iPhone App FAQs
Sharing
Can anyone else see my videos?
No, unless of course you share them. All videos start out as private. You decide what you want to share and with whom.
How do my family and friends my see videos?
After you share a video, your family and friends will receive an email with a link to a private web site.
How soon can my family and friends see shared videos?
They’ll be able to see the videos as soon as the videos are uploaded up to the Kincast servers and processed for internet streaming. Click here for more info on how long it takes to upload video.
What do my family and friends see?
They see the same screens and tools that you see on the website – but only for the videos you or other Kincast friends share with them.
Do they need a password?
Nope. We don’t think they should have to remember yet another password. So, they won’t need one.
Can I set up groups?
Yes, after you shared for the second time will prompt you to create a group. You can always create or edit groups by touching the “circle +” icon on the Share Screen
or by editing “Share Settings” in “My Info.”
Cloud Storage
What’s Cloud Storage (also known as, Online Storage)?
Kincast stores videos on secure servers that are available through the internet. There are some great benefits to cloud storage, including:
Sharing – Video files are large. It’s much faster and easier for your friends to watch shared videos through video streaming than by having to download the files to their computers. Your videos need to be online to enable video streaming.
Accessibility – You can securely access your videos from any computer or interent-enabled mobile device. At a friend’s house or on vacation and want to show them a video. It’s easy.
Peace-of-mind – Kincast uses state-of-the-art data servers with the world’s safest and largest provider of web infrastructure services, Amazon, Inc., and keeps multiple copies of each video. This is orders of magnitude more reliable and convenient than having to manage your own back-ups.
How much video can I store in the Cloud?
As much as you have. The first 30 minutes of video stored in the Cloud will be free. There are affordable Premium Plans starting at $1/month to store more video.
What happens when I upload more than 30 minutes of video?
When you have more than 30 minutes of video online we'll prompt you with an option to upgrade to a Premium Plan. If you decide to stay on the free plan, and that's ok, we'll remove the oldest videos (by upload date) to get you back under 30 minutes.
You’ll still have all your videos on your iPhone. And, you can upgrade to a Premium plan at any time and we’ll automatically upload any videos on your iPhone.
Where do you store my videos?
Your videos are stored on state-of-the-art data servers with the world’s safest and largest provider of web infrastructure services, Amazon, Inc.
How do I know you won't lose my video?
We take a 3-pronged approach to ensure the safety of your videos. First, we employ a “confirm and commit” software architecture for the handling and processing of your videos. In a nutshell, nothing gets deleted until its transformation is confirmed. Second, we’ve developed processes to limit access and handling of your videos. Third, multiple copies of your videos are kept in separate geographically-located data centers to guard against physical hard disk failures and regional natural disasters.
Can I ever get my videos back from Kincast?
- Yes, of course. They're your videos after all. There are two ways to get your videos.
- connect your iPhone to your PC
- launch iTunes
- click your iPhone in Devices (in left-hand column)
- click "Apps" in the top toolbar
- scroll down to the File Sharing section
- find and click Kincast, click on "videos" folder
- click the "Save to..." button to save to your hard drive
- go to http://www.Kincast.com and sign in (top right hand corner)
- to download the videos that are playing, click on the "Download" icon
- to select other videos, click on "Back to Gallery" or "Select Videos" icon (looks like a gird of 6 small boxes)
- filter by day, month or year, click on a thumbnail(s), click on Options in the bottom-left corner and then click on the download icon
1. iPhone/iPod Synching (this is generally the quickest way)
here's a couple of pictures to help illustrate:
2. Download from the web with the Web App (this may take longer depending on your internet connection)
Here's a couple of pictures to help illustrate:
Do you save my original files?
Kincast transforms all video to the MP4 format at a pixel resolution of 768x432. Most camcorders/cameras record at higher pixel resolutions and bitrates. So, we’re not likely saving your original file. We’ve transformed your file into an industry-standard format optimized for on-demand streaming and affordable long-term preservation.
What's the quality of the video?
It’ll look great. Technically it’s 768x432 pixels at a 1,200 Kbps bitrate (indicates how much data is stored per second of video). But to relate it to something we all use, it’s like the quality of movie DVDs. So, it will look great on your computer and your 55” flat screen.
Uploading
How do I upload video?
All you have to do is be connected to the internet. Kincast automatically uploads all videos. And your Kincast app doesn’t even have to be open because Kincast can upload in the background. (The iPhone only gives 10 minutes for background tasks so you may need to re-open the Kincast app to finish the upload.)
Going through a tunnel where you lose your internet connection. No problem. Kincast resumes the upload where it last left off. Shooting video in the woods where there isn’t internet connectivity. Not to worry. Kincast will queue your videos and start uploading when your back in civilization. (You will need to open the Kincast app to start uploading.)
Kincast uses either your carrier’s wireless network or WiFi.
How long does it take to upload video?
That depends on the size of your video file and the upload speed of your internet connection.
iPhone 3GS video takes about 27 MB of disk space for every minute of video recorded.
iPhone 4 video is HD and uses roughly 75 MB for every minute of video recorded.
Your wireless carrier’s network can upload data at speeds between 384 Kbps to 1 Mbps. Upload speeds over WiFi can go even higher, but not usually higher than 2 Mbps.
So what does all this mean? 1 minute of video on an iPhone 3GS could take roughly 2 – 8 minutes to upload. And 1 minute of video on an iPhone 4 could take roughly 5 – 25 minutes.
