Tesla Sentry Mode and Dashcam Apps Review - Watch in Your Car! 

For those asking, this is the USB I’m using in the car: amzn.to/2Yf0PI9 UPDATE: Another SentryView user discovered that turning off your phone’s bluetooth while streaming SanDisk Connect video helps with stuttering video playback. This should be the first thing to try if you run into the problem I mentioned in the video. Bluetooth may be creating radio interference that’s causing the problem. PREVIOUS UPDATE: I was able to fix my specific iPhone X issues with the SanDisk Connect by doing a factory restore. It's a slightly annoying, but easy fix. You just have to back up your phone to iCloud or your PC/Mac, reset the phone in Settings -> General -> Reset. Select "Erase all content and settings" and then just wait. After it's finished you have to restore your phone from that backup during the initial phone setup ... then wait again. If you encounter anything like this, I’d suggest starting with resetting your network settings only. You’ll have to reconnect to your WiFi after it’s done, but it’s less intrusive than a full reset. Also, the developer of SentryView is actively working on adding support for the SanDisk iXpand which plugs directly into an iPhone's lightning port. That opens up a non-wifi option without the need for iOS 13. He's really working hard to make the app as accessible as possible.

Would love to have the feature to get a notification on my phone that Sentry Mode has been activated and then be able to view live feed remotely from the phone.

Always excited to see your video pop up, You make better videos then other channels with millions of subscribers. Keep up the great work!

Best Tesla info-vision of any sort to date. Thank you.

Congrats on 50k! And thank you for the video; about to download the Android app.

I unfortunately have that same video sticking problem....How do you reset the network settings now?

I have problems you may want to address. I have iPhone. I downloaded the app, and order the 128 gb Air Disk from ScanDisk. (It was only $10 more than the 64 gb drive, so I figured why not.) I then found that Tesla requires that the USB drive be formatted to FAT32, but Windows won't format a drive of over 32gb to FAT32. That requires a work around. I'm struggling finding one that works. Some third party programs are too expensive. Which is the best to use, or should I do it with a Command Prompt? My program says that the ScanDisk is now formatted to FAT32, but TeslaCam still won't read it. It will read a non-Air Disk drive I was using, but not the Air Disk. I think it is a formatting issue. Any suggestions?

Hi Matt how can you save a video clip from the recent clip to save clip? Thanks!

You just made my Tesla Model 3 life very much frustration free... Good stuff bro

Would like to view them in the car on the display. That way I can use an SSD and not rely on my iPhone and a flash drive.

is there a way to use the sandisk wireless usb with the Android app? i have an android device, and got the wireless usb before accidentally breaking my port on my phone.

While parking in small areas my Infiniti gives me front and sides view , does Tesla 3 have that function .

I’ve been using an older model Sandisk WiFi USB drive for years with my iOS devices. It’s a hassle moving raw files of Dashcam footage in the iOS ecosystem. Very informative video. Thanks!

This is great, that gaping hole when it comes to viewing sentry videos definitely is annoying as it currently forces me to have two separate small usb drives (I use Samsung drives that have a smaller side profile than my thumb nail to make it unobtrusive and reduce the risk of me knocking it out) that I swap between when I want to view the videos. If these sentry apps eliminate the need for it, that would be awesome. EDIT: Just noticed the developer for SentryView also did Stats - great work!

IIRC Windows Vista and above won't format FAT32 over 32gb, you can use freeware apps to do that though.

Thank you. I think about this all the time. I’m torn between, ‘at least we can piggyback off the Dashcams’ and I wish it worked better, took longer clips, and was easier to view the footage. I also would like Sentry mode to tell me what time the events occurred so its easier to find the clips. Thanks for the reviews. I’m liking my Stats App that I got after your review of it.

What a great video! I was looking for something like this! Thanks!

Thanks again Matt. I just installed a 120gb SSD, so I'm going to have to wait for IOS 13, and hope I can connect the drive to my phone with an adapter. Love the Stats app too.

