Most Nexar camera owners use the app to review footage. That's the most visible function. The app does considerably more — and the features most drivers never explore are often the most useful ones for safety and evidence management.
This is the complete guide to the Nexar app, covering every feature that matters.
Initial Setup and Camera Pairing
Before anything else works, the camera needs to be paired with the app:
- Download the app (iOS or Android) and create an account using the email address you want to receive alerts on.
- Power on the camera. The first time it powers on, it broadcasts a pairing Wi-Fi network.
- In the app, tap the camera icon at the top, then "Add Camera." Follow the on-screen pairing instructions — the app will connect to the camera's temporary Wi-Fi network and complete pairing.
- Once paired, add your home Wi-Fi network in Settings → Camera → Wi-Fi Networks. This enables automatic footage upload when parked at home.
- Enable push notifications when prompted — incident alerts are delivered here.
The Drive Score System
Every trip receives a score from 0–100. This is the most consistently useful ongoing feature for drivers who want to improve their habits. Understanding what goes into the score:
Hard braking: The highest-weight metric. Registered when deceleration exceeds a threshold (approximately 0.4g). This indicates following too closely or late hazard detection. A single hard brake event can reduce a trip score significantly.
Hard acceleration: Registered when acceleration exceeds a threshold. Less dangerous than hard braking but indicative of aggressive driving patterns. Lower weight in the score than braking.
Erratic speed changes: Multiple speed oscillations over a short distance — speeding up, slowing down, speeding up — rather than smooth speed management. Indicates distracted or agitated driving.
Near-collision events (BADAS): When the BADAS model identifies a high-risk situation — a vehicle pulling out ahead, closing distance to a stopped vehicle, a pedestrian in the path — the event is logged and weighted in the score.
Tapping on any trip's score shows a breakdown by event type and where in the route each event occurred. This geographic view is the most actionable feedback — you can see whether your hard braking consistently happens at the same intersection or in the same traffic pattern, which points to a specific behavioral change.
Trip History and Route Review
Every trip is stored in the Trips section with:
- Start and end location (shown as a map line)
- Trip duration and distance
- Drive score
- Number of flagged events
Tap any trip to see the full route on a map and access footage from that trip. The route map is color-coded by drive score — green sections for smooth driving, yellow for minor events, red for significant events. This lets you identify specific road segments or trip portions that generated most of the score impact without watching the full footage.
Events and Incident Management
The Events section contains all automatically flagged clips — G-sensor triggers, BADAS near-miss detections, and parking mode activations. This is the footage most likely to be relevant as evidence.
For each event:
- Review the clip: Tap to play the flagged footage with GPS overlay.
- Star to save: Star icon marks the clip for indefinite retention. Without starring, events may be overwritten as storage fills.
- Share: Generate a time-limited link to the clip that can be shared with insurance, police, or legal counsel without requiring the recipient to have a Nexar account.
- Download: Download the original file to your phone for local storage and submission.
- Dismiss: If the event is a false trigger (pothole, speed bump), dismiss it to keep your events list clean.
Hazard Alerts
The Hazard Alerts feature aggregates sudden braking events from multiple Nexar cameras on the same road segment and generates location-based alerts for approaching drivers. In the app:
- Active hazard alerts appear on the map in the app's home screen as warning icons with a short description (e.g., "Multiple hard brakes reported ahead — possible road hazard")
- Alerts are generated when a threshold number of cameras (typically 5+) detect unusual braking in the same location within a rolling time window
- Alerts expire when new traffic data shows the hazard has cleared
For this feature to generate alerts relevant to your route, you need to have the route loaded in the app's map view before the trip — alerts are location-based, not push notifications. This is more useful for planned routes than for spontaneous driving.
Parking Mode Management
If your camera is hardwired, parking mode is managed from the app:
- Enable/disable: Settings → Camera → Parking Mode. Toggle on/off. When on, the camera enters standby after ignition off and monitors for motion/impact triggers.
- Trigger sensitivity: Adjust the sensitivity of the motion and impact triggers. High sensitivity catches more events but generates more false triggers. Medium is the appropriate default for most parking environments.
- Parking mode alerts: When a parking trigger fires, the app sends a push notification with a thumbnail from the triggering frame. These alerts arrive within 30–60 seconds of the event on LTE-connected cameras.
- Live view from parking: On LTE cameras, tap the camera icon on the home screen while the vehicle is parked to see a live feed from the camera. Useful for remotely assessing a parking area after receiving a parking alert.
Cloud Storage Management
Navigate to Settings → Cloud Storage to see your current allocation and usage:
- Usage breakdown: How much storage is used by events, trips, and starred clips respectively
- Rollover schedule: When oldest non-starred footage will be removed to make room for new footage
- Plan upgrade: Upgrade storage tier if you're frequently hitting the limit
The most common storage management issue: events accumulate without being reviewed or dismissed. A monthly 10-minute review — dismissing false triggers, starring genuine events, downloading anything legally significant — keeps the allocation clean and ensures new events have space.
Camera Health and Status
Settings → Camera → Status shows:
- Camera firmware version and whether an update is available
- GPS signal status (strong / weak / no signal)
- Temperature (on cameras with thermal sensors)
- SD card status and space remaining
- LTE signal strength (LTE models)
- Wi-Fi connection status
Check this screen if the camera is behaving unexpectedly — most common issues (no GPS, poor LTE signal, SD card nearly full) are visible here without needing to inspect the physical camera.
Sharing Trips for Coaching
The app allows you to share trip summaries — not just individual clips — with a second user. This is the feature used by:
- Parents monitoring teen drivers (the teen's trips appear in the parent's app view)
- Fleet managers reviewing driver scores
- Seniors who've given family members access to their trip history
In Settings → Account → Shared Access, add a second email address. That user can view trips and scores but cannot access live view or change camera settings — appropriate for a coaching or monitoring relationship where the camera owner maintains control.