You want to create an economic video surveillance solution for your home using a device that is no longer in use but you have no idea what to do. In this new guide today we will explain in detail how to use an old Android smartphone as a security camera using some applications designed for this purpose.
Alfred Camera
The first app we recommend using is called Alfred Camera. It is one of the most downloaded software from the Google Play Store regarding smartphone security. Thanks to this application, you will be able to turn your old phone into an efficient security camera free of charge to remotely control children, pets, homes and the elders. The operation of Alfred Camera is quite simple as you need to install it on the two Android smartphones and follow the configuration wizard.
That said, let’s see together how to use the app:
- Grab your Android device, proceed with the Alfred Camera download from the Google Play Store and launch it once the installation is complete.
- Once that’s done, click on the button. Take a look! and skip the initial tutorial by clicking on Try it!.
- Now, via the Observer or Camera screen, choose whether to use the current Android smartphone as a device to monitor remotely or as a security camera by selecting Observer or Camera. Once you have chosen the desired option, click on Start!.
- In the next step, click on Log in with Google to log in to Alfred Camera using your Google account.
- At this point, switch to the second device, download the same application from the link above and this time set the Camera option and press Start!. Of course, you need to log in to the same Google account set up on the observer phone.
Once the pairing has been carried out correctly, in the main interface of Alfred Camera a box will appear containing what is captured by the camera device. To open the screen, all you need to do is simply tap on the preview.
By pressing on the gear on the top left, you can customize some options such as the camera name, check the connection power, activate/deactivate motion detection, enable/disable notifications and so on. Finally, by pressing on the calendar with the Play sign inside, you can see all the events recorded in the last 7 days.
AtHome Camera
To use an old Android smartphone as a surveillance camera you can also take advantage of the excellent AtHome Camera application to be combined later with the AtHome Video Streamer app, the latter to be installed on the old device to be used as an IP camera.
Let’s see together how to exploit it:
- Grab the smartphone to use for monitoring and proceed with downloading and installing AtHome Camera from the Play Store. On the old phone to be used as a surveillance camera, download AtHome Video Streamer instead.
- Once this is done, grab the first device, start the application and login if you already have an AtHome account or register one by entering your e-mail address and password.
- Now, go to the old Android smartphone, open the application, give all the necessary permissions to allow the software to work properly and press the Generate QR Code button to generate a QR code to scan with the camera of the first smartphone.
- So grab the device to use for remote control, press the Add First Streamer button and use its camera to scan the generated QR Code.
- Once this procedure is finished, you can simply press the Play button to start watching live what is captured by the old smartphone.
If you don’t have an Android device, you can also install AtHome Video Streamer on an iPhone or an iPad by downloading the dedicated application or the software for Windows and macOS.
WardenCam
If you have an old smartphone or a tablet that is no longer used, you can use it as a home security camera via the WardenCam application. Thanks to this software, you will be able to remotely control your home using a simple Internet connection.
In addition to this, WardenCam offers the possibility to activate motion detection (sending notifications via e-mail) and to save recordings on the cloud using services such as Dropbox and Google Drive.
That said, let’s find out together how to use the app:
- Grab your monitor smartphone, proceed with downloading the application from the Google Play Store and start it once the installation is complete.
- After that, choose the Viewer option on the Set device screen as, press the blue arrow on the bottom right and log in to your Google account.
- Now, grab the smartphone to use as a surveillance camera, download WardenCam from the Google store and start it by choosing the Camera option this time. Of course, you log in to the same Google account set on the monitor device.
- At this point, return to the terminal used as a monitor and press on the preview that appears to see in detail what is captured by the camera of the second smartphone.
By pressing on the gear at the top right, you can change some settings such as image quality, sensitivity of motion detection, exposure compensation and so on. If you want, you can also invert the roles (then turn the smartphone monitor into the one that acts as a surveillance camera and the old phone into the monitor), simply by pressing on the icon at the top right. The application will automatically restart to enforce the change.
Use an old Android smartphone as a surveillance camera: other solutions
In addition to the applications listed above, alternative software can be used to remotely monitor your home using an old terminal. Here is what they are.