between movements. My old camera made everything look like a slideshow, so this feels snappier to me. I do think the wifi matters, but even on a decent connection there’s still a tiny bit of lag. Just not enough to bother me. I mainly use it to peek in and make sure nothing’s on fire or that the dog hasn’t eaten the couch, so a second either way doesn’t really change much.

Mine’s been fine, but I also didn’t have a super old camera to compare it to. I had a cheap one before and the lag on that thing was bad enough that I’d just give up and go check the room myself. With SpyFocus I can actually watch my dog move around in near real time. It’s not perfect, but it’s close enough that I don’t get annoyed. I think a lot of it is just where I placed the camera though. I have it in the living room pretty close to the router, so that probably helps more than the app itself. If I move it to the back room I’m sure it’ll get worse, but for now I’m not complaining.

I noticed the lag mostly depends on my network speed more than anything else. On a good connection SpyFocus feels close to real time, but if my Wi-Fi is acting up it gets pretty choppy. My old camera was similar in that way, so I didn’t see a huge difference overall.

I’d just keep using it and see if the lag actually bothers you in practice. For me, the delay is noticeable if I stare at the screen waiting for something to happen, but if I’m just glancing over to check on my kid, it’s fine. I’d rather have that than the old camera where I felt like I was watching a replay.

I get a bit of delay, but not enough to really bother me.

Its not the camera, its your network. Ive run a couple of these cheap mini cams over the years and they all have the same weak spot. If your upload speed is trash or the Wi-Fi signal is weak where you mounted it, you will see lag no matter what app you use.

People blame the camera for this stuff all the time, but its usually the router that cant keep up. I moved mine closer to the router and the delay basically disappeared. Still not perfect, but way better than my old one was. You cant expect a $50 camera to stream faster than your internet allows.

Stop staring at the screen waiting for it to update and just watch the playback if it bothers you that much.

I don’t even notice the lag anymore, but I’m also not staring at it constantly.

The delay on these things usually comes down to how the app processes the stream, not just the camera itself. I’ve messed around with a couple of different mini cams and the app makes a big difference. SpyFocus seems to handle the buffering better than the older ones I’ve tried, but I’m also on pretty solid Wi-Fi at home. If your connection is weak or the router is far from the camera, you’ll still see lag no matter what app you’re using. It’s not magic. I’d say the delay is there if you’re looking for it, but for just glancing at a room it’s fine. Probably not worth switching if you’re only annoyed by a few seconds, but it is noticeably smoother in my experience.