How to Share a Yoosee Camera With Family or Staff

There are two ways to let more than one person watch the same Yoosee camera, and they are not equivalent. Route one: the owner shares the camera to another person's own account — each person keeps their own login, and the owner can withdraw access at any time. Route two: everyone signs in with the same account — quicker to arrange, but you have handed out full control of every camera on that account, and taking it back means changing the password for everybody.

For family at home, either can work. For staff, tenants, cleaners, or anyone who might leave, route one is the only sensible option. Here is how each works, what a shared user can and cannot do, and how to revoke access when someone no longer needs it.

Route 1 — Share the camera to another account

This is the intended way. The other person installs the app, registers their own account with their own phone number or email, and you grant that account access to a specific camera.

The steps

1. Have the other person register first. They need an existing account before you can share to it. Ask them for the exact registration identifier — the phone number or email address they signed up with, not a nickname.
2. Open the camera in your app, go into its settings, and find the sharing option. Depending on the app version it may be labelled share, guest, family or device sharing.
3. Enter their account identifier, or let them scan the QR code the app generates. The QR route avoids typos, which is worth using when you are both in the same room.
4. Choose which camera or cameras to share. Sharing is normally per device, so a person given access to the shop floor camera does not automatically get the stockroom one.
5. Have them accept. On most versions the invitation shows up in their app and has to be accepted before it becomes active.

The camera then appears in their list. They keep their own password, and nothing about your account changes.

What sharing does not give away

A shared user is not an owner. Specific rights vary by model and app version, so verify on your own setup rather than assuming, but the general shape is consistent: the owner keeps administrative control, and shared users get to watch.

• The owner can always revoke access, without changing any password.
• Shared users generally cannot delete the camera, unbind it, or transfer ownership.
• Some settings are owner-only — often the ones that change how the device behaves, such as network configuration, formatting the memory card, or factory reset.
• Alert delivery can differ. A shared account may receive fewer notifications than the owner, or none, depending on how the share was set up. If someone reports that alerts never arrive on their phone, compare their access level against the owner's before debugging the phone.

Because these details differ between models and app versions, the reliable way to know is to share to a second account, then go through the functions that matter to you and see what is greyed out.

Route 2 — Sign in with the same account on a second phone

The other approach is simply to hand over the login. Both phones install the app, both sign in as the owner, and both see everything.

It works, and for a couple sharing a home it is often what people do. But be clear about what it means:

• Everyone has full control. Anyone signed in can delete cameras, change settings, unbind devices, or change the account password — including locking you out.
• Taking access back is disruptive. There is no revoke button. You change the account password, which signs out every device, and then everyone who should still have access has to sign back in.
• Simultaneous logins may be limited. Some app versions restrict how many devices can be signed in at once, or push notifications only to the most recent login — so the older phone silently stops getting alerts. If two phones share one account and one of them stopped alerting, this is the first thing to suspect.
• There is no audit trail. With shared accounts you can at least see who has access. With one shared password you cannot tell who changed a setting.

Use it for a phone and a tablet that both belong to you. Avoid it for anyone whose relationship with you could change.

Which route for which situation

Home, partner or adult family member. Either works. Sharing is still tidier, because each person's alerts and settings stay their own.

Parents or grandparents watching a child or pet. Share to their account. They get to watch without any risk of accidentally deleting a camera while exploring the menus.

Shop or restaurant staff. Share, always. Staff turnover is exactly the case revoke exists for, and a shared account can be removed the day someone leaves without disturbing anyone else.

A landlord and a tenant, or a client and an installer. Share, and be explicit about it. Whoever holds the owner account controls the camera, so agree in advance who that is — retrofitting an ownership change later usually means a factory reset and setting the camera up again.

Your own second device. Same account is fine. It is your account either way.

How to stop sharing

Removing a shared user is the simple case: open the camera settings, find the shared user or share management list, and delete the entry. Access ends without touching your password, and nobody else is affected.

Do a review periodically — most people are surprised by what is on that list. Anyone who has moved out, left the job, or was helping temporarily during an installation should be removed.

If the camera was set up under someone else's account — an installer, a previous owner, a former housemate — you do not have a revoke option, because you are not the owner. The two realistic paths are to ask them to unbind the camera, or to factory reset the device and add it to your own account from scratch. A reset also clears settings, so plan to reconfigure.

If you shared the account password rather than the camera, the only way to remove one person is to change the account password and sign everyone back in. Take the opportunity to switch to proper sharing while you are at it.

Sharing without creating a security problem

A camera is a live view into a room. Treat access to it the way you would treat a key.

• Share to individual accounts, one person per account. A "staff" account that four people use is the same problem as sharing your own login, just one step removed.
• Share only the cameras that person needs. A cleaner might need the corridor, not the bedroom.
• Do not reuse your email password on the camera account, and use a device password that differs from the account password. If a device password gets forgotten, recovery is possible but disruptive.
• Review the shared list when circumstances change — a move, a staff departure, the end of a renovation.
• Tell people they are being recorded. In many places filming staff or visitors carries legal obligations around notice, placement and retention. Rules differ by country, so check what applies where the camera is installed rather than assuming.
• Be careful with screen sharing on a computer. If several people watch on a shared machine, remember that whoever sits at it inherits whatever is signed in — see viewing on a computer for how account choice plays out there.

Frequently asked questions

How many people can view one Yoosee camera at the same time?

The number of shared accounts and the number of simultaneous live viewers are two different limits, and both depend on the model and the app version. In practice the more common ceiling is bandwidth: every additional live viewer is another stream leaving the camera, so on a slow upload connection the picture degrades before any device limit is reached. Check your model's documentation for firm figures rather than relying on a general answer.

Can a shared user delete my camera or change my settings?

Generally no — administrative actions such as deleting the device, unbinding it or resetting it stay with the owner account, while shared users get viewing and a limited set of controls. Exactly which controls are included varies between models and app versions, so if a specific setting matters to you, test it on a second account before relying on it.

Can two phones use the same Yoosee account at once?

Often yes, but some app versions limit simultaneous logins or send push notifications only to the most recently signed-in device. If two phones share one account and one has gone quiet, that is the likely explanation. Sharing to separate accounts avoids the conflict altogether.

How do I remove someone who already has access?

If you shared the camera to their account, open the camera's share management list and delete their entry — access ends immediately and no passwords change. If you gave them your account password instead, you have to change that password and sign your own devices back in, because there is nothing to revoke.

The installer set my camera up under his account. How do I take ownership?

Ask him to unbind the device from his account first; that is the clean route and it preserves your settings. If he is unreachable, a factory reset releases the camera so you can add it under your own account, at the cost of reconfiguring everything. Either way, do it before you rely on the camera, not after.

Can I share a camera with someone in another country?

Yes — sharing works over the internet and does not require the other person to be on the same network. They need the app, their own account and a working connection. Bear in mind that a distant viewer opening the live stream still consumes upload bandwidth at the camera's location.

Managing cameras across several sites?

If you install or supply cameras for other people rather than only using your own, partner and distribution information for the Yoosee range is at business.yoosee.com.