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- Choosing A Suitable Phone
- Cleaning The Phone
- Installing Surveillance Software
- Choosing The Right Location
- Powering Your Phone
- Testing Your Setup
- Frequently Asked Questions
Remember that old phone rotting away in your drawer, turning into a big ole fossil right before your eyes? (No, we get it, we all harbor a Jurassic Park of forgotten gadgets). Well, prepare yourself for a bit of techno-alchemy. Because, as it turns out, you can transform that relic into a cutting-edge home security camera.
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PostsSo, how exactly do we go about turning your old phone from a forgotten relic into a full-fledged cam? It's actually easier than you might think. And nope, you won't need to be a tech geek or a DIY whiz-kid for this. Allow us the honor of walking you through this process!
Choosing A Suitable Phone
The first task on your mission to repurposing your old device into a cool little DIY surveillance system is picking out the right phone for the job. Remember, it doesn’t have to be the latest, shiny, sleek gadget off the market, any smartphone with decent camera quality and Wi-Fi compatibility is your perfect candidate.
No need for a functioning SIM or cellular service, the phone just needs two main prerequisites - a working camera and Wi-Fi connectivity (also goes without saying that it needs to be operational, so that's three prerequisites, really). So, whether you carefully stored away your old iPhone or you have an Android device collecting dust, as long as they meet the above requirements, just know you’ve found the understudy for this project.
Cleaning The Phone
Next up in the queue is making sure that your phone is in optimal working condition, and how do you do this? Simple, give that ol’ thing a thorough clean-up! From absolutely eradicating obsolete applications to deleting aging photos and files that are hogging up needed storage capacity, you are going to have to do it all.
This tidy-up routine will help your device run quicker, smoother and avoid any hitches as it starts off its new role as a security camera. Also, it's a great idea to install the latest software updates that your phone can handle. Not only will this give it an additional performance boost, it will also arm it with the most recent security updates and features. So, with a bit of digital dusting (for the lack of a better term) and a few tweaks here and there, you're gonna be pretty sorted.
Installing Surveillance Software
Now that you have got all of that sorted out, you'll need to download a surveillance app on to your phones, so you can get started with transforming them into security cameras. Now there's quite a few options out there, but we would recommend this one particular app called Alfred. It's really user-friendly and has a lot of intuitive features on it. You can click on the link to find more about it if you'd like.
Anyway, we're gonna get started by installing the Alfred app on both your old phone (which will be your trusty camera) and your current phone (which you'll use to keep an eye on things). Don't worry, the app is completely free and available on both the Android Play Store and the Apple App Store. Just search for "Alfred" and look for the blue circle with the white camera icon.
Once you've found the app, go ahead and install it on your old phone. Then, do the same thing on your current phone. Once you're done with that, it's time to open it up and let Alfred guide you through the super easy setup process so that both the phones can get linked.
Choosing The Right Location
Alright, so now that we have got the software part of it all done, we need to find the right spot for it. This is an important step because the location you choose can make a big difference to how effective your DIY security camera is.
Take a moment to think about the areas you want to keep an eye on. Maybe it's your front door, so you can see who's coming and going. Or perhaps you want to monitor your living room to make sure your furry friends aren't getting into mischief while you're away. Once you've identified the area you want to monitor, go ahead and zero in on the best location for your phone.
You'll want to make sure that your phone has a clear, unobstructed view of the space. This means you're gonna have to avoid placing it behind objects like plants, furniture, curtains... basically anything that could block its line of sight. Think about the height and placement angle of your phone as well. Understandably enough, this is where some trial and error could come into play, so remember, patience is key, friend.
If your surveillance area is blessed with a generous splash of daylight, you may need to tweak your phone's location to dodge that glare/backlight. On the other hand, if your shot is drenched in atmospheric mood lighting (read: dim as heck), putting in a small lamp or switching on your phone’s inbuilt flash might fix the problem.
Powering Your Phone
The one problem with using a phone as a camera is that it's prone to run out of battery, so your power situation needs to be absolutely sorted. You can always fish around for a spare adapter from storage, and then make sure you get one of those extra-long USB cables though (cause you know, the outlet never seems to be close enough, so you might as well be prepared).
And what about mounting? Well, a small phone tripod or a suction cup mount specifically made for smartphones will do the trick. This'll help keep your new security guard positioned securely and allow you to adjust its angle to catch those sneaky intruders (OR you'll catch your pet dancing to Travis Scott's FEIN. You never know, folks).
Most apps allow you to customize settings such as motion detection sensitivity, video quality, and notification preferences. Take some time to explore the app's settings and adjust them to your liking.
Testing Your Setup
That is pretty much it, so all you need to do is test out the camera now. Just go ahead and fire up your current device to access the camera feed and make sure everything is working correctly. Maybe do a cool little walk in front of the camera to test out the motion detection, notifications etc. And if everything is working as expected, your old phone is now a functional security camera. Congratulations, we did it!
Frequently Asked Questions
Will using my old phone as a security camera drain its battery quickly?
In a word, yes. Shooting content in itself can be quite draining for a phone. Throw in the whole live-streaming 24x7 into the mix, and you've got yourself some real power consumption problems. To avoid this, it's recommended to keep your phone plugged into a power source when you're doing the whole security camera thing. Also, it's really smart to invest in some power banks in case there's a power cut.
Can I use multiple old phones as security cameras?
100 percent. Most security camera apps allow you to add and manage multiple devices within the same account, so adding them up really shouldn't be too much of a problem. Make sure you've got the phones mounted up properly though, and be advised, if it's different models then you're looking at different camera clarities as well.
How much storage space do I need on my old phone?
Honestly, the storage space required here depends on a lot of things like video quality, recording length, and motion detection settings. If you're planning to do a continuous recording, you'll need a phone with a lot of storage space on it. If that's not possible, you can always go for a camera app that offers cloud storage for its recordings.
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