Hik-Connect App Draining Your Phone's Battery? Fix It Now

Is the Hik-Connect App Draining Your Phone's Battery?

The Hik-Connect app is an essential tool for managing your Hikvision security devices, allowing you to view live feeds, receive alerts, and check recordings from anywhere. However, you may have noticed that the app is contributing significantly to your smartphone's battery consumption. A security app that leaves you with a dead phone isn't ideal. This guide will explain the common causes of Hik-Connect battery drain and show you how to adjust your settings to minimise its impact while maintaining important functionality.

Why is Hik-Connect Using So Much Battery?

The primary reason the Hik-Connect app consumes battery is through its background processes and push notifications. Here's a breakdown of the main culprits:

• Frequent Push Notifications: Every time your system sends a motion alert, VCA event, or other notification, it wakes up your phone and the app, consuming a small amount of power. If you have a busy scene or overly sensitive settings, this can add up to a major drain.
• Background Activity: The app needs to maintain a connection to the Hik-Connect service in the background to receive these push notifications in a timely manner.
• Live Video Streaming: Actively watching live or recorded video is a power-intensive process, as it uses your phone's screen, processor, and Wi-Fi or mobile data radio.
• Device Status Exceptions: If one of your connected devices (like a DVR or NVR) has a persistent error (e.g., a hard drive failure or video loss on one channel), it can constantly send status updates to the app, causing it to run in the background.
• Inefficient Stream Settings: Using the high-resolution 'Main Stream' for mobile viewing when the 'Sub Stream' would suffice can use more data and processing power, thus draining more battery.

How to Reduce Hik-Connect Battery Consumption

Follow these steps to take control of the app's power usage.

Step 1: Optimise Your Push Notifications

This is the most effective change you can make. The goal is to receive only the alerts you truly care about.

1. Open the Hik-Connect app.
2. Select a specific device (camera/NVR).
3. Go to its Settings page.
4. Find the Notification settings.
5. Refine Motion Detection: Instead of using basic motion detection which can be triggered by anything, try to use more advanced events if your hardware supports them, such as Line Crossing Detection or Intrusion Detection. This will drastically reduce the number of false alarms and, therefore, the number of notifications.
6. Set a Notification Schedule: Do you need motion alerts 24/7? Set a schedule so you only receive notifications when you are away from home or after business hours. Disabling them when you know you're at the property saves significant battery.

Step 2: Manage Background App Activity (On Your Phone)

Your phone's operating system gives you control over how apps behave in the background.

• On Android:

  1. Go to Settings > Apps > Hik-Connect > Battery.
  2. Select 'Restricted' or 'Optimised'. Choosing 'Restricted' will prevent the app from running in the background, which will save the most battery but may cause you to miss push notifications. 'Optimised' is usually the best balance.

• On iPhone:

  1. Go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh.
  2. Find Hik-Connect in the list and toggle it OFF. This will prevent the app from fetching data in the background. Push notifications should still come through, but this can help reduce passive battery drain.

Step 3: Use the Sub Stream for Viewing

When you are viewing your cameras on your phone, you rarely need the full, crystal-clear resolution. Using the lower-resolution sub stream is much more efficient.

1. When viewing a camera live in the app, look for an icon that says 'HD' or 'Basic' (or similar).
2. Tap on it and switch to the 'Basic' or 'Fluent' mode. This selects the sub stream from your camera/NVR.
3. The video will load faster and use significantly less data and battery power. The app should remember this preference for future viewing.

Step 4: Acknowledge and Clear Device Exceptions

If your app is constantly alerting you to a hardware fault, address it.

• Check the app's message centre for any recurring 'Device Status Exception' notifications.
• Identify the cause (e.g., HDD Error, IPC Disconnected).
• Log in to the device locally to fix the underlying issue. For example, you may need to format a hard drive or fix a camera's network connection. Once the exceptions stop, the associated battery drain will too.

By fine-tuning your notifications and viewing habits, you can turn Hik-Connect into a well-behaved app that keeps you secure without leaving you searching for a charger.