Is the Android Lionel wifi camera app available?

Some slightly bad news for you,

The android app appears to have been abandoned, some quick searches pull up a post from someone that called Lionel and got told that it was being worked on... back in Sep of last year.

Could have been pulled from the play store for a variety of reasons unfortunately. If you are looking to get the functionality of the camera app on mobile you'll need to grab an iOS device for it, or use a computer.

Funny enough the instruction manual seems to indicate it's a basic IP Wi-Fi Cam device that uses it's own wi-fi network (at least from the PC instructions it shows). Odds are it would be viewable on any app that can connect to an IP cam, but that goes beyond the spec of this thread.

Lionel's fixation with Apple IOS is one more reason I suspect the BASE3/CAB3 might be a loser for me.  I'm not converting to Apple products just to run my trains, and I suspect I'm not along!  There's more Android phones than Apple phones, so what's the deal about not supporting over half of the marketplace?

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Lionel's fixation with Apple IOS is one more reason I suspect the BASE3/CAB3 might be a loser for me.  I'm not converting to Apple products just to run my trains, and I suspect I'm not along!  There's more Android phones than Apple phones, so what's the deal about not supporting over half of the marketplace?

I'm definitely curious if they only have Swift/Obj-C developers working for them, or if it gets outsourced to another 3rd party development team that only does that. Normally cross-compatibility is (relatively) straight forward with languages like React Native (which I use for work).

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Lionel's fixation with Apple IOS is one more reason I suspect the BASE3/CAB3 might be a loser for me.  I'm not converting to Apple products just to run my trains, and I suspect I'm not along!  There's more Android phones than Apple phones, so what's the deal about not supporting over half of the marketplace?

John the Base3 according to the catalog supports android and yes I agree they up until now have only supported half the market which inline with what seems to be a half assed approach they usually take LCS wifi cam the list goes on.

@Shawn_Chronister posted:

John the Base3 according to the catalog supports android and yes I agree they up until now have only supported half the market which inline with what seems to be a half assed approach they usually take LCS wifi cam the list goes on.

Ad copy is cheap, but they also claimed to support Android and Apple with the camera cars as well.

I've asked @Dave Olson about this a few times on the forum and never received a response. I gave up on Lionel doing anything to support these WiFi camera cars anymore for the Android platform and the lack of recent camera offerings in the catalog indicates that they may have lost interest too. Given the grave lack of support that Lionel has for the Android community makes it worry some how this will reflect on the base3 app.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Lionel's fixation with Apple IOS is one more reason I suspect the BASE3/CAB3 might be a loser for me.  I'm not converting to Apple products just to run my trains, and I suspect I'm not along!  There's more Android phones than Apple phones, so what's the deal about not supporting over half of the marketplace?

Amen to that. I am also one with no interest in apple stuff.

@H1000 posted:

I've asked @Dave Olson about this a few times on the forum and never received a response. I gave up on Lionel doing anything to support these WiFi camera cars anymore for the Android platform and the lack of recent camera offerings in the catalog indicates that they may have lost interest too. Given the grave lack of support that Lionel has for the Android community makes it worry some how this will reflect on the base3 app.

That is aggravating isn't it?  I guess I have not missed much waiting a year to get this caboose going.  Let's hope somehow @Dave Olson   or one of the Lionel team updates us. 

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Lionel's fixation with Apple IOS is one more reason I suspect the BASE3/CAB3 might be a loser for me.  I'm not converting to Apple products just to run my trains, and I suspect I'm not along!  There's more Android phones than Apple phones, so what's the deal about not supporting over half of the marketplace?

https://www.lionel.com/article...ownload-Instructions

Thanks Dave, we have the instructions.  the issue is the Lionel WiFi camera app is not available on the google play store site as far as several of us can tell.  Can you please let us know where to find it?  thanks.

@SirCaptain posted:

Some slightly bad news for you,

The android app appears to have been abandoned, some quick searches pull up a post from someone that called Lionel and got told that it was being worked on... back in Sep of last year.

Could have been pulled from the play store for a variety of reasons unfortunately. If you are looking to get the functionality of the camera app on mobile you'll need to grab an iOS device for it, or use a computer.

Funny enough the instruction manual seems to indicate it's a basic IP Wi-Fi Cam device that uses it's own wi-fi network (at least from the PC instructions it shows). Odds are it would be viewable on any app that can connect to an IP cam, but that goes beyond the spec of this thread.

@hokie71 posted:

Thanks Dave, we have the instructions.  the issue is the Lionel WiFi camera app is not available on the google play store site as far as several of us can tell.  Can you please let us know where to find it?  thanks.