My Sandisk appears to be totally frozen with a solid blue light. This is right after unplugging it from my Tesla. It didn't do this before. Before anyone asks, there was not need to pause the dash cam because it wasn't present on the screen. So I assume the Sandisk storage is full. Has anyone else experienced this solid blue light? Ive had it unplugged for nearly 5 hours now and it's still seized up. Also, plugging it into my computer (Mac) is not working for some reason.

Another very comprehensive video. Great work Matt!

can i turn on the camera and view it real time from my cell phone?

Great review. Purchased this as well as the Stats app because of your analysis.

Hi Matt. Love your channel!! On a totally unrelated note, how did you attach the USB hub to the back of your centre console like that (@2:25)? Velcro? Thanks!

Great site. Thank you. I've got a question that's likely been answered elsewhere, but, if anyone has had this experience please weigh-in. Two days ago I was driving my '19 MS from Oregon to San Francisco. A huge rock struck and shattered my windshield. I contacted both my Insurance Co and Tesla... The Insurance Co asked me to check to see if the video was captured. How do I do that? I have the TESLA USB and it was inserted at the time of the incident and front camera presumably captured the incident. I pulled the USB out and set it aside. Now that I've arrived at my destination I am not seeing any videos from the entire drive. I'm only seeing SENTRY CAM type videos and obviously this occurred in real time. Would this footage have been captured and if so were is it residing and how do I locate it? Thanks in advance. JC

You look like a genius scientist 👍

Awesome video. I greatly appreciate it. I don’t have my Tesla...yet😂. I do like to learn as much as possible before my purchase, it’s part of my research, I’ve been like this since I was a kid. Anyway, I’ll be using the iOS version. These are great apps, especially for if you get pulled over by the cops. You can record them and if your vacationing you can keep track of what happens while your away. Great ideas. Thank you so much for the information.

Wow I never knew this existed !!! Not even the popular Tesla channels are talking about. Definitely going to subscribe to your channel

They should make it so you can watch the sentry mode LIVE. Plus if someone is messing with your car you should be able to "Facetime" to the screen so you can tell them to back off.

How do I retrieve my TeslaCam from the morning incident? When I download to my USB drive, it only shows the last ten minutes (which when I came back home from work)

Making Sentry mode available on the in-car screen is critical. Also computer configurating the cameras to present a 360 view when parking would be extremely valuable. If you can see the curb on the side of your Tesla, rim damage is avoided.

Thank you for the informative video as always. I did some research and realize that Scandisk is selling the 64GB for $75 which is way too expensive IMO. Wish there were cheaper options for my iPhone. I currently have a 256GB USB and don't have to worry about formatting my USB for a long time. Had a 64GB before but it seems to run of space after about 1-2 weeks.

Wow this is great. Can’t wait to get my Tesla and def doing the apps. Sandisk looks pretty cool

You have a black bar aswell in front camera..? For me it’s slightly worse. Maybe windshield blocks lens..?? More people have it here

Crazy how a year on and this stuff is redundant through software updates. Brilliant really

Hey, Matt, great video! I just found it 8 months later, , so I'm not sure if you'll ever see this comment. I bought a Sandisk iXpand flash drive and the SentryView app. The iXpand has a Lightening connector in addition to the USB and it plugs into the iPhone. It works just fine. I'm finding the SentryView app to be very slow switching from one video to another. Is this your experience too?

Would love to see this as an aftermarket product. Would love this for my SUV .

for the android app version .. i sadly have problems with it, namely when i press the usb-drive selection button it just says that there is no drive connected and if i go through the folder selection my drive doesnt show up .. but its connected to the phone properly since i can manually watch the individual files with something like VLC player and for some reason after i connected the drive to my phone there is a 50-ish % chance of it not beeing recognized from the car anymore .. but i didnt test that for a while i suspect there may be a problem with the app since on the drive (500 gig samsung ssd) i have 2 partitions .. 1 for the cam and 1 for musik .. but i didnt test if thats the problem since i just thought of it while writing the comment

I have the same issue on the SentryView app on my iPhone 8. Trying the Android app you reviewed here this week when I get home. All of this is a stopgap until Tesla allows us to review and manage these videos right on the cars screen so it's not a huge deal if they only kinda work

