Reolink

Review by eFreeware

Reolink is the companion app for the company's own security cameras and recorders, published by Reolink Innovation Limited. If you own Reolink hardware, this is the piece that turns it into something you can check from a phone, whether you are on the same network or away from home. The app is free, carries no ads and has no in-app purchases, and it has been on Google Play since May 2015.

The appeal is straightforward: live views of your cameras, recorded footage you can pull back up, and alerts when something moves, all from one place. The developer pitches it as an easy remote viewing app, and the install numbers back up that it is widely used, with more than 5 million installs. The average rating sits at 3.4 from over 41,000 ratings, which is a mixed signal worth weighing if you are choosing hardware partly on the strength of its app.

What I would keep in mind before installing is that this is not a general-purpose camera viewer. The developer notes that it works with Reolink NVRs and IP cameras, so it is best thought of as the remote control for a Reolink setup rather than a hub for whatever cameras you happen to own.

Adding a camera takes three steps on your own network

The feature the developer leads with is setup. Cameras and NVRs sitting on the same local network can be added in three steps, which is presented as the simplest route to getting a picture on screen. That matters because camera apps often lose people at the pairing stage, and a short path from install to first live view is the difference between using the system and forgetting about it.

Once a device is on the app, live streaming works over 3G, 4G or WiFi, so the same view is available whether you are on cellular data or at home on your own network.

The screen can hold up to 16 channels at once, so a multi-camera property can be watched as a grid rather than one feed at a time. For a small business with several angles to cover, or a home with cameras at the front, back and side, that single overview is the most useful part of the app.

Playback, snapshots and pan-tilt-zoom control

Recorded footage can be played back remotely from a camera's SD card or from the hard drive inside an NVR, so you are not limited to whatever is happening right now. That is the feature you reach for after an alert, when you want to see what actually triggered it rather than staring at a live view and hoping it happens again.

The app also captures video from live channels onto the phone for later playback, and it saves single or multiple still images to the device. Having a clip or a frame stored locally is handy when you need to show something to someone else or keep a record without exporting from the recorder.

For cameras that move, PTZ control is available remotely in four directions: left, right, up and down. It is a simple set of movements, but it means a single pan-tilt-zoom camera can cover more ground than its resting position suggests, and you can adjust the angle from wherever you are rather than walking over to it.

Motion detection feeds into alerts, with emails or push notifications sent when it is triggered. Recording can be scheduled at any time, including recording that starts on motion, so the system can be set to watch during the hours that matter and stay quiet otherwise.

What the app asks of you: Reolink hardware, and nothing else

The practical requirement is the hardware. If you already own Reolink equipment, the app is the natural way to use it; if you do not, the app on its own has nothing to show you.

On cost, there is little to weigh. The app is free to install, shows no ads and offers no in-app purchases, so there is no paid tier to consider and nothing to buy inside it. The expense in this setup sits with the cameras and recorder, not with the software.

The rating is the other thing to factor in. An average of 3.4 across more than 41,000 ratings suggests a base of users with divided opinions, and that is worth knowing before you commit to a camera system on the strength of its app alone. The app was last updated in September 2026, so development is ongoing.

Getting more out of a Reolink setup

The three-step local setup is the part I would use first. Bringing cameras onto the app while on the same network as the recorder avoids the fiddlier remote path and gets the devices registered before you rely on them from elsewhere. Once they are in, switching to cellular or a different WiFi network is the real test of whether remote viewing works the way you need.

Scheduling is worth thinking through rather than leaving at defaults. Since recording can be set for chosen times and can be tied to motion, a schedule that matches your actual routine will produce fewer irrelevant alerts than one that runs around the clock. The same goes for motion alerts: emails and push notifications are only useful if the triggers are tuned to what you care about.

The 16-channel grid is best used as a summary rather than a destination. Glancing at the whole set at once tells you whether anything needs a closer look, and the PTZ controls and playback are there when one feed does. Recent updates have also touched the day and night views, regrouped some settings, and made icons like WiFi and storage on the camera home page tappable, with the event history filter now remembering your last selection.

A capable companion for Reolink owners

Reolink does the job it is built for: watching and managing Reolink cameras and recorders from a phone, at home or away, without ads or purchases getting in the way. Live views, playback from SD cards and NVR drives, snapshots, motion alerts and PTZ control cover the everyday tasks of running a small camera system, and the 16-channel grid keeps a multi-camera property manageable on a single screen.

It is for people who own or plan to buy Reolink hardware and want a free app to run it. The compatibility note is the deciding factor: this is the software half of a Reolink system, not a viewer for cameras from other brands. The 3.4 average rating is a fair reason to read up on the specific model you are considering before buying.

If you are already inside the Reolink ecosystem, installing this is the obvious next step. If you are still choosing hardware, treat the app as one part of that decision rather than the whole of it.

What's new in version 4.63.0.3.20260924

1.Day & Night: Features have been redesigned with an updated UI. 2.Display: Features have been regrouped, with updated wording for improved clarity. 3.Event History: The Event Type filter now remembers your last selection, making it easier to quickly view the event types you care about. 4.Quick Access on Home Page: Icons such as Wi-Fi and Storage on the camera home page are now clickable, providing quick access to the corresponding