The link to the file is in the instructions Dave posted..... scroll to the bottom or just click this:     https://www.lionel.com/android...nChiefWifiCamera.apk

Thanks, my bad. Per the caboose instructions, I thought it was supposed to be at the Google store.

UPDATE: Works great on my kindle...so far...

While it is nice to finally see some effort in getting the Camera app available again. This is not the best approach for installing this (or any) app on an android device. Pretty much any cybersecurity expert with 4 cents of knowledge will tell you this is not a good way to deploy an app to your customers, in fact it is a very common way hackers deploy malicious apps to unsuspecting users.

The instructions provided are incomplete. While the download worked there were a bunch of security hoops I had to jump through. Most importantly is installing an APK from an unsecured location, which at first failed on the Samsung TAB A I tried this on.  I had to allow the web browser permission to install the APK file but the Android system then denied permission to install an app from an unsecured location. Only until I placed the device in "Developer Mode" could I finally install the app.

These instructions are a "Duct Tape & Bailing Wire" solution at best and further weaken my confidence in Lionel's ability to properly develop, deploy & support apps on the android / Google Play platform. I'm not sure why it took Lionel so long to come up with a "solution" as this instruction page was published on their website today and this problem with the missing app has existed for a good six months now.

I'm sure the posting of the app was in response to some criticism of the app being missing.

Hello All,

A few days ago, like others on this thread, I attempted to the download the camera Wi-Fi app from the Google Play store to my Android tablet.  Despite Dave Olson's post above, there is still no individual camera Wi-Fi app to download on the Google Play store.  See cell phone screenshot below, taken on 07/02/2022.  Furthermore, the dismissive "rolling eyes" gif demonstrates a very poor attitude toward customers.

Additionally, I found that I must have downloaded the android Lionel camera Wi-Fi app two years or so ago on the android cell phone that I use for the MTH app.  Unfortunately, I can't open the camera app because the password I have is wrong.  I see no way that I could have changed the password, or if I did, how I can recover it.  In any event, the default 8888 password doesn't work.

Hello H1000,

Thank you for the work around information.  Although not a tech level computer user, I am computer literate.  Consequently, I'll give your workaround a try.  I hope that my McAfee catches any malicious code.

It would be easier to mount a cell phone on a GP9, etc., platform behind the locomotive's railing and broadcast live on Instagram to a small audience or just the operator.  The video quality of my Samsung Galaxy S10+ cell phone is superior to the Lionel camera anyway.  Actually, I mounted my cell phone as described previously.  The video quality is great.  Obviously, I couldn't watch video in real time.

@RockvilleBear

The Lionel WiFi cameras didn't impress me as with many other WiFi camera systems. I was hopeful but they fell short for what I wanted to do.

I initially built a camera car using drone FPV camera equipment that produced a good Standard Definition video but that system was analog and was accompanied with static interference if the signal wasn't perfect. It was built on a flat car and had the nifty feature of rotating the camera to match the curves. It did however look a little odd in front of the engine.

My most recent camera system is High Definition, eliminates the static of the previous analog system and is really easy to use. You get clear 1080p output without having to know the ins & outs of WiFi. Just plug it in, turn it on, and go.
https://ogrforum.com/...5#154307984004363555

Below is a video of the camera in action recorded from a TV.

(Be sure to change the player settings to 1080P for best visual results)

Has anyone found an alternative Android app for Android besides just using an Apple product? 

The Lionel WiFi camera app was nothing special. It was a rebranded version offered by a now defunct developer FTY. Around the release of the Caboose Camera, there were 100's of these app developers around and now most (if not all) have evaporated. 6 Years ago I was able to test about half a dozen apps that all worked with the Lionel hardware and with other cheap wifi cameras from Amazon. Lionel does offer the app direct from their website but their instructions are incomplete. Installing the apk from their site on your phone will also include putting your phone in developer mode and allowing installation of apps from "unknown sources". Here is their link: http://www.lionel.com/articles...wnload-Instructions/

I suspect that we may have seen the last of Lionel's attempts at train cameras until more reliable and cheaper technology comes along.

Thank you for the update!  Do you happen to know any of the apps that did work?  I have tried what I can find on the play store and none seem to find it even when entering the ip and username/pw. 

I did try to download from Lionel, had my phone in developer, and allowed the apk source but had the same not supported in this version message if you had any other suggestions?

Thanks again.

I went back to try and find some of those old apps and had no success.  Most of those developers for the hardware and software were fly-by-night entities that were here one day and gone the next.  Your results with getting the Android app to work don't surprise me. A lot of these apps were pretty sketchy to begin with.

I'll keep looking for another compatible app but so far I haven't had any luck.

Thank you.  Ive tried but even automatic searching or entering manually just not working.  I do have an older Android Tablet and an Ipad so looks like thats gonna be the way to go.

