Alternatives to the dashcam brand apps (Viofo, 70mai, BlackVue and more)

Almost every dashcam brand has its own app: the VIOFO app, the 70mai app, BlackVue, Thinkware Dashcam Link, MyNextbase Connect, Garmin Drive, the Vantrue app. They are useful for setup and for grabbing one clip at the roadside. For anything more, they get in the way.

Why people look for an alternative

• Wi-Fi transfers are slow. Downloading a whole drive in 4K over the camera's Wi-Fi can take ages.
• Phone screens are small. Reading a plate or judging a near miss needs a big screen and frame-by-frame control.
• One brand only. If you have a Viofo in one car and a 70mai in the other, you need two apps.
• Accounts and cloud. Some apps push you towards an account or a subscription.

The alternatives

Read the card on a computer

The fastest way to get footage off a dashcam is still the microSD card. A USB card reader copies gigabytes in seconds. Then you need software that understands what is on it.

Tripframe (free, in your browser)

Tripframe was made for exactly this. Open the card in Chrome or Edge and every clip is sorted by day and time, front and rear paired, events and parking labelled. It works across brands:

• Viofo
• BlackVue
• Thinkware
• Nextbase
• 70mai
• Garmin
• Vantrue
• Rexing
• Redtiger
• Tesla

No account, nothing is uploaded, nothing to install.

Desktop GPS players

Dashcam Viewer and Registrator Viewer are desktop programs with broad GPS support. See the best dashcam software for a comparison.

A plain video player

VLC plays every file, one at a time. Fine for a single clip.

Keep the brand app for what it is good at

Firmware updates, settings, live view for aiming the camera, and cloud features still need the brand app. For watching and saving footage, a computer and a good viewer win every time.