General Questions about the Tapo Camera

Any mobile device running iOS 9.0 or above, Android 4.4 or above.

Note: Currently, there is no plan to support the OS such as Windows phone, Kindle or Kindle Fire, and the Tapo Camera App is only available on mobile devices but not computers.

The Tapo camera supports micro-SD cards with up to 128GB capacity, which should be formatted to the FAT32 file system. Please format the SD card on the Tapo Camera App before starting using it. Besides, according to our test, a 32GB SD card can be used to record videos for about 4-5 days in a row for 24 hours before being fully recorded.

The Tapo cameras support WPA/WPA2 encryptions. WEP, Portal, WPA/WPA2-enterprise or WPA3 network is not supported.

Note: Tapo cameras do support hidden SSIDs.

Both Tapo C200 and Tapo C100 support 2.4GHz only.

The Tapo Cam has an LED on the front, you can know the current status of the camera from the LED. 

The Tapo Cams provide crystal clear 1080p video streaming with a 105-degree wide-angle field of view (for Tapo C100). Tapo Cams support both daylight and night vision with up to 20-30 feet of clarity. Tapo Cams are also equipped with industry-leading microphones and speakers to give you an excellent 2-way audio experience straight out of the box. 

Data security is important to us and we understand that it is essential for your peace of mind. We use industry-standard AES 128-bit encryption with SSL/TLS to encrypt the camera data, ensuring your home security.

The recommended bandwidth for each camera will vary due to different camera types and resolutions. The upload bandwidth for each camera would be around 4-5Mbps to stream a live feed or upload videos at 1080p resolution. Please ensure your network meets this requirement and if necessary, adjust the resolution accordingly to stay within the upstream limit.

Most importantly, however, the actual streaming experience would be affected by the surrounding wireless interference and the signal strength, even when the bandwidth is enough. In this case, it’s suggested to eliminate possible wireless interference (like Bluetooth devices, USB 3.0 devices, cordless phones and microwave ovens) or place the camera closer to the router.

To use Tapo cameras with Google Assistant, you need a Google Chromecast, a Google Home Hub and any smart display that supports Chromecast (such as a TV with built-in Chromecast). After configured, you can watch the live feed from any Tapo cameras via a spoken command, and you can refer to this link to know the commands the camera support.

Currently, the Tapo cameras don’t support “camera on/off” command due to possible security risks. For example, an intruder could potentially shut off your cameras with a simple command.

Watching the live feed of Tapo cameras through Google Assistant will use your internet traffic as it’s a Cloud-to-Cloud service. In consideration of your extranet traffic and performance, the live feed will stop after 5 minutes. However, you can ask Google to show the camera again if you want to continue streaming.

Currently, we don’t have camera control software for a PC nor can we view the Tapo camera directly on the web, we can only watch Live View of the Tapo Camera on the Tapo Camera App or sync the camera screen to devices like Echo show, fire TV, etc.

Or users may use a third-party software to view and manage the camera, and here is the detailed instructions.

The Tapo camera supports the standard ONVIF protocol (Profile S), so it will work with NVR or NAS devices that support the standard ONVIF protocol as well.

Only the individuals who have signed into the associated Tapo camera account can view your camera and clips. All video streams and activities associated with your Tapo Cam are private and can only be viewed by those signed into the Tapo camera or had the authority to access your SD card. Right now, we only support one account per household.

*Note: We recommend that you never share your account information with anyone.

Users can view multiple Tapo cameras at the same time. All Tapo cameras will list on the Camera page of the Tapo Camera App and you are allowed to view all of them by just sliding up and down. Most importantly, you can add up to 32 Tapo cameras in the Live View window totally and you will be able to view 4 of them in the same window each time.

There is no quantitative limit on the cameras that can be set up or controlled by one account on the Tapo Camera App.

Currently, Each camera can be controlled or managed by only one account on the Tapo APP. 
You can share it with 2 different accounts at most and these two accounts can only access live view and playback.

Each camera supports up to 2 simultaneous video streams. 
You could use up to 2 devices to live view the camera at the same time using the Tapo APP or the RTSP.

You could view the playback on only one device using the Tapo APP at the same time

Yes, users can use the same account to login to Tapo Camera APP and manage the Tapo camera.

If you want to change the login email address on Tapo Camera App, please click on ‘Me’ on the bottom menu of Tapo Camera App, and just hit Log out. Then Log In again and type in your new email address and password, then you will be able to see all the cameras bound to the new account.

But please note if your Tapo cameras have already been bound to the previous account, you will need to remove those cameras first from the old account and bind them to the new one, here is the guide for unbinding them from the old account.

Manual recording function can be enabled on the Tapo camera’s live view interface. Click on the record icon, and the manual recording will be on. The manually recorded clip can be up to 2 minutes long when remotely viewing the camera and without any operation on the APP, you may refer here for more details. Users can view the manually recorded clips in the Memory list on Tapo Camera App.

Most importantly, Tapo cameras also support CVR service (24h continuous recording) with an SD card plugged in, and you can enable it on Camera Settings page.

Note: Micro SD card is needed for 24-hour recording and it’s required to format the Micro SD card on the Tapo Camera App.

