How to use Frigate on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch

Frigate doesn’t have an App Store app of its own. On an iPhone you can use its web app in Safari, Home Assistant’s companion app if you run Home Assistant, or a native app made for Frigate. This page compares the options, then shows how to set up Fregata Mobile, a free native app for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, in a few minutes.

The short answer

For notifications with the picture in them, a timeline you can scrub, iPad layouts and an Apple Watch app, without running Home Assistant, use Fregata Mobile. It’s free, connects straight to Frigate 0.17 or later or to Fregata, and sets up Frigate’s notifications for you.

Your options

Frigate’s web app in Safari

Frigate’s own web interface works well in Safari, and you can add it to your Home Screen. On an iPhone, though, its notifications are text only: Frigate’s docs say only Chrome shows images in web push notifications, and every browser on iOS uses Safari’s engine. A web app also can’t use Siri, Shortcuts or your Apple Watch.

Home Assistant’s companion app

If you already run Home Assistant with the Frigate integration, its companion app can show your cameras and send notifications with pictures. You need Home Assistant running, and for push notifications away from home, community reports describe Nabu Casa’s subscription, about $65 a year, as the dependable route. Its Siri, Shortcuts and Apple Watch features aren’t specific to cameras.

Other Frigate apps on the App Store

Several independent Frigate viewers are on the App Store, and they differ from one another. Many have paid tiers, and some need a notification server of your own before alerts work.

Fregata Mobile

A native Swift app for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, free, with no subscription, ads or account:

• Alerts with the picture, then the clip. Frigate’s own web push, set up for you in one tap, with no Home Assistant, MQTT or extra server. Each event buzzes once, Time Sensitive alerts break through Focus, and you choose the words and the sound.
• A timeline you can scrub. Drag through hours of recordings with preview frames under your finger; alerts and detections pull the playhead to them.
• Live view in a tap. Low-latency streams through go2rtc, decoded in hardware, with camera audio.
• Search, review and clips. Frigate’s semantic search and Find Similar, review filtered by any mix of cameras and objects, and clips you can trim and share.
• iPad and Apple Watch. Three columns on iPad. On the watch, a picture of any camera that keeps refreshing while your wrist is up, alerts with a Live button, and complications.
• Siri and Shortcuts. Your latest alert, a snapshot or a clip, as Shortcuts actions.
• Home and away. Give it your home and away addresses and it uses whichever answers: Tailscale or another VPN, Cloudflare Tunnel with Access, or a reverse proxy, with custom headers and self-signed certificates.
• Private by design. Your video goes from your NVR to your devices and never passes through our servers. Notifications are encrypted so that Apple’s servers can never read them.

See how it compares, row by row, on the home page.

Set up Fregata Mobile

1. Install the app. Install Fregata Mobile on your iPhone or iPad; the Apple Watch app comes with it. See Install Fregata Mobile.
2. Connect your server. Type your NVR’s address and sign in. See Connect your server.
3. Turn on notifications. In Settings, open Server Notification Setup and tap Set up automatically. See Set up alerts.
4. Add an Away address. To watch, and get pictures in alerts, away from home. See Away from home.

What you need

• An iPhone or iPad on iOS or iPadOS 26 or later, and watchOS 26 for the Apple Watch app.
• Frigate 0.17 or later, or any version of Fregata.
• For alerts, the app connected on port 8971 rather than 5000, and your NVR able to reach https://push.fregata.app.

Price

Free. No subscription, no ads, no account, and nothing locked away.

Frequently asked questions

Is there an official Frigate app for iPhone?

No. Frigate's maintainers make a web app, which works in Safari on an iPhone. Fregata Mobile is an independent native app by 3rd Bit Labs LLC. It works with Frigate, and isn't affiliated with or endorsed by Frigate, Inc.

What is the best Frigate app for iPhone?

For notifications with the picture in them, a timeline you can scrub, iPad layouts and an Apple Watch app, without running Home Assistant, Fregata Mobile. It's free and native, and connects straight to Frigate 0.17 or later or to Fregata. If you already run Home Assistant and want your whole home in one app, its companion app is a good fit too.

How do I get Frigate notifications on my iPhone?

Install Fregata Mobile, open Settings › Server Notification Setup and tap Set up automatically. It turns on Frigate's notifications, registers your iPhone and, with your OK, restarts Frigate. Alerts then arrive with the picture, then a short clip, through Frigate's own web push, with no Home Assistant or MQTT.

Can I get Frigate alerts with pictures without Home Assistant?

Yes. Fregata Mobile uses Frigate's own web push, so it needs nothing but Frigate 0.17 or later, or Fregata. The picture comes straight from your NVR.

Is there a Frigate app for Apple Watch?

Fregata Mobile includes one. Pick a camera for a picture that keeps refreshing while your wrist is up, get alerts with the picture and a Live button, and add a complication with your unreviewed count. It takes your servers from your iPhone, so there's nothing to set up on the watch.

Is there a Frigate app for iPad?

Yes. Fregata Mobile runs natively on iPad, where Review opens in three columns, the list, the timeline and the details, and the other tabs keep what you tapped beside what you were looking at.

Can I watch my Frigate cameras on my iPhone away from home?

Yes, whenever your iPhone can reach your NVR, over Tailscale or another VPN, Cloudflare Tunnel, a reverse proxy or a forwarded port. Fregata Mobile switches between your home and away addresses by itself, and sends the custom headers a proxy such as Cloudflare Access asks for.

Is Fregata Mobile free?

Yes. There's no subscription, no ads, no account and nothing locked away.