Room Monitor Help

1. Getting started

1. Review the legal documents. On the first launch, and again when an updated installation or legal document requires it, acknowledge the Privacy Policy and accept the License Agreement. Camera use is blocked until both steps are complete.
2. Grant camera access. Allow access when macOS asks so Room Monitor can show a preview and detect motion.
3. Select a camera. Use the Camera control in the main window. If a newly connected camera is absent, select the refresh button beside the camera list.
4. Choose where recordings go. Open Settings… → Storage → Save events to → Choose… and select a parent folder. Room Monitor creates its own Room Monitor subfolder there.
5. Choose your recording type. Under Settings… → Event Capture, select Still Images, Video Clip, or Stills + Video.
6. Click Start Monitoring. Room Monitor first completes the configured Initial delay before monitoring, then begins accepting motion events. Move through the scene to test your setup.
7. Review the result. After an event completes, choose Show Event or Show Events to open the recordings in Finder.

Once this basic workflow succeeds, adjust motion sensitivity, image quality, capture timing, and scheduling to suit your location.

2. The main window

During an event, the preview can display the event-folder name. During startup or between events, status text may say Arming or Event cooldown with a remaining time.

The red badge only appears once an event has successfully started (not merely when motion is detected). If staging cannot be created, the application reports an error instead of falsely announcing a recording.

3. Camera setup and motion region

Choose a camera and resolution

Open Settings… → Camera to choose a camera and an available Resolution. Formats are listed with their dimensions and maximum supported frame rates. The Delivered frame value reports what the capture session actually supplies, which may differ from the requested format. The Focus field indicates whether continuous autofocus can be requested or is managed by the camera.

Camera and resolution changes are unavailable while monitoring. Stop monitoring before making those adjustments.

Monitor only part of the image

1. Stop monitoring if it is running.
2. Enable Use selected region in the main window.
3. Drag across the preview to draw the rectangle you want monitored. A dashed yellow outline shows the selected region.
4. Start monitoring again. Motion detection now examines only that area.

To redefine the region, stop monitoring and drag a new rectangle. To return to full-frame detection, turn off Use selected region. Your rectangle is remembered if you enable it again.

4. Understanding motion detection

Room Monitor compares the brightness of sampled positions in successive camera frames, within either the whole image or your selected motion region. Positions with a sufficiently large brightness difference are counted as changed. The percentage of changed positions is displayed as Motion area while monitoring.

An event begins only when the proportion of changed positions reaches the minimum area and this condition persists for the required number of consecutive frames. The app can then keep the event open briefly after motion stops.

A practical example

If Minimum changed area is set to 5%, at least about 5% of the sampled positions inside the active detection region must change enough between frames to qualify. This is a measure of image change, not the physical size of a person or object. Camera noise, lighting changes, shadows, and moving backgrounds also influence the result.

Start with Medium brightness change sensitivity. Adjust Minimum changed area and Frames to confirm motion before making dramatic sensitivity changes.

5. Choosing what to capture

Use Settings… → Event Capture. The available options change with the selected Capture type.

Timing settings

Video and microphone

Video is saved as H.264 in an MP4 file. The Frame rate choices are 10, 15, and 30 fps; 15 fps is a sensible starting point for room monitoring. Higher frame rates provide more temporal detail but may increase resource use and file size.

Enable Use microphone to add AAC audio to event video from the current default macOS microphone. Room Monitor requests microphone permission only when that option is enabled. When possible, corresponding pre-motion audio is also included. There is no microphone audio recording in the still-images-only mode.

Still-image quality and timestamps

Choose Image quality (Low, Medium, or High). Higher JPEG quality generally means larger files. Room Monitor attempts high-quality still capture through the camera when available and can fall back to saving frames from the video stream.

With Add timestamp to saved still images enabled, the saved JPEG has a visible date/time annotation. If you also enable Also save original still without timestamp, Room Monitor writes a second unannotated JPEG alongside each annotated still. These options do not add annotations to MP4 video.

6. Scheduling, unattended use, and alerts

Multiple recurring schedules

In Settings… → General, enable Automatically monitor on a schedule. You can edit an existing schedule or choose Add Schedule to create additional rules. Each rule has an Enabled checkbox, weekday selection, an All day option, and (when All day is off) Start and End times.

Monitoring is requested when any enabled schedule is active. Overlapping schedules are combined; they do not continually stop and restart the camera. A schedule whose start and end times are the same is inactive—use All day for 24-hour coverage on selected days.

Manual monitoring is not stopped just because a scheduled period ends. Conversely, monitoring started by a schedule normally ends when no schedule remains active. A schedule can begin only when Room Monitor is running, the Mac is awake, a camera and destination are available, and the legal review and Responsible Use acknowledgment are current. If a scheduled start cannot proceed because a destination has not been chosen, the app does not display a folder picker automatically.

General options

• Prevent idle sleep while monitoring: Asks macOS to keep the Mac awake while monitoring is active. It does not guarantee operation through manual sleep, shutdown, or closing a laptop lid.
• Launch Room Monitor at login: Registers the application as a Login Item, allowing a saved schedule to be evaluated after you log in.
• Notify when a motion event begins: Requests macOS notification permission and posts a local Notification Center alert when an event starts. These are not remote push, email, or SMS alerts.

Recording announcements

Under Settings… → Event Capture → Recording Indicators, you can enable or disable the recording-start chime, adjust its volume, and select Test Sound to hear it. The chime sounds once when an event begins and does not require notification permission. The preview shows MONITORING while armed and a conspicuous red RECORDING badge while capturing an event; the visual indicator is always enabled.