With the new "Quick Sharing" setting which is on by default, 1 minute of video will take about 3 minutes to upload.
But remember, Kincast can upload in the background so you can be doing other things like email or playing games on your iPhone while the uploading is going on.
How do I know if videos have not uploaded?
The app tells you in three ways.
On the App Icon you will see a red circle with a number indicating how many videos need to be uploaded. This is your clue to re-open the Kincast app to resume uploading. (Remember that a shared video will be shared once the video has finished uploading.)
You can also see this number by going to Settings and My Info.
The third way is to go into the Library and look at the video’s thumbnail. If there is a white capital “K” on it, then it’s on the Kincast servers. By the way, if you see a “f” or a “y” it means you posted the video to either Facebook or YouTube.
What’s “WiFi only?”
You’ll find this setting in “My Info.”
When this setting is “On” video uploads will only occur when you’re connected via a WiFi network. Another way of putting this is that video uploads won’t occur on your wireless carrier’s network. This may be real useful if you don’t have an unlimited data plan.
Can I upload video from other cameras?
Yes. You can upload video through the Kincast website. Just login with your same email and password at www.Kincast.com.
What kind of video can I upload with the Website?
Pretty much all the popular video formats of the last few years. An easy way to identify the video format is by the extension (or last three letters of the file name). For example, VID002.MP4 is an MP4 file. We support the following video formats: MP4, AVI, FLV, MTS, MOV, 3GP. However, we’ll attempt to work with any video. If you’re unsure, email us at theteam@Kincast.com and we’ll test it for you.
Viewing
Who can see my videos?
All your videos start out private so only you can see them. However, we make it easy to privately share the videos you select with the people you select.
Can I see my videos on other computers?
Yes. Go to www.Kincast.com and sign in with your email address and password.
What computers can I watch on?
You can use Windows computers running Windows XP or later and the following browsers: IE7, IE8, Firefox, Chrome
Macs should be running OS X and the following browsers: Safari 4.x, Firefox 3.x
You can also use Linux with the Firefox browser.
If your computer and browser can run Adobe Flash Player 9 or 10, then we should work on it.
Can I watch as many times as I want?
Yes. Even better, your family and friends can also watch shared videos as many times as they want.
Why does my video stop playing at times?
If the video is being streamed from the internet, the most common reason is that your internet connection is struggling. On the iPhone, a 700 kbps download speed is needed and usually easily provided by the carrier’s wireless network, for AT&T that’s 3G.
On computers, Kincast streams a larger file (the screen is bigger after all) and a 1.5 Mbps download speed is recommended.
On your home internet connection, even though you may have bought an internet connection of 1.5 Mbps or better, sometimes the internet company cannot deliver this speed. Or, if you’re sharing an internet connection at home, then someone else in the house using the internet, to say download music or play online games, may also affect performance.
Trash Bin
What’s the Trash Bin?
The Trash Bin is where we put videos you deleted. This gives you a chance to restore “deleted” videos. It’s kind of like an “undo.” However, once you “Empty Trash Bin” those videos are gone.
What can I do from the Trash Bin?
You can do three things here.
“Remove” permanently deletes the videos from your iPhone (and also Kincast servers). This will free up disk space on your iPhone.
“Play” gives you an opportunity to watch the video. Might help you decide to remove or restore.
“Restore” moves the video back to your library.
How do I get to the Trash Bin?
Touch the Settings icon on the main screen and a menu will scroll up.
Things to do in the Gallery
Find videos by day or month – the latest or newest videos (by record date) are always on top. You can flick up or down to navigate the gallery.
Watch videos – touch a thumbnail and the video will start playing. Or, touch “Options” and select a group of videos to play one after the other.
Share videos – touch “Options” and select videos to share.
Trim a video - touch “Options” and select a video to trim. The iPhone can only trim one video at a time. If you select more than one video, only the first video will come up to be trimmed.
Delete videos - touch “Options” and select videos to delete.
See if videos are stored online – If the video thumbnail has a white “K” then it’s online on the Kincast servers. If you see an “f” that means it’s been posted to Facebook. A "y" indicates it's been posted to YouTube.
Import from the Camera Roll – If you’ve recorded video with the Apple “Camera” app then those videos are in the Camera Roll. You can move a copy into your Kincast gallery for sharing and safe online back-up. Go to the Gallery and select the Days, Months or Location view. Then look for the “Import” button in the top right-hand corner.
Go to Record Ready screen – Something is happening and you need to record right away. But your 4 screens down in the Gallery. No need to panic. Touch the camera icon in the lower left corner to take you to the main screen where you can record.
Frozen App
The app is frozen. What can I do?
-
First we apologize. We spend a ton of brain power trying to make sure this doesn’t happen. But, stuff can happen. 99.99% of the time, closing (aka, terminating) the app and re-opening will solve the issue. Here’s how to close and re-open the app:
- Double-press the iPhone home button. This will scroll up a bar of all your apps running in the background. Find the Kincast app icon – it’s an otter.
- Touch and hold the Kincast app icon until the “red minus” circle appears. The app icons should be jiggling. Touch the “red minus” circle.
- Double-press the iPhone home button.
- Touch the Kincast app icon and everything should be fine.
In rare circumstances you may need to repeat the above procedure 2 or 3 times. If there are more issues please contact us by emailing theteam@Kincast.com.