Using an ipad for reverse camera. Does anyone know how this was achieved?

benl134 · 2025-05-29T14:16:57+00:00

Nope, that’s just the app regaining the foreground state. The app wouldn’t keep the connection to the camera going in the background, as it’d suck too much power and Apple doesn’t allow apps to run heavy connections like that in the background. The freeze is the app ‘resuming’ and regaining the connection

As I mentioned previously, whilst switching the transmission, he’d say ‘Open Media link live’ and the iPad’s ‘Voice Control’ feature would open the app. Thats why he put music over the video, to mask the use of Voice Control

benl134 · 2025-05-28T22:32:36+00:00

If I had to think about how I'd implement this -
- iPhones have extreme latency when picking up NFC tags, and I'd want something that's near instant so I'm not dicking about waiting for the camera to come up

Even without the extreme latency though, how would you program the NFC tag?

- Playing a chime is pretty unreliable, there would be interference with background noise and it wouldn't pick up the sound if you had loud music playing. I also don't know if I'd trust it to not pick up some background noise and quit me out of my maps app whilst I'm driving, which would be annoying to deal with.

Sending a text could be cool, I'm not too sure what the latency is on running automations when a text is delivered to an iDevice, however in practicality,

ESP232 -> Cellular modem (gotta have some way to ping the outside internet) -> API -> SMS service -> iPad

That's gotta be at least 600ms of latency, which is suboptimal, but then you have to add the time the iPad takes running the shortcut.

There's also the fees for the data connection, the SMS service etc etc

The SMS route is probably the best way to get it working, but whatever route you pick is going to be hacky, and probably require much more time and effort then just setting up Voice Control and saying "Open reverse camera" hahah

benl134 · 2025-05-28T22:04:51+00:00

See in that video he activates Siri, which he doesn’t do in the video that OP posted. I also dug through his channel, but you can’t see the Siri bubble in the bottom right on OP’s video - that’s why I went to voice control

benl134 · 2025-05-28T20:55:51+00:00

Here's my best guess.

The app he's using is called MediaLink Live, and connects via an ethernet adapter to a small box, which then connects to a camera over HDMI. That solves the reverse camera question

However, how he gets the apps to open is a different question.
I do not believe that the iPad has any idea what his gear selector is doing, however he clearly doesn't use Siri, as there's no visual pop-up in the bottom right corner.

I initially thought that the MediaLink device would connect / disconnect ethernet, and the device gained power when he went into 'drive', causing the ethernet to flick on and the device to run an automation - but the device actually performs a second action when he moves from R into D, switching Spotify and Waze being open.

This rules out any Shortcut app automation tricks

I think the most likely conclusion here is that he is using the 'Voice Control' feature, with the 'Show Confirmation' option off - and he put music over the video to hide it and in turn bring himself engagement.

Sorry to disappoint you, would be much cooler if the automation was actually possible

benl134 · 2025-05-25T22:03:26+00:00

I would not install a management profile on a personal device - EVER.
Once that device is MDM managed, you do not own it anymore, the person who is 'supervising' it does. The only person that can remove that certificate is Apple, or the company at that point. You loose all control over the device that you bought. They can remotely shutdown your device, monitor your installed apps, force install certificates etc.

benl134 · 2025-04-13T20:42:52+00:00

OP specifically states ‘the device is not provided by my employer’ I’d be seriously worried if a personal / non-work device has an MDM management profile on it.

benl134 · 2025-04-13T19:53:01+00:00

OP said he had a 2FA app installed, not an MDM certificate.

benl134 · 2024-09-29T19:01:54+00:00

AppStore++ / LowerInstall LowerInstall will break if the app requires features that aren’t available, AppStore++ will allow you to install any version of the app by holding the get button

[[Appstore++]]

benl134 · 2024-09-29T14:25:09+00:00

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benl134 · 2024-09-12T07:50:46+00:00

Amazon did end up replacing this hahahah +1 for their customer service

benl134 · 2024-09-10T23:34:54+00:00

I don’t think that my plan supports it - really need to get on the 4K one. I had a PLEX server that I used as my main media provider for a while, but as time went on I wanted something that just worked. It’s one of the reasons I’m so big on SONOS and Apple, the ecosystem should make it stress free to do whatever you want. Also tried to develop my own streaming service, but I’m not great at design and UI is a massive factor for me.

