Turning your old phone into a DIY security camera is not a new concept. The idea of it has been around for years. But with camera tech in old phones getting so good, now has never been a better time to create a free DIY security camera system.
This is gonna be a quick tutorial. No messing with setting up cloud storage. Or IP cameras. Or subscriptions. Or any other nonsense.
All you need is an old mobile phone, a charger and an app. That’s it. So let’s get started.
For this entire thing, I used Alfred Camera. A free app from the Google Playstore or the Apple Appstore. And before you worry because one of your phones is Android and the other’s Apple. Stop. It doesn’t matter. It works across both platforms.
The free versions allows 7 days of cloud recordings (with audio), each up to 30 seconds long for motion detection events, multiple cameras attached, notifications of events, recording through the viewer phone, low light filtering and the ability to switch between front and rear cameras.
You can also turn on the flash remotely, activate a siren if you see something suspicious and also have the ability to talk and listen to the person you see on your camera in real time.
Also, don’t worry about the 7 day cloud recording limit. You can download and keep any clips you wish to or even share them with others.
Upgrading to the paid version (which is still really cheap) will you get full HD recordings, a zoom function, longer motion detection events, no ads, the ability to set a schedule for motion detection events and the ability to keep cloud recordings for 30 days.
Create A DIY Security Camera System
- Download the Alfred app onto both phones and make sure you are signed into the same gmail account on both.
- During setup, choose your old phone as a camera and your new phone as the viewer.
- Place the old mobile in the position you want to view and make sure it’s plugged in and has power. This is important if you want constant monitoring.
You can stop there if you like. Yes, really. It’s that simple. However, I would follow the next few steps. It will only take a couple of minutes of your time and give you the best experience.
Fine Tuning Your DIY Security Camera System
- Head into the app on your current phone that is set as a viewer.
- From the main screen you can see the camera window. Tap the gear icon to enter settings. From here rename your camera so as not to get confused if you add more cameras to the network.
- Next, you can turn on motion detection and set the sensitivity. You can also choose whether to be notified if the camera detects notification. You can also set a reminder to turn motion detection on/off when your at home or away.
- Enable auto low light filter and battery notification. This will ensure the best view during the night and let you know if anything happens to the power on the camera phone.
That’s pretty much all you need to do. Add more cameras by following the steps above and if you really like the product, upgrade for a few dollars and support the developers. It’s honestly the best free system I’ve found and by far the one with the least amount of hassle to set up. They even have a forum on their website for any problems or questions you might have.
Let me know what you think in the comments below.