Even though I have owned a few of these for several years, I never knew live video could be shared with others. It’s not too hard but also not terribly straightforward. This article will show you how to share Yi camera video with a friend or family member.
Now, obviously, an easy way to do this is to provide your logon credentials to the person you would like to share your video with. This method has a few shortfalls. By giving the other person your logon credentials, they can alter your camera settings. They can also see every camera in your account. Often, it’s desirable to only provide viewing capability for a select camera, and not the entire inventory.
We have looked at a few Yi cameras over the past few years. Nice cameras with a lot of functionality for a very fair price. The Yi Home Camera and Yi 1080p Dome Camera were both well reviewed.
Steps to Share Yi Camera Video with Someone
It’s all done through the Yi app on your phone.
To share Yi camera video, ensure the person that will be the recipient has the Yi app installed on their phone. Have them create a new account with Yi. They will not be adding a new camera, but will instead be receiving an invitation from you to view your camera streams. Note the email address this person used to sign up with Yi as this will be used to share Yi camera video streams.
Don’t proceed any further until the other person has the app installed, has defined and authenticated their new account.
Now get into your Yi app and select the gear icon for the camera you wish to share. Near the bottom of General settings is a selection called “Share”. A photo of the “Share Device” selection accompanies this article. Select the + sign next to Share Device with Family.
This takes you to the Selected Method of Sharing screen. There are two ways to do this. The first is share camera access with a QR code. I have found this to be less reliable than the second method which we will cover.
So instead of selecting the QR code method, choose Share with Yi Account. The next screen will ask for the user name of the person you want to share the Yi camera video with. Enter the email address of the person you want to share the video stream with.
Now that person will be presented with an invite. The invite can be found within the profile on their Yi app. It can be found in the Notification Center.
Next Steps
After your first Yi camera has been shared with this person, it will be a little easier to share others. That individual will be listed as an option already known to you so you will not have to type in their email address. They will still need to accept the invitation to view the Yi camera.
Now that you know how to share Yi camera video, go try it out. It comes in handy for those wanting to check the weather in a distant location or someone you want to keep an eye on things when you are unable to do so.