Solla-topee wrote

  @RandyAndy 

Hi,
1. It's unable to view the detection video while it's being saved to the SD card, so it's normal to go to the camera's Live View page if you click on the notification immediately after receiving it. However, the saving process usually doesn't last for several minutes. The time to save the detection video is related to many factors, such as the camera's working mechanism, the read/write speed of the SD card, etc. For the reported issue, please confirm:
1)  The model number and MAC address of the specific camera. You can send me(@Solla-topee) the MAC address via a private message.
2) The model number and capacity of the SD card.

 

2. Does the jump issue only occur when there is a detection video being saved, or do you experience this when trying to view any specific video clip?

 

Best Regards

 

My device's details are:

 

Model: Tapo C110
S/N: (sent via PM)
MAC ID: (sent via PM)
microSD card capacity: 128 GB
microSD card model: this one

 

The jumping back issue happens only when I try to view a video that is currently being saved, and it also happens if I try to slide the time line past the present time. The amount of time it jumps seems to be between 5 and 6 minutes.

 

I have just been doing a little more testing which should shed more light on the issue:

 

1. Enable continuous recording.

2. Walk in front of the camera and move around to triggere motion detection event.

3. Once notification arrives, open Tapo app > (Camera being tested) > Playback & Download > Playback page.

4. Tap the event that is currenlty being recorded to attempt to watch it.

 

Expected behaviour: If the video cannot be watched, the timeline should not jump (it should stay wherever it was), and the app should show a warning saying "recording in progress, please wait", otherwise there isn't enough information for the user to understand why the video cannot be viewed.

Observed behaviour: Timeline jumps back a seemingly random amount of time (can be over 30 minutes, and it always jumps back to the same point). The app does not let the user know that recording is in progress, which contradicts the POLA (a UX term that stands for "Principle Of Least Astonishment").

 

5. While still standing and moving in front of the camera, exit Playback page.

6. Re-enter Playback page.

7. Tap the event that is still being recorded.

 

Observed behaviour: Now the first few seconds of event that is still being recorded can be watched (for example maybe the first 5 seconds).

 

8. Do not exit the Playback page (this step is very important).

9. Step out of camera to stop triggering motion detection event recording.

10. Wait a little while to ensure recroding is not in progress (for example, wait 60 seconds).

 

Expected behaviour: I would expect to be able to watch the entire event, since I have allowed enough time to pass for recording to complete.

Observed behaviour: I can still only watch the first 5 seconds. The event duration, which is indicated in the bottom-left corner of the event thumbnail, still says "0:05".

 

8. Now exit Playback page and re-enter it.

 

Observed behaviour: The event duration in the bottom-left corner of the thumbnail has been updated (e.g. now it says "1:06") and the full event can be played back.

 

Conclusion: From these tests it seems the main problem is the Playback page does not refresh automatically. Instead, it requires users to manually refresh it by exiting and re-entering. Ideally this page should be refreshed automatically.

 

There is one more issue related to the jumping back:

 

1. Enable continuous recording.

2. Open Playback page.

3. Slide timeline left until the playback position is in the future. For example, if the present time is 22:05:18, slide the timeline to 24:00:00 (the future).

 

Expected behaviour: Playback should jump back to the most recent playable point in the timeline and play from there, and keep playing as more recorded video is appended.

Observed behaviour: Timeline jumps back several 5~6 minutes. For example, if the time now is 22:00, the timeline will jump back to 21:54. As long as you don't leave the Playback page, the timeline will always jump back to 21:54, even if you wait one hour. However, if you exit and re-enter the Playback page, the jump-back time is updated. For example if you exit and re-enter the Playback page at 22:30, now it will jump back to 22:24 (22:30 - 6 minutes), and so on. This is annoying especially if you are trying to get very close to the end of the timeline (the most recent point), becasue it is impossible to know when you are past the "cannot watch" point, but if you drag the timeline past that point it will jump back 6 minutes and then you have to start over again.

 

Conclusion: This problem is related to the previous one, and again we see the Playback page fails to update automatically, and the user is required to manually refresh the page by exiting and re-entering.

 

The explanation is a little long but I think the app developers should be able to understand the problem quickly. Let me know if anything isn't clear, thanks! 😀