Owning a surveillance camera from Xiaomi often requires access to video streams not only for the owner of the device, but also for other family members. The situation when a husband and wife, or parents and children want to see what is happening at home at the same time is absolutely standard for the Mi Home ecosystem. However, the process of setting access rights for a second smartphone is not always intuitive and can cause difficulties for newcomers to the smart home world.
The main difficulty is that simply logging into the same account from different devices often leads to conflicts or functionality limitations. Xiaomi security system is designed to minimize the risk of hacking, so direct cloning sessions is not a standard method of solving the problem.
In this article, we will discuss all the nuances of multiplayer, learn how to properly configure main and secondary accounts, what restrictions exist, and how to avoid typical synchronization errors. Competent settings will ensure stable video surveillance without unnecessary notifications and authorization problems.
The principles of the account in the ecosystem Mi Home
Before you start to take action, it is important to understand the logic of the Xiaomi IoT cloud platform. There is a clear separation of roles in the system: there is the owner of the device (administrator) and there are users who have access. The owner attaches the camera to his account at the initial setup, and it is his phone that becomes the main control center.
Trying to log into the Mi Home app on a second phone using the username and administrator password is technically possible, but highly undesirable. This approach can lead to the fact that push notifications about the movement will come randomly, and in some cases, the security system may temporarily block access, evaluating the entrance from a new one. IP-Addresses as suspicious activity.
⚠️ Warning: Never use the same account to continuously monitor from three or more devices at the same time, which can cause statuses to be desynchronized and video recordings to be lost in the cloud.
The right approach is to create separate profiles for each family member, and the primary account retains full rights: the ability to delete the camera, change Wi-Fi settings, format the memory card, and allow access to others, and secondary accounts receive limited rights that the administrator grants them, which ensures security and control over who has access to the video stream.
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Using separate accounts for each user is the only stable way to access Xiaomi’s camera from multiple phones without conflict.
Preparation for setting up: creating a family structure
The connection process begins long before you pick up the second phone, the first step is to prepare the digital environment, make sure that the main smartphone, which is already tied to the camera, installed the latest update of the Mi Home app, old versions may not display the access control menu correctly.
For the second user, you need to create a new Xiaomi account, which can be done directly in the app or through the website. When registering, it is important to choose the same region as the main camera settings. If your camera is tied to the Russia region, then the second account must be registered in the same region, otherwise the devices will not see each other on the network.
Regional linking is a critical parameter of Xiaomi’s infrastructure, with servers isolated from each other to comply with local data retention laws, and adding a device from a European account to a camera registered in China will result in an authorization error.
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When registering a new account, use a mobile phone number, not an email, which will speed up the process of restoring access in the case of a forgotten password and make verification easier.
You also need to agree on naming conventions, and you need to call accounts by clear names, like, for example, names, "Mom_Phone" or "Dad_Tablet", So that when sending invitations do not get confused in the list of contacts.
Step-by-step instruction: transfer of access rights
Now, to the direct setup, all the actions are done on the main phone, where the camera is already working correctly. Open the Mi Home app and find your camera tile in the list of devices. Click on it to go to the live viewing interface.
In the upper right corner of the screen, you'll see a three-dot icon or gear icon, which is the settings menu of a particular device. In the list that opens, you'll need to find an item that can be called Camera Settings, Sharing or Share device. The interface may vary slightly depending on the camera model (Mi Home Security Camera 360, Outdoor, Baby Monitor).
Click Add or +. The system will suggest you choose the way to transfer rights. The most convenient option is to search by Xiaomi ID account or phone number associated with the second device. Enter the second user's data in the appropriate field.
☑️ Check before sending an invitation
Once the data is entered, the system will send a request, the second phone will receive a notification that user X wants to provide access to the device, you must accept the invitation, from which point the camera will appear in the list of devices on the second smartphone, but notified that the device belongs to another user.
Setting up rights and restrictions for the second user
When you transfer access, the administrator can choose the privilege level, which is an important aspect of digital hygiene, and you don't have to give the second user full rights, especially if it's a child or an elderly relative who might accidentally change important parameters.
The access control menu usually has the following options:
- 📹 Real-time viewing: allows you to see video stream without delay.
- 🔊 Two-way audio: Allows you to speak through the camera and hear the answer.
- 💾 Access to archive: the ability to view records from a memory card or cloud.
- ⚙️ Settings management: the ability to change the angle of rotation, sensor sensitivity and recording modes.
It is recommended to disable the ability to delete the device or reset settings for secondary accounts, which will prevent a situation where someone from the family accidentally removes the camera from the system and it becomes unavailable to everyone until the administrator reconfigures it.
⚠️ Note: If you provide access to the archive, remember that the second user will be able to see all the records, including those that may have been made in your absence.
And you should also look at the Guest Access feature, which allows you to give temporary access to a person who doesn't need constant surveillance, and you can limit that access to a time limit, for example, 24 hours or one week.
Table of comparison of access rights
To better understand the difference between roles, consider a comparative table of possibilities, which will help you make an informed decision about what rights to give each family member.
| Function/Role | Owner (Admin) | Family member (User) | Guest (Temporary) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Watch Live | ✅ Full access | ✅ Full access | ✅ Full access |
| Bilateral communication | ✅ Included. | ✅ Included (by default) | ❌ Often offline |
| Viewing the archive | ✅ Full access | ✅ Depends on the settings. | ❌ No access. |
| Change of settings | ✅ Full rights | ⚠️ Limited. | ❌ No access. |
| Deletion of the device | ✅ Maybe. | ❌ Forbidden. | ❌ Forbidden. |
As you can see from the table, the owner retains full control of the situation, and even if you give maximum rights to a family member, the "nuclear" features, such as uncoupling the device from the account, will remain available only to you, ensuring that the camera does not get lost or become unavailable.
Solving Typical Synchronization Problems and Errors
Despite the simplicity of the procedure, users may face technical difficulties, and one of the most common problems is the camera is offline on the second phone, although everything works on the first phone, often because the bandwidth of the Wi-Fi channel is limited, and the camera may not be able to encode and send two streams of high quality at the same time.
In this case, it is recommended to reduce the flow quality on the second device, if the main user is looking in HD, the second can be given SD (standard) quality, which will reduce the load on the camera processor and router, providing a smooth picture without jerks.
What to do if there is no notification of the invitation?
Another common mistake is to say, "The device is occupied by another user," which is typical of older camera models that only support one coding stream, in which case simultaneous viewing is not physically possible, and you have to choose between watching one or the other.
If you use a memory card to write, make sure it is formatted into a FAT32 or exFAT file system supported by the camera. The problems with reading the archive on the second phone often lie in format incompatibility or damage to the card sectors.
Security and privacy of the video stream
Connecting the camera to two phones expands the security perimeter, and now you have two devices that can be lost or hacked, so it's critical to set up two-factor authentication (2FA) for both accounts.
Turn on SMS or authenticator confirmation, which will protect your accounts even if your passwords leak, and check the active device list in your Xiaomi account settings regularly, and if you see an unfamiliar gadget, change your password immediately and revoke access from all devices.
⚠️ Note: Change your Xiaomi account passwords periodically, especially if you have ever given access to third parties (baby-in-law, repairmen) and forgot to revoke their rights.
Remember that Xiaomi's camera is an Internet of Things (IoT) device. Keep the firmware of the camera itself updated. Manufacturers regularly release security patches that close vulnerabilities through which attackers could access the video stream.
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Regularly checking the list of trusted devices and updating passwords is a must-have habit for owners of smart cameras, ensuring peace of mind and privacy.