I have contacted Ramin, the developer and suggested he add a playback speed change and a bulk Recent & Saved Clips option ... that is like the bulk folder delete by pressing down on the folder fir a long time to add a press down for a long time the Clip folders. Other than that Ramin has done a SUPER job and I love what he has done. Will Tesla build this functionality into the screen ? That would be nice. Have SentryView built in and allow direct access to whatever USB key is plugged in! Even better would be viewing the videos from the Tesla app and why not stream the cameras to the app at any moment to see what is happening to the car when I am away .. see the dog in the car, is it raining, is someone trying to break in following an email alert that Sentry mode is recording. Wait and see. Thanks for your outstanding presentation... very clear and thorough ! Appreciate. Only wish I could chose whether the windows close automatically when the auto lock kicks in! Thus is still at the top of my wish list. Carlo ... from France

This Sandisk wireless stick is not available anywhere

Hi Matt! Thanks for the awesome review. Question for ya, tho.... What are your thoughts now that iOS allows File Explorer since iOS 11? Even better on the iPad OS.

I formatted a 32GB drive as FAT32 and named it TESLA with a folder "TeslaCam" with no spaces or punctuation. The sentry mode icon was lit, but there was no camera when the usb was plugged in. One question is what should the allocation size be when formatting it? Maybe I formatted to the wrong size. I also deselected quick format.

Manually pulling videos from the USB reminds me the "good old days", but I would go a step further and automatically upload recorded videos to cloud or server via mobile data (3G/4G) or Wi-Fi when available. Maybe plugging an old phone with mobile data SIM card to the USB and allowing storage access with continuous sync of the TeslaCam folder to the cloud could do the trick. This way even if the car is stolen you could see up to date videos from any device where the car has been or where it is moving.

As a guy who bought an Apple II computer in 1979, and the first Mac made, and the first Apple laser printer, I think technology has finally passed me by! I’m going to format a drive for these two features, but I’m assuming I will never have to worry about viewing anything it records unless something bad happens, right?

Your SanDisk Connect link is for only a 16GB stick. Do they have 32 or 64GB?

I unplugged it without pressing the camera and now when I insert it again the camera iron doesn’t appear, please help?

Thanks for the great video. I spotted the USB hub in your car. Can you share a link on the USB hub you are using?

Can we download Tesla updates to USB drive and install it on the car?

So, just to be clear, both videos from DashCam and Sentry Mode will be saved into the TeslaCam folder on the USB drive?

Matt: Thanks for this excellent review. One reminder about using the Sandisk wireless USB: your phone is off WiFi (e.g., while at home) when you are connecting to the Sandisk, which is the way my BlackVue app works, and is a bit inconvenient. Really hoping that my Omars iPhone Flash Drive with its dual USB/Lighting connectors will work with iOS 13 and this Sentry app (the Omars app is not great). The lightning connection has the speed of a direct connection and is faster to just plug into the phone and view.

Matt, what do you use for a USB hub? Link?

are you able to use an SD card, with a USB adapter, record on the SD card then connect the SD card to you phone via another adapter and view the contents that way?

Hello, your link to the Sandisk Connect is for a 16 GB unit. Is that enough space?