The audible announcement may not reach anyone in the room if the Mac is muted or routes sound to headphones. Moreover, any configured Capture before motion frames can predate the chime. If microphone capture is on, speakers playing the chime may also be audible in the saved video. Operators should arrange appropriate notice to people in the space independently of these software indicators.

Menu-bar and Dock indications

The Room Monitor menu-bar item displays status and provides Start Monitoring, Stop Monitoring, Open Room Monitor, and Quit. When an event is awaiting review, it can also show event details and a Show Events command. The Dock icon displays a numeric badge for unreviewed events in the current app session.

7. Reviewing recorded events

Room Monitor stores one folder per completed motion event. The Show Event or Show Events button opens the dedicated destination directory in Finder. Selecting it also marks the current session's unreviewed events as reviewed, clearing the associated Dock badge.

The last-event and unreviewed-count indicators are session information rather than a permanent inventory of recordings. Restarting Room Monitor resets that session state; the recording files remain in their destination unless you or the retention policy remove them.

Folder and file layout

Folder you selected/
└── Room Monitor/
    ├── event_2026-10-10_14-30-05/
    │   ├── event.mp4                  (video modes)
    │   ├── pretrigger_..._0001.jpg   (when available)
    │   ├── motion_..._0001.jpg       (still modes)
    │   └── motion_..._0001_original.jpg (optional)
    └── event_2026-10-10_17-12-44/
        └── ...

The date and time identify the event folder. Still filenames include their capture time and sequence number. Exact contents depend on capture type, timing, camera support, and available pre-motion history; the example above combines options that may not all be enabled.

Why a newly recorded event might not appear immediately

Events are first written to a private staging area on the Mac. Once all recording and file-writing activity finishes, Room Monitor delivers the completed folder to your chosen destination. It temporarily uses a hidden name while copying so an incomplete folder is not presented as a finished event.

If the destination is a disconnected external drive, unavailable network folder, or temporarily inaccessible cloud-synchronized location, the completed event remains staged locally and delivery is retried. When the destination is restored, allow time for transfers to complete. The event indicator can reflect a completed event even before its delivery has finished.

8. Storage, retention, and disk safeguards

Choosing a destination

Under Settings… → Storage, choose the parent folder using Save events to → Choose…. Room Monitor creates and uses a dedicated child folder named Room Monitor. The Last saved file field identifies a recently delivered recording when available.

Local disks, external drives, and supported network or synchronized folders can be used, subject to macOS permissions and their availability. If you select a folder managed by Dropbox, iCloud Drive, or another synchronization service, that service may subsequently sync recordings according to your own account settings; Room Monitor itself does not upload them to a developer-operated service.

Two different storage thresholds

Automatic retention

Enable Delete old event folders automatically and set Keep events for to determine when Room Monitor may remove old recordings. The initial defaults in this build are enabled and 30 days.

Routine cleanup is automatic. Room Monitor pauses deletion and displays a persistent Review old events warning when it encounters eligible events on first inspection, after a long gap (normally more than seven days since the last successful check), when an existing destination is selected again, when the retention period is shortened, or when recordings are substantially overdue. Choose Review… to see how many event folders qualify, open them in Finder, postpone deletion, or approve deletion of the displayed set. If eligible folders change before approval, the app requires a new review. It does not display recurring modal dialogs while unattended.

The app verifies ownership markers before deleting eligible event folders and avoids following symbolic links. The storage warning does not override the retention age. Make sure your retention period and free-space setting suit the available storage and expected event volume.

9. Settings reference

The following ranges and initial values were checked against this project version. If you have used Room Monitor previously, your saved settings may differ.

General

Camera

Motion Detection

Event Capture

Storage

10. Practical configurations

These are starting strategies, not guaranteed settings. Begin with a short monitored test and adjust one control at a time. Lighting, camera noise, frame rate, subject distance, and field of view all affect results.

If you get too many events

First exclude distracting areas. Then raise Minimum changed area or Frames to confirm motion, or reduce brightness change sensitivity. Increase Delay between events only if you deliberately want to suppress events immediately following another event.

If Room Monitor misses movement

Check the region, camera framing, and light level. Reduce Minimum changed area or the confirming-frame count; consider a higher brightness sensitivity. If activity occurs while the status reads Arming or Event cooldown, the timing settings may be intentionally suppressing it.

11. Troubleshooting

12. Privacy, legal documents, and support

Motion analysis and event creation happen on your Mac. Room Monitor does not require a Room Monitor account and does not transmit camera images, microphone recordings, or saved events to a developer-operated cloud service. The destination you select determines where recordings reside; any syncing performed by a separate storage provider follows that provider's rules and your settings.

The Privacy Policy, License Agreement, and Responsible Use statement are also accessible in the application's Room Monitor menu, Help menu, and About Room Monitor window. Reading them later does not change your recorded first-launch acknowledgment or acceptance. macOS camera and microphone permissions remain separate decisions.

For assistance, email [email protected]. Please include the Room Monitor version and build number (in About Room Monitor), macOS version, camera model, the feature involved, and a description of the behavior. Avoid emailing sensitive recordings unless you intentionally choose to share them.

Before your first monitoring session, acknowledge the Responsible Use statement. If a new app build or changed statement requires fresh acknowledgment, Room Monitor will request it again when monitoring is started. Monitoring cannot begin before this step; if you cancel, the app stays open. Provide appropriate notice to people who may be monitored; a visible sign is recommended and an optional physical indicator may help. Recording indicators in the app may not be noticed by everyone.

Online resources: Support · Privacy Policy · License Agreement · Responsible Use and printable monitoring sign.