The $0 home security system that’s currently hiding in your junk drawer

Let’s talk about the graveyard of old phones you have hidden in a drawer. Instead of letting them gather dust until they become antiques, it’s time to turn one on as part of your home security setup.

You can turn your old iPhone or Android device into a surprisingly good security camera for free. Yes seriously. With a simple app, you can get a live feed to monitor your front porch, your pets, or anything else you want to monitor, all without purchasing any new equipment.

All you need is a good place to support it and a source of energy. In just a few minutes, that useless phone you’ve been storing finally has a purpose. It’s the perfect way to get free peace of mind and justify keeping all that old technology.

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Step 1: Install the security camera app on your old smartphone

To get started, you’ll need to choose a security camera app. Most apps offer many of the same features, such as local streaming, cloud streaming, recording and storing footage locally or remotely, motion detection and alerts. Once you’re all set up, you’ll be able to monitor your living space and control your security camera from anywhere, right from your new phone.

One of the best apps to set up your phone as a security camera is Alfred. It’s cross-platform, so it doesn’t matter if your old phone is an Android phone or an iPhone. The same goes for your new phone.

Alfred is free to use and gives you remote viewing of your live stream, motion detection with alerts, free cloud storage, two-way audio feed, and use of front and rear cameras. To unlock additional features, such as higher-resolution viewing and recording, zoom capabilities, removing ads, and 30-day cloud storage, you can Upgrade to Alfred Premium.

1. Download Alfred (Android, iOS) on both your old and new phones. You don’t have to use your phone as a monitoring tool – you can also download Alfred to your tablet or PC if you’d prefer to continue watching from there. Just make sure the app is on both devices.

2. On the new phone, scroll through the introduction and tap It starts. He chooses viewer And click the next.

3. Once you get to the login page, click Sign in with Google (Google account required) and sign in with your Google account credentials.

4. On the old phone, repeat the same steps, but instead of selecting viewerHe chooses camera. Make sure you’re signed in to the same Google account.

Once both phones are signed into Alfred, you’re almost done with the setup process. Alfred has simplified the camera options to include only a few settings. On iOS, you can just enable motion detection, choose between the front and rear cameras, and enable or disable sound. If you’re using an Android device, you have these options and you can also enable continuous focus, automatically reopen Alfred if the phone reboots, set the resolution and enable passcode lock.

From your new phone, you can change some additional settings, like turning notifications on or off, setting the name of your camera or viewer, or adding other people to your phone. Circle of trust (give other people access to your video channels), remove the camera, check how many times the camera has been disconnected, set motion detection sensitivity and enable low-light filter on cameras.

If Alfred isn’t doing this for you, you can explore other camera app options. Other apps that can give your old phone a security camera upgrade include:

• Faster: Faceter is a monitoring app that provides quick setup and cloud storage for Apple and Android phones.
• YebucamEpocCam is a very fast camera app designed for content creators but can serve a wide range of purposes. It’s currently made for iPhone only.
• iVCam from E2ESoft: iVCam is an open source camera solution that’s best for those who really want to tweak and customize their camera settings, although like EpocCam it focuses a bit more on webcam-related activities than security.

Step 2: Choose a location for your new smartphone security camera

After you’re done streaming, you’ll need to set up and position your camera. You may want to focus on the main entry point to your home, your backyard, the place where you store valuables or a point you think might be particularly vulnerable. If you have several older phones, you can set up multiple cameras for fairly robust video coverage.

Step 3: Install and operate the security camera smartphone

For mounting or placing the camera, small Smartphone tripod Or a suction cup car mount can work wonders and help you place your camera in an inconspicuous place. To expand your field of view, consider purchasing a Wide angle lens for your phonesomething that can be purchased for between $5 and $20 online.

Video streaming consumes a lot of power, and the phone will be available 24/7. To keep the phone from getting damaged during the first few hours, you will need to place it near a power source. A Micro USB 10 feet long, Lightning cable or USB C The cable and spare phone charger give you more flexibility in where you can put it.

And that’s it: You can now use the security camera app on your new phone to view the feed from your old phone’s camera, and you’ve made your home safer without spending much at all.

Note: When choosing an installation location, be sure to avoid oven vents and other heat sources, such as a window that is exposed to sunlight all day. Heat sources can damage camera lenses and battery over time, especially when combined with the heat of a power-intensive task like live streaming.

Final note: Old smartphones and security concerns

Security updates will eventually roll out of smartphones, which means they may eventually become vulnerable to attacks. If your old phone is still connected to the Internet — such as when you use it as a security camera — that’s a problem.

First, we recommend erasing any personal data from your phone before turning it into a camera. Second, automate your updates when possible. Third, consider setting an end date for using the phone, after which you can recycle it. These days, companies try to push security updates for five to seven years after release (with some lasting longer in recent years). We have a complete guide on old phone security if you’d like to learn more.

Finally, if we are keen on using your smartphone for home security purposes, don’t forget that you can also download an app like Hidden camera detector Automatically searches for signs that there is a camera monitoring the room. Airbnb may have banned indoor security cameras, but we don’t blame you if you still want to check your travel time.

For more, check out Best DIY Home Security Systems.