Just an FYI for anyone expecting that the SentryViewer for IOS app will support the use of something besides the Sandisk drives (even though IOS 13 now allows it)... I can confirm after reaching out to the developer that he has no intention of adding that functionality. In fact, he suggested that anyone choosing that solution is choosing a messy and far worse option. Ok... so I replied explaining I wasn’t really debating whether one drive was better than the other, but rather pointing out that many of us consider his Stats App exceptional and would support his SentryViewer app, but so many have already invested in other (and by some measures, more reliable and cost effective) USB solutions and do not want to invest more in the specific Sandisk. His reply? He said... “As a developer, I decide what’s worth developing and how to do it. I do this based on my expert opinion. One of the good things about working for myself is that I can make these decisions on my own. As you said, we don’t need to debate this. I thought I answered your question. Cheers, -Ramin” Anyways, turns out there is another app out there I did not know about that did find it worthwhile to include the new IOS 13 function. It is called Cam Viewer for Tesla. www.cgbits.com/camviewer Update: October 9th. I've been running Cam Viewer through it's paces. I use the Samsung T5 500GB SSD with my Jeda Hub. I have an iPhone Xs Max with IOS 13 (required) and Apple's lightning to USB adapter (also required). The T5 is held in place magnetically in the JEDA hubs cubby. It also has two additional USB-C charging ports, so I keep my Apple Adapter in the console with a lightning to USBC cable plugged in ready to power up the drive. I simply snag the SSD out of the HUB, plug it into the adapter, plug the adapter into my phone, open the app and I'm up and running... it's fast, doesn't stutter, and scrubbing through the clips (all views playing at once) works really well Simply tap on one of the other angles to bring it to the front. You can also share clips right from the app, upload to icloud or whatever your phone is capable of. I can definitely recommend it for my setup, and I would assume it works just as well with any adequate USB Thumb Drive or SSD that you might already have. Just need to grab the Lightning to USB adapter. If you are not using the Jeda or similar hub, your workflow would be to leave a standard iphone charger in there with your adapter and when you unplug (always eject first) your drive from the USB port, plug in the iphone charger, then plug your drive into the adapter and then adapter into the phone. To me, this is less difficult than fiddling with a wireless unit. I can't speak to the iXpand or other Thumb Drives with built in lightning cable. I would guess that if you are able to access your files with it in IOS 13 Files app, then it will work with Cam Viewer. Good Luck!!!!

Can you view recorded videos if you don't have a USB stick?

Just posted to the STATS app. video of yours. Matt...unfortunately, the STATS APP crashed my Model 3 screen over and over again. So much so, that I had to do a reset almost twice a day. Took the car into Tesla, and they said they wiped my system and rebooted it. Took a day, and two 45 minute trips to get my car "fixed." The next day the same problem started popping up all over again. I thought of the STATS App and deleted it....guess what? No more problems. No more glitchy screen...no more having to reboot constantly. The software was creating a loop within the Tesla operating system and crashing. Money wasted.

Matt, do I have to unplug the USB drive from my Model 3 in order to actually view the videos that are recorded?

Hey, very interesting video. What I did not quite understand. in the stick and the iOS version: you can only watch videos, if you are connected to the iPhone with the Wifi of the stick, then speak probably only in the car .. or you can also access via Lte from anywhere on the stick? (That the stick transmits the data, as it were, from the Tesla) Greetings Markus

Although I run 13.1 on my IPhone, it's a 5 SE (I love the small size) and wonder whether anyone has tried the app and Sandisk on this older device? Great presentation on the app, I hope it works for me!

Nice video bro

Is the Sandisk Connect being discontinued? I am not finding any larger than 16GB.

Amazing. Thank you so much. So many info. I wish you were a bit slower in your presentation.

Thanks for the video! Tesla could disrupt Ring with an at home option and offer cloud storage/alerts/access from phone over web...

Hey how about an update on reliability and/or service of your new M3?

Anyone check if the SanDisk Connect Wireless Stick de 200 GB works?

Ok, I have a stupid question. If I pull the usb drive and plug into my computer, there are literally hundreds of files to examine. Some are in a saved folder, others are in a different folder. First, how do you differentiate between dashcam vs. sentry files? Second, unless you have a good reason, why would you want to look at ANY of these video files in the first place?

I have the same issue!! Also on iPhone X. I really don’t want to factory reset though... I wonder what exactly the problem is.

Great info, Thanks for sharing. What is that USB hub you are using?

Sentry view on IOS is cool I’m looking forward to a built in share feature.

Matt, @2:00 you mentioned that sentry records when motion is detected. However it my sentry mode seems to be recording all the time once sentry is on (not home or at work), not just when it detects motion.

I like to use sentryplayer, its a stable and very userfriendly peace of software for pc. Google it up and you can find it easily

Timely info. I was not aware of the dedicated apps to review the footage. Just yesterday I noticed the TeslaCam icon was not on and was thinking it was due to the new 19.20.2.1 recent update, however my 128GB drove was full and stopped recording, and then is where I found how difficult it is to go through so many folders to Play back any particular clip for review. Question: Does the WiFi capable drive need to be ejected to access the recording on IOS ?

