Common questions
Quick answers about the camera phone, the app, and keeping the footage rolling. Can't find yours? Email info@snitchy.net.
Finish the Setup Checklist on the camera phone
Nearly every "my camera stopped" email comes down to this. On Android phones, the system and the phone makers shut down apps that run in the background. Straight after you scan the QR code, Snitchy shows a Setup Checklist of the phone settings that stop that happening. Leave any item undone and the phone captures fine for a few hours, then goes quiet.
Snitchy checks these itself. Tap Fix on any that are red.
- Battery optimisation disabled so Android doesn't throttle the camera in deep sleep.
- Exact alarms allowed so captures fire on schedule while the phone sleeps.
- Notifications allowed so the always-on notification stays visible. Without it some phones kill the app.
- Camera permission granted, usually done during activation.
- Display over other apps allowed so the camera can restart itself after a reboot.
These you set by hand. The checklist opens the right settings screen where it can.
- App not put to sleep. On Samsung: Device care, Battery, Background usage limits, Never sleeping apps, add Snitchy. Other brands have an equivalent.
- Auto power-on when charging, so the phone boots itself when power comes back after a flat battery.
- System updates turned off (auto download and auto install). An update reboots the phone and can force-stop the app.
- Lock screen set to None. A PIN or pattern stops the camera restarting after a reboot until someone unlocks it in person.
- Wi-Fi stays on during sleep, set to Always.
- Stay awake while charging in Developer options.
- Connected to reliable power: a charger, or the Snitchy solar panel where there is no power point. The panel keeps the phone going for as long as the build takes.
Missed it the first time? Open Snitchy on the camera phone and tap Phone settings. It reopens any time, and it re-checks every step on its own. Menu names differ between brands, so if you can't find a setting, email info@snitchy.net with the phone model.
Camera on an iPhone? There is no checklist. An iPhone only captures while Snitchy is open on screen, so leave the app open, tap Dim screen to save battery, and turn on Guided Access (Settings, Accessibility) so nothing can close it. Turn off automatic updates too.
Any spare iPhone or Android phone from the last several years with a working camera. On an iPhone, Snitchy stays open on a dimmed screen while it captures. Your main phone (the one you watch from) can be iPhone or Android too.
Plug it into a power point if there is one in reach. For off-grid spots, the Snitchy Time Lapse Solar Panel keeps it going forever: it charges its own battery bank through the day, fills the phone to 100% overnight, then repeats, so the phone never goes flat however long the build runs. It is in the store with free worldwide postage.
The camera keeps capturing on battery and stores frames locally, then uploads the backlog when power or signal returns. You get a notification either way, so nothing sneaks up on you.
Check the latest capture on your main phone and nudge the framing back to match. Mounting it out of reach with a solid bracket is the best insurance.
Open the Snitchy app on your main phone and add a new camera; a fresh QR code appears. On the spare phone open Snitchy, tap "Set up this phone as a camera", and scan it, or type in the code shown with it.
Open the Timelapse tab in the app. It plays the build from day one to now, and you can create and share time lapse videos remotely at any point - no need to wait for the job to finish.
No - anything slow: renos, gardens, paddocks, workshops. If it changes over weeks and months, Snitchy will film it.
Almost always an unfinished Setup Checklist. The phone's battery saver has put Snitchy to sleep. Open Phone settings in Snitchy on the camera phone and clear every item, especially battery optimisation, "never sleeping apps", and the lock screen. If it is still quiet after that, email info@snitchy.net with the phone model.