Updated Oct 19 2025
All recordings made on your ZapperBox are kept in the following folder (the "D:\" is specific to a PC and may vary): D:\Android\data\com.bitrouter.zapperbox\files\recordings. Each recording is in a directory with a name that has the format of YYYYMMDD_xxxxxx. The YYYYMMDD is the date when the recording was made and xxxxxx are random characters to make the name unique.
To backup your ZapperBox DVR storage media, do the following:
1. Format another drive on your ZapperBox. Let’s call this the target drive.
2. Plug both the source drive and target drives into you PC or Mac.
3. Copy the contents of the “\Android\data\com.bitrouter.zapperbox\files\recordings” folder from the source drive to the target drive's "recordings" folder.
4. Plug the target drive into the ZapperBox to verify the backup worked and all your recordings appear in the DVR library.
5. Remove the target drive and plug your original source drive back into the ZapperBox.
Note: at this time you cannot play these recordings on your PC or Mac because we use a proprietary HLS manifest format to make the recording and deletion process more efficient on Android. By the end of 2025, we plan to release a utility for Linux that can convert our proprietary HLS format into a standard format that can be played by utilities like the Windows Media Player and VLC. This will allow "in the clear" recordings to be played on other devices perhaps even smartphones and tablets. You will not be able to play secure (DRM protected or encrypted) recordings on other devices.