Great vid. Thanks.

Have you seen the new upgrade for sentry mode that uses facial recognition and tracks license plates?

Your timing could not be better. The USB flash drive I’ve been using with my Model 3 died, and I was wondering if there were any apps that made using the dash cam feature easier.

For iOS couldn't you could use the SanDisk thumb drive that has a lightening connector, which plugs right into an iPhone.

I have to believe that Tesla has plans to be able to tap on the Sentry notification and view the clips on screen. The question is how long till that's implemented? Thanks for reviewing the workarounds until that happens.

Wow, the iOS solution is cumbersome. Tesla should build a proper API that provides Sentry/Dashcam file review and management.

I watch just for the music.

Too all with IOS devices. Copy the password from your wi-fi screen carefully and include all spaces.

Would this still be preferred for us Android users as well?

Awesome Video!

Another great vid Must say I'm glad I don't have an iOS device, they sound like quite the hassle.

Do you find that you have a fair amount of corrupt/ 0kb/ unplayable Teslacam videos?

I give up. Where's that pinned comment about how to fix the lag problem between the memory stick and my iPhone Xs? I have the identical problem to what you showed, and you added in your video that *something* had to be reset, but you didn't say what. And I don't see that pinned comment! Thanks much.

Love your video, but am unable to find a SanDisk 64gb Connect except for three times the cost you mention with a five-week delivery. Do you have a source? I understand this item has been discontinued by SanDisk. Please advise.

Can't we just plug the usb on a computer and watch it there?

This video is clear and precise but, having titled a new Sandusky Connect 64Gb drive TESLA, like yours Matt, and created a new folder called TeslaCam; when I plugged it into the car, I got no icon on my screen. All I could see was a red flashing light on the drive for a few seconds, then nothing. Where did I go wrong?

What’s the Hal 9000?

Apple... it just works :S.

Cheap at twice the price. I hope the developer has set a sustainable price.

Why doesn't Tesla make an option for CENTURY MODE TO STREAM YOUR PHONE? Or to a cloud device for recording? if not at all times, at the very least, when the car alarm is trigered. Why? Because as it now, anyone can break into your car, steal whatever they want, then take the thumb drive and there goes your evidence. If it's recording over the air somewhere else outside the car, then that evidence will be safe. How about if WE ALL ask for that feature. Perhaps they will listen. Anyone out there know of a way to make this happen?

It still would be nice if we didn't have to pull the drive from our car and could instead view the Sentry mode videos directly from our phone

Picked my 20 20 Model Y up from the Tesla service center today and they are useless! I will never buy another Tesla! My car was serviced for this issue three times and the problem has come back hours after picking my car up today. No one to call when you have issues like this. All I can do is schedule service 6 weeks from now and they will still not fix it! I am tiered of Tesla! I love the car but its not worth keeping with the poor service that hey offer.

Very well explained as usual, thank you. Gonna try it on freshly purchased Model S 100d. Head up to my channel if you want to see it 😀

It’s a bit of a clunky solution for Apple users. I’ll wait until Tesla has an official solution,

I have a question about the Tesla Sentry Mode and the Sentry View app for IOS. While your Tesla is park at a public place and if someone tries to break into your Tesla, will it send the owner a notification on his/her iPhone while the Sandisk Connect is still installed in the vehicle? Also, why can you view your Tesla’s 3 cameras in real time while the Sandisk Connect is connected inside the vehicle?

I purchased the IOS TeslaCam but I am having problems when lots of video gets recorded. I feel that the software will get better as I have other apps from this developer which are great. For now I have the following in my model 3. SanDisk Media drive which lets you view any SD card w/ streaming video over wifi. An old chromebook which has a SD card reader. The chrombook seems the base use case for me at the moment because I can browse the large volume of videos. There is also a raspberry Pi image built for TeslaCam that will offload the videos to your home network but I have not played around with it (see teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/anyone-still-rocking-a-pi-zero-w-smart-drive-for-teslacam-on-sentry-mode.143582/ )

Teslas in the Wild DashCam Artificial Intelligence ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hJDkbmIdZck.html

TLDW