On the Camera or Live View page, tap the gear icon to enter the Camera Settings page. Toggle on to enable the Local Recording function and set the Recording Schedule for Continuous Recording (24-hour Recording) as needed. On the Live View page, tap Playback to view all recordings. Drag the timeline and you can view recordings whenever and wherever you are.

Please navigate to Camera Settings by hitting the gear button on top-right of the camera APP and tap Format/Initialize on the SD card settings page if you want to delete all recordings. Or you may need to put the SD card into a computer (with an SD card reader) or phone to delete the corresponding recordings.

You can use the camera or watch the live view without an internet connection, but please ensure both your phone and the camera are connected to the same wireless network. The Local storage with the SD card will still work and users can view the saved recordings through Playback.

Note: Notification or any other service associated with the TP-Link Cloud will not work if there is no internet access.

Yes, Tapo Cam monitors 24/7, users can enable either Continuous Recording or Motion Detection on the Camera Settings-Local Recording page.

*Note: Your camera must be powered on and NOT in Privacy Mode for the monitoring to take place.

If you feel your Tapo camera is too sensitive, please navigate to the Camera Settings page on the App, then tap Detection & Alerts, where you can find Motion Sensitivity settings to change the sensitivity of the detection to a lower/higher level.

With Tapo Cam’s Privacy Mode you can enable or disable streaming and recording of video and audio. When you enable this option, your camera will not record audio or video, and you will not receive any event notifications.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t support to turn on/off the camera on the Tapo Camera App at present. If you want to turn on/off the camera, you need to switch it off manually or you may just plug the camera into a smart plug like Tapo P100 and set a schedule to turn it on/off automatically.

Or you can disable streaming and recording of video and audio with Tapo Cam's Privacy Mode, but please note that when you select this option your camera will not record audio or video, and you will not receive any event notifications.

If you want to turn on or off the green LED on the front of the Tapo camera, navigate to your camera settings page for the LED option.

If the audio is muffled or there is noise/echo when watching the live view or recorded videos of the Tapo camera, try below troubleshooting steps.

1. Relocate the camera in case there is any other device that may have interference with it.

2. Move and put the phone much farther away from the camera or at least put them in two different rooms and test the two-way audio again.

To ensure a smooth Live View in a somehow low bandwidth environment when viewing the camera remotely, we set the video resolution to LQ (360P) by default. You may switch to HQ (1080P) manually on the Live View page if you have a high bandwidth certainly.

Refer here to submit a request to delete your Tapo Camera account.

A: Nope. The IR LED cannot be turned off when the camera is in Night Mode. We do not recommend pointing the camera directly at a glass window at night since the IR light that comes up with may reflect light and will result in a fuzzy or poor image.

If you want to turn off the IR LED at night, please switch the camera view to Day Mode.

A: Nope. Tapo cameras, which can only be managed or monitored by the Tapo app, are designed to be different from Kasa Cams in functionality and marketing. Users can watch Live View of the Tapo camera on the Tapo app or sync the camera screen to devices like the Echo show, fire TV, etc.

Or users may click here to play the RTSP stream from the Tapo camera on a PC with third-party software or applications.

A: Nope, Tapo cameras are only compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Home. Currently, there is no plan to add support for Samsung SmartThings or IFTTT.

A: It depends on the phone model and its OS. For iOS, you can still receive notifications when the Tapo app is closed, while you may not be able to receive notifications on some Android phones if the Tapo app is closed.

A: Nope, users cannot choose the location or path to save and store recordings. The motion-detected recordings and continuous local recordings are saved in the SD card, while the manually recorded clips or pictures are saved in Memory of the app, which will occupy the phone memory.

The recordings in Memory can be shared, downloaded or deleted on the Tapo app directly, however, the recordings saved in the SD card cannot be shared, downloaded or deleted directly from the Tapo app. Users will need to put the SD card into a computer (with an SD card reader) or phone to delete the corresponding recordings, they can format the SD card on the Tapo app if they want to delete all recordings completely.

A: Not yet. The Tapo C200 only supports local storage with an SD card inserted. We already have the plan to add support for cloud storage in the near future.

A: Nope. We cannot change the video quality of the Tapo camera when watching the video with Echo Show or Fire TV, and it is in LQ by default.

A: Sure, data security comes first. We save the wireless SSID and password in the private libraries of the Tapo app, which won't be exposed to anyone else, in case users forget their wireless password and may fail to link up their cameras. However, if you do worry about the security, you may just uncheck the "save password" option when you add the camera on the Tapo app.

A: The SD card will be divided into multiple folders automatically once formatted on the Tapo app, and all of the folders will be named as xxxxxxxx_000000_tp00001.mp4, xxxxxxxx_000000_tp00002.mp4 and so on. This folder or clip cannot be played or opened as there is no recording in it. The recorded videos will fill in these folders one by one.

Default folder or clip cannot be played:

Correctly recorded videos (the prefix of the file will be replaced with the date and time):

After you change the Wi-Fi name or password, the camera will be disconnected to the router as it cannot automatically recognize the new SSID or password. You need to reset and reconfigure the camera. As for a new router, as long as it shares the same 2.4G wireless network name, password and the security mode with the old router, the camera should be connected to the new router automatically. If not, please reset and reconfigure it.