Python scripts to talk to Insta360 action cameras using the WiFi API
The insta360.py is a Python class which partially implements the WiFi API interface (TCP socket on port 6666) to communicate and control an Insta360 camera. It was developed by reverse engineering the communication between an Insta360 ONE RS camera and the Android app.
Fortunately enough it is possibile to connect a GNU/Linux PC to the Insta360 through the WiFi, the default passowrd of the camera internal access point is 88888888.
Said incidentally, this is an huge security hole of the camera: as far I know it is not possibile to disable the WiFi interface or change the password (at least from the camera touch screen interface), so any host in the nearby can connect to your camera as soon it is turned on; once estabilished the connection you can also do a telnet into the Insta360's GNU/Linux operating system as root (the IP address of the camera is 192.168.42.1) and do whaterver you want, even to damage permanently (brick) the camera.
Only some of the messages are implemented into the Python class, and they do not support many arguments, but you can read the code and inspect the protobuf definition to know what parameters are accepted.
Implemented methods:
- SyncLocalTimeToCamera()
- GetCameraInfo()
- GetNormalVideoOptions()
- SetNormalVideoOptions()
- StartCapture()
- StopCapture()
- TakePicture()
- GetCameraFilesList()
Usage example:
#!/usr/bin/env python3
import logging
import insta360
logging.basicConfig(format='%(asctime)s %(levelname)-8s %(message)s')
logging.getLogger().setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
cam = insta360.camera(host='192.168.42.1', port=6666)
cam.Open()
seq = cam.StartCapture()
print('Sent packet StartCapture(): seq: %d' % (seq,))
time.sleep(20)
seq = cam.StopCapture()
print('Sent packet StopCapture(): seq: %d' % (seq,))
# Wait messages eventually in the queue.
time.sleep(5)
cam.Close()The messages exchanged from the Android app and the camera use the Protocol Buffers, which is an open standard by Google.
Unfortunately the protobuf messages are not self-describing; that is, there is no way to tell the names, meaning, or full datatypes of exchanged messages without an external specification. To write an understandable source code you need to extract the specific language description files from a compiled binary file, e.g. a library from the Android app. To run the insta360.py module you need such files compiled for Python. Follow the link at the bottom of this page to get more instructions.
The insta360-remote is a somewhat working example using the insta360.py module. It is a Python program using the curses library, so it can be run into a text terminal. It has the basic functionality required for a remote control: start and stop recording, take picture, set the video resolution and zoom. You can run it from an Android smartphone if you install the Termux app and the required Python libraries.
More info here: Insta360: WiFi protocol reverse engineering.