@Dd289 posted:

Thank you.  Ive tried but even automatic searching or entering manually just not working.  I do have an older Android Tablet and an Ipad so looks like thats gonna be the way to go.

Do you still have the CD that came with your camera car, can send the contents in a ZIP file to me? I sent my caboose cam back to the dealer not long after it arrived due to a blurry image.  I'm wondering if there is a way to utilize the software in it and build a new Android app.

Gonna have to take a look where the box is, I don't think so to be honest...

@H1000 posted:

Do you still have the CD that came with your camera car, can send the contents in a ZIP file to me? I sent my caboose cam back to the dealer not long after it arrived due to a blurry image.  I'm wondering if there is a way to utilize the software in it and build a new Android app.

See if this helps

@hokie71 posted:

See if this helps

Thank you...was going to go through the boxes!

I was able to use the pc program to view the camera.  I then saw that when you are connected you can also connect your android phone to the network and type in the IP address, which brought up the camera (without the Lionel app).  Not sure if that worked prior to installing the program or if this somehow re-configured, but it is an option on a non-supported (new) android device.

How exactly do you connect to the camera with a Windows computer?

The S06 zip that was posted above was also included in the original box from Lionel.  That lets you connect to the camera wifi and search, similar to the app.  It then shows the IP. 

@Dd289 posted:

The S06 zip that was posted above was also included in the original box from Lionel.  That lets you connect to the camera wifi and search, similar to the app.  It then shows the IP.

The only way that makes sense is if the camera is connecting to the network router and I can find it that way.  I don't want to have to reconfigure my networking for the computer to link directly to the camera, that eliminates all my connectivity to other devices.

When I was using the app I was connecting directly to the caboose wifi ssid vs running it through my router if that makes sense?

@Dd289 posted:

When I was using the app I was connecting directly to the caboose wifi ssid vs running it through my router if that makes sense?

Yep, I don't want to do that, I want it to be connected to the router so I still have Internet and network sharing enabled on my computer.

Ah ok, I've been just using an old phone I had, connecting to the router I haven't done.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Yep, I don't want to do that, I want it to be connected to the router so I still have Internet and network sharing enabled on my computer.

One option if you want to maintain your primary connection to your current Ethernet/Wifi network would be to buy a USB wifi adapter. Then just connect the new adapter's wifi to the network of the camera, and as long as it doesn't collide with your current network's subnet, the IP Cam software should be able to search for it (*should* - I haven't used this software so you may need to manually specify the camera IP or subnet to search).

Sidenote: After connecting to it on your new Wifi Adapter, if the IP Cam software also supports updating device settings you may be able to update it to switch from Host mode to Join AP mode and have it join your network - no clue if the software supports that though

@SirCaptain posted:

One option if you want to maintain your primary connection to your current Ethernet/Wifi network would be to buy a USB wifi adapter. Then just connect the new adapter's wifi to the network of the camera, and as long as it doesn't collide with your current network's subnet, the IP Cam software should be able to search for it (*should* - I haven't used this software so you may need to manually specify the camera IP or subnet to search).

Sidenote: After connecting to it on your new Wifi Adapter, if the IP Cam software also supports updating device settings you may be able to update it to switch from Host mode to Join AP mode and have it join your network - no clue if the software supports that though

Hadn't thought of the WiFi, but my desktop does have build-in WiFi that is currently not used as I connect with a direct Ethernet connection.   It would be interesting to see if Windows falls on it's face if I actually try to use two network adapters with different operating modes.  Not sure it's even possible to configure the WiFi as an AP with the wired network connected to my router.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Hadn't thought of the WiFi, but my desktop does have build-in WiFi that is currently not used as I connect with a direct Ethernet connection.   It would be interesting to see if Windows falls on it's face if I actually try to use two network adapters with different operating modes.  Not sure it's even possible to configure the WiFi as an AP with the wired network connected to my router.

This is easy to do. You might have to give the WiFi camera adapter on you computer a manual IP address after you figure out its IP Scheme. Then when imputing the manual IP address and subnet, omit the gateway. Windows won't look for internet on network adapter that doesn't have a gateway configured.

@H1000 posted:

This is easy to do. You might have to give the WiFi camera adapter on you computer a manual IP address after you figure out its IP Scheme. Then when imputing the manual IP address and subnet, omit the gateway. Windows won't look for internet on network adapter that doesn't have a gateway configured.

The figure out it's IP scheme might be a stumbling block.   I did find a couple of Windows apps, MyPublicWiFi looks like it might do the trick.

Connect to the wifi camera and let it assign an ip address. Open a command prompt and run ipconfig, all of the details will be displayed for every network adapter on your computer.