MacOS Apple Safari 12 and Hikvision cameras

[Phil]

Apple have just released an update to their Safari browser - V12.0

First reports are coming in that with this version of Safari it is no longer possible to view Live Video from your Hikvision cameras.

The latest version of the Mac plugin currently available is V3.0.6.23 (on that landing page click Downloads at the left side; this version is dated Feb 12th 2018) - this is the latest version of the plugin we can find currently and it does not work with Safari V12.0.

We will update as soon as we hear of a resolution.

In the mean time, if you need to view your Hikvision cameras from Safari on your Mac it's probably best to not update just yet.

NB
Our attempts to downgrade Safari have so far been unsuccessful
[for us - it's broken - waiting for a new plugin]

You can access your Hikvision cameras using the Chrome browser on your Mac.
But the maximum resolution it'll show is 1920 x 1080 (looks horrible on a 5K iMac).
And, the Playback function seems to be missing.
We tested a Config change & Save in Chrome and that seemed to work OK.

 

[Phil]

FYI this Safari 12 browser update has removed support for NPAPI plugins.

Bottom of this Apple update page:

Legacy NPAPI Plug-ins

• Removed support for running legacy NPAPI plug-ins other than Adobe Flash.

This is the same step that Firefox (March 2017) and Chrome (Sept 2015) took previously.
Hikvision's plugin for Google Chrome is unsupported
Hikvision plugin doesn't work in Firefox


We await news of what the manufacturers will do about this now.

I'm not optimistic of a quick resolution as we have been waiting for so long for the ability to use any browser (without NPAPI).


Some manufacturers, such as Axis and Synology have provided solutions for surveillance video in browsers (and/or provided their own program/tool).
Axis browser independence
Synology Surveillance Station using html5 in the browser.
Synology also provide a Mac or PC desktop client




On Windows PCs the Internet Explorer browser (not Edge) still works, as it still allows the use of NPAPI plugins (if you prefer Chrome, you can use the IEtab extension to emulate Internet Explorer within the Chrome browser).

 

[Phil]

I know this is not the answer, but simply offered as a stop-gap suggestion - if you have an NVR you can connect a monitor directly to your NVR and that will at least provide you with access to your Live Video and playback of recordings whilst we await a browser/desktop solution.

Also, in case you missed it in my first post:

You can access your Hikvision cameras using the Chrome browser on your Mac.
But the maximum resolution it'll show is 1920 x 1080 (looks horrible on a 5K iMac).
And, the Playback function seems to be missing.
We tested a Config change & Save in Chrome and that seemed to work OK.

You may need to update your NVR/camera firmware to the latest available versions to gain Chrome access.

 

[joi92]

You may need to update your NVR/camera firmware to the latest available versions to gain Chrome access.

I updated to Safari 12 (on macOS High Sierra) and have this issue. However, I can't get Chrome to work with my Hikvision DS-2DE4A225IW-DE. I tried configuring stream (h264(+)/h265(+)), if this would make a difference.

As far as I can see I am running the latest version:

- Firmware Version: V5.5.71 build 180725
- Encoding Version: V7.3 build 180320
- Web Version: V4.0.1 build 180112
- Plugin Version: V3.0.6.33

This new method seems to be not commonly available. I only found this reference to no plugin support for Chrome: Hikvision - No Plug-in on Chrome & Firefox

My Chrome version is Version 69.0.3497.100. Are there some settings that are related to this that could make it not function?

 

[Phil]

Hi, yes, sorry, I think there is only a limited subset of Hikvision devices that are going to work with Chrome on the Mac.
I 'suspect' G1 Family cameras and i-Series NVRs.
Maybe more of the newer camera models too, but it is difficult to say with any confidence when it is often hard to find Release Notes for the firmware.

I also suspect that the performance in Chrome may vary (work or fail) dependant upon the CODEC used (h.264/5+), the frame rate, and even the resolution.

I believe that the camera manufacturers are relying upon a development by a third-party - "no plugin"(?).

We have no official information, yet.

Sorry, it is far from ideal.

 

[joi92]

Ok. Thank you for the information.

 

[fozzer]

Learnt my lesson now, not to upgrade safari

 

[SCLERA systems]

SeaMonkey: Download & Releases

 

[Phil]

Thank you for that - we have tested it here and all seems good!

Our iMac is currently running High Sierra version 10.13.6:

 

[David Drewitt]

I don't see the livestream in SeaMonkey. Are there any settings to change? I have installed the Hikvision Mac plugin.

 

[Phil]

Sorry David, I don't have a Mac at home to check with.

Dan tested Sea Monkey in the office at the end of the day - access to Hikvision and Milesight seemed fine.

He did notice a few anomalies later in some Config areas, but I think Live View was fine straight after he installed Sea Monkey (on a Mac that had previously been used to view Hikvision in Safari but became unable to after the V12 update).

Are you running the latest Mac plugin? Not new. See Post #1 above.

I'm sure others will be along with further feedback soon.

 

[David Drewitt]

Sorry David, I don't have a Mac at home to check with.

Dan tested Sea Monkey in the office at the end of the day - access to Hikvision and Milesight seemed fine.

He did notice a few anomalies later in some Config areas, but I think Live View was fine straight after he installed Sea Monkey (on a Mac that had previously been used to view Hikvision in Safari but became unable to after the V12 update).

Are you running the latest Mac plugin? Not new. See Post #1 above.

I'm sure others will be along with further feedback soon.

Hi Phil, Yes I am running the latest plug in V3.0.6.23. I don't see the live view. I don't know if I need to enable the plugin?

 

[jonwhittaker_]

Just tried SeaMonkey on my Mac since Firefox and Safari were getting 'no plugin detected' errors - works perfectly!

All functions seem to be fine. I find the searching through recordings much easier via the browser compared to iVMS.

Here's a screenshot:

 

[Phil]

Just FYI, one of our customers has shared with me the feedback he was given by Hikvision Tech Support:

• Tech Support have asked Hikvision HQ to provide no-plugin support for Safari.
• As the -I NVR models are now able to be viewed from Chrome or Firefox without a plugin, please use one of those browsers.
• An update for the -K series NVRs will be provided in Q4 (for Chrome & Firefox only).

 

[PaulS]

Firefox seems to work for Live View (you need a single window to pay the main stream), but Playback seems full of holes.

 

[PaulS]

SeaMonkey doesn't seem to work for me. No Live View or Play Back. Running version 2.49.4 - any clues? All I've done is downloaded it, run it and connected to the NVR (7742NI-14 latest code)
The data's there as I can see it on IVMS4500.

 

[David Drewitt]

Firefox seems to work for Live View (you need a single window to pay the main stream), but Playback seems full of holes.

Firefox work perfectly with my camera.

Thank you.

I have deleted SeaMonkey as Firefox is a mainstream browser which is regularly updated.

Specs

MacBook Pro (Late 2013)
MacOS Mojave 10.14
Firefox 62.0.3 (64 bit)

 

[Phil]

Just a note - whether you are having problems or all is well, I guess it might help others if you confirm which Mac device and OS you are currently running, Thanks.

 

[PaulS]

SeaMonkey update.. Live View works if you choose multi-screen (low rez only). If you have multiple screens open and then go to single screen the original cameras used for the Multiscreen seem to stay enabled and there is no image shown. If you click on Play Back and then go to Live, single screen and click one camera it works, but only for my lower data rate cameras (lower fps) - the higher data rate ones don't display. Similar issue on PlayBack; lower rez cameras display but others don't.

 

[PaulS]