ESP32 WebRTC Camera (Live View in Sinric Pro App and Portal)

In this section, we will show you how to stream live video from an ESP32 camera to the Sinric Pro App and the Sinric Pro Portal, from anywhere, using WebRTC.

Prerequisites :

1. ESP32 or ESP32-S3 camera board with PSRAM (for example AI-Thinker ESP32-CAM, XIAO ESP32S3 Sense, Freenove ESP32-S3).
2. Arduino IDE with ESP32 core 3.3.10 or 3.3.11 (the WebRTC library ships precompiled for these versions).
3. Libraries: SinricPro (with WebRTC support) and SinricProWebRTC.

How does it work?

1. The Sinric Pro App or Portal creates a WebRTC offer and sends it to your camera through Sinric Pro.
2. Sinric Pro adds STUN/TURN servers to the request so the camera can be reached from outside your WiFi network.
3. The ESP32 answers, and the video flows directly between the camera and your phone or browser. When a direct path is not possible, it is relayed through the Sinric Pro TURN server.

Step 1: Create the camera device

1. Go to portal.sinric.pro → Devices → Add Device, and select device type Camera.
2. In Camera Stream Configuration, select Board ESP32 and Streaming Protocol WebRTC.
3. On an ESP32-S3, tick H.264 video track as well if you want the camera to reach Amazon Alexa and Google Home. See ESP32-S3 H.264 Camera for Alexa and Google Home.
4. Save, and note the Device Id. Your App Key and App Secret are under Credentials.

Step 2: Install the libraries

In Arduino IDE, open Library Manager and install SinricPro and SinricProWebRTC.

Step 3: Flash the example

1. Open File → Examples → SinricProWebRTC → SinricProCamera.
2. In Settings.h, set your WiFi, App Key, App Secret, Device Id and CAMERA_BOARD (see BoardProfiles.h).
3. Under Tools, enable PSRAM and select a partition scheme with at least a 3 MB app, such as Huge APP (3MB No OTA).
4. Upload, then open the Serial Monitor at 115200 baud. You should see Connected to SinricPro.

Step 4: View the camera

• App: open the camera from the device list.
• Portal: click Preview on the camera card.

Snapshots (Take Snapshot, View Snapshots) keep working alongside live view.

Limitations

• Amazon Alexa and Google Home need an H.264 video track, which only the ESP32-S3 can produce. On a classic ESP32 this camera stays App and Portal only. See ESP32-S3 H.264 Camera for Alexa and Google Home.
• One viewer at a time: opening the camera on another device replaces the current viewer.
• Video starts at 5 frames per second at VGA (640 x 480). In the viewer you can change resolution and frame rate, and toggle flash (AI-Thinker ESP32-CAM), flip and mirror.
• Quality drops automatically on slow connections; turn off Auto quality to keep your settings fixed.
• Audio is available on the XIAO ESP32S3 Sense (onboard microphone).
• If the viewer asks you to update the camera firmware, flash it again with SinricPro SDK 5.1.0 or later.

Troubleshooting

• Camera init failed: wrong CAMERA_BOARD, or PSRAM is disabled.
• Stuck on “Connecting”: check the Serial Monitor for WebRTC answer failed, and make sure the ESP32 core is 3.3.10 or 3.3.11.
• Works at home but not on mobile data: that network blocks direct connections, so the stream must be relayed through TURN; check the Serial Monitor to confirm the offer included TURN servers.