Motion Detection vs. Continuous Recording

Motion Detection is one of Alfred's most popular features, and we have now released another feature, Continuous Recording, which adds even more functionality. You may use them independently or together.

There are several differences between the two, such as recording length, time limits in videos, storage for videos, device storage, camera advanced settings, etc. This table will help you determine which of these meets your needs. 

	Motion Detection	Continuous Recording on phone camera device (iOS/Android)	Continuous Recording on AlfredCam  (Alfred’s own hardware camera)
Recording Mode	Only record Event videos when motions are detected	An 8-hour loop of recording	Loop recording depends on the storage of the MicroSD card
Where to find recordings	Motion Events can be found in Event Book from your Viewer device	Continuous Recording footage can be found by tapping the Playback button in Live view on your Viewer device	Free user: Continuous Recording playback can ONLY be found by downloading from a MicroSD card to your computer Premium user: Continuous Recording playback can be found by tapping the Playback button in Live view on your Viewer device
Video Storage	Free user: 7 days on Alfred’s cloud Premium user: 14 days on Alfred’s cloud	Continuous Recording footage is stored on your Camera device The recording overwrites the oldest video with new footage	Continuous Recording playback is stored in your MicroSD card The recording overwrites the oldest footage with new one
Storage Requirement	Android device: 24-25 MB iOS device: 24-32 MB	Free user: 0.6 GB Premium user: 2.4 GB	MicroSD card: 4-256 GB (with minimum 2 GB free storage available)
OS Requirement	Android 5.0 or above   iOS 10.0 or above		None
Video Resolution	Free user: Basic 240p resolution Premium user: HD 720p resolution
Auto-recordings Length	Free user: up to 30 seconds Premium user: up to 120 seconds	Up to 8 hours	Recording length depends on the storage of the MicroSD card
Camera 2.0	Recommended	Only on Camera 2.0	N/A
Advantages	Motion Events are saved on Alfred’s cloud Requires almost no device storage	Won’t miss anything	Won’t miss anything Playback can be downloaded from MicroSD card to your computer

Supported devices

Below table shows the supported devices for different recording modes and viewing recordings:

	iOS devices	Android devices	WebViewer/WebCamera	AlfredCam  (Alfred’s own hardware camera)
Motion Detection	✓	✓	✓	✓
Continuous Recording	✓	✓	x	✓
View Event/Moment videos	✓	✓	✓	✓
View Continuous Recording footage	✓	✓	x	✓ Premium x Free

See Also:

• Continuous Recording
• What are Events and Moments?
• Where does Alfred store my videos?

🙋 Still have questions? Let us know via the in-app "Report an Issue" channel.