How To Turn A Cellphone Into A Security Camera

manything-2 — Use Manything, Salient Heart or a similar gratuitous app to turn an one-time telephone into a security photographic camera.
Chris Monroe/CNET

Most people have at least 1 old smartphone collecting dust in a drawer somewhere. You lot can sell your former phone or do a trade-in for a fraction of its purchase price, simply if it still turns on, at that place are a number of good uses for one-time phones around the house. You tin turn that old Android phone into ababy monitor or amakeshift Google Home speaker, for instance. One of the near useful ways to upcycle an former phone is to convert it into a abode security camera.

Y'all'll save a ton of greenbacks past upcycling an old phone instead of ownership a new dwelling security photographic camera. And setting it up isn't difficult. In fact, you can start using that onetime, dusty iPhone or Android phone as a dwelling security camera in merely iii steps.

Read more: viii reasons non to sell or trade in your old iPhone and 9 ingenious ways to give your old Android phone new life

Footstep ane: Install a security camera app on your erstwhile telephone

To brainstorm, you lot volition demand to cull a security photographic camera app for your phone. Most apps offering many of the aforementioned features, such as local streaming, cloud streaming, recording and storing footage locally or remotely, and motion detection and alerts. Once you're prepare, you volition be able to monitor your living space and control your security camera from anywhere, straight from your new phone.

1 of the best app options for setting up your phone as a security camera is Alfred. It'due south cantankerous-platform, and so it doesn't matter if your old telephone was an Android phone or iPhone. And the aforementioned goes for your new phone.

Alfred is costless to utilize and gives you a remote view of your live feed, motion detection with alerts, free cloud storage, a two-way audio feed and utilise of both the front and rear cameras. To unlock boosted features, like college-resolution viewing and recording, zoom capabilities, ad removal and thirty-solar day deject storage, you lot can upgrade to Alfred Premium.

Download Alfred (Android, iOS) on both your former and new phones, or any tablets you want to apply.
On the new phone, swipe through the introduction and tap Kickoff. Select Viewer and tap Next.
Once you become to the sign-in page, click Sign in with Google (a Google account is required) and sign in with your Google account credentials.
On the quondam telephone, echo the same steps, but instead of selecting Viewer, select Photographic camera. And make sure to sign in to the same Google account.

Once both phones are signed in to Alfred, you're pretty much done with the setup. Alfred has simplified the camera options to only include a few settings. On iOS, y'all can just enable movement detection, choose between the front and rear cameras and enable or disable audio. If yous're using an Android device, you have those options and you can likewise enable continuous focus, have Alfred automatically reopen if the phone reboots, set a resolution and enable a passcode lock.

From your new phone, you can change a few more settings, such equally turning notifications on or off, setting a camera or viewer name, calculation other people to your Trust Circle (granting other people admission to your video feeds), removing a camera, checking how many times a camera has disconnected, setting motion detection sensitivity and enabling a depression-low-cal filter on cameras.

While Alfred is a solid choice, continue in mind it's not the only pick. Far from it, in fact. Manything, Salient Eye and Presence are all solid complimentary choices with an affordable subscription model if you need more than features. And IP Webcam is 1 of the more popular Android-only options.

Step two: Choose a spot for your phone security camera

Afterward you have the stream upwards and running, you lot volition need to set up and position the camera. Y'all may want information technology focused on the chief entry point to your home, your lawn, the place where you store valuables or a point you retrieve might be particularly vulnerable. Yous can likewise gear up upwardly an IP camera as a baby monitor.

If yous have multiple erstwhile phones lying around, you lot tin prepare multiple cameras for adequately robust video coverage.

Step 3: Mount and power your new security camera

To mount or position the camera, a minor smartphone tripod or suction-cup car mount can piece of work wonders and assist you position the photographic camera in an inconspicuous place. To broaden the field of view, consider buying a wide-angle lens for your telephone, something that tin be purchased for between $5 and $20 online.

Streaming video is very power-intensive, and the phone will exist on 24/7. To keep the phone from dying in the first few hours, you will demand to position it close to a power source. A 10-foot Micro-USB or Lightning cablevision will give y'all more flexibility in where you lot put it.

And that's information technology! Now you tin utilize the security cam app on your new telephone to view the feed from your old phone's camera, and yous've made your home more secure without spending much.

While you lot're here, check outsix quick tips for getting the almost out of your habitation security camera, how to use your Alexa device as a home security camera and the best DIY home security systems.