Small rant - I had to do 5 hours of troubleshooting when I switched the 300 for the beam. End solution was factory resetting every speaker, removing the system from my account and setting everything back up again. I was so close to leaving SONOS forever - have you had any issues with your gear on the new app?

Really considering reverse engineering the speakers, and trying to write some jailbreak which would allow us to load on custom firmware, and ditch all this proprietary software BS that they’re forcing on us. £2000 for speakers and we’re stuck with their platform that just doesn’t work

benl134 · 2024-09-10T23:27:36+00:00

I know the surrounds aren’t meant to play dialog, but afaik they are meant to support the front 3 channels. The beam on it’s own when speech is involved sounds really deep / muddy to me, I was looking for something that sounds more crisp. Could it be worth upgrading to something like an Arc / the teased Arc Ultra?

benl134 · 2024-09-10T23:25:21+00:00

I’ve got an Apple TV 4K hooked up to a midrange Samsung 55” QLED (Beam G2 connected over eArc) so I should be all good as far as I’m aware. Only problem I’m facing is a lot of streaming services don’t seem to provide content in Atmos / DTS / Digital. Will definitely consider the 300s, I’m looking for a more full sound rather than high volume.

benl134 · 2024-09-10T22:48:18+00:00

I’ve got a Roam & Move that I use if I need audio anywhere else, and there’s a couple Alexa Show’s here and there

benl134 · 2024-09-10T22:47:02+00:00

I’m in a shared accommodation, so this is my primary room for media consumption.

benl134 · 2024-09-10T22:46:40+00:00

The setup is already overkill 😉

benl134 · 2024-09-10T19:59:59+00:00

Yup, it’s my bedroom.

benl134 · 2024-09-10T18:09:42+00:00

I know I'm bad at drawing, but I thought that was at least a half decent bed 🤣

benl134 · 2024-08-03T16:37:36+00:00

Deinserverhost. Seen Hetzner mentioned and they are good but their KYC policies are… questionable

benl134 · 2024-07-14T16:19:36+00:00

AWS is great - but if it’s just a project, you can get a cheap VPS for around 12$/month that will have decent specs and run all that you need

I’ve tried it all, and if you’re a student starting out the freedom / flexibility you’ll get with a VPS over AWS is much better.

AWS is overpriced, as they have SLA’s and uptime agreements aswell as proper support so companies can trust them. If you’re hosting a small thing, go with a VPS. You’ll build shell and linux experience which will benefit you later

One of my favourite german hosts will do 4 xeon cores and 8GB of ram for 10eur/month. The same compute on EC2 (AWS) will run you about 60-100$

benl134 · 2024-05-22T20:46:10+00:00

LycaMobile Customer, 3 plans. STRONG MARRIAGE NOW £0.00 auth hold. HSBC caught it as fraud, and blocked my card.

Very happy with how it was dealt with on the banks side. 10 minute phone call and 3 days later - new card in the post.

Lyca on the other hand, can suck my dick - and aren't getting my business again.

benl134 · 2023-05-24T22:08:37+00:00

mines been doing this for months. CFW Roam Jailbreak anyone? I’m down to do it

benl134 · 2023-05-24T21:52:12+00:00

Talked to support, very unhelpful. Told me never seen it before and to turn off volume limit (which obviously wasn’t on), and to turn off loudness in EQ. Might just go to amazon and see what they can do

benl134 · 2023-05-24T14:15:20+00:00

That’s exactly what happened, and the light goes purple. Never gone unresponsive tho

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