You have a smartphone in a drawer that you no longer use, abandoned to take dust ">, with a subdivision necessary to separate the use from inside (much easier and cheaper) and the use for outside (slightly more complicated but nothing impossible ).
Before continuing, remember to connect your smartphone (which will function as a surveillance camera) to your home WiFi network, so that you can access it when you are at home (via other connected devices) but also when away from home by forwarding the IP address and the door used by the surveillance app (as you will see at the end of the guide).
If you want to place the old smartphone in the bedroom or any room in the house you need a support to hang it on the wall with screws or a double-sided tape.
You can choose both a fixed model and a model with an articulated neck, so you can direct your smartphone to the point to be monitored.
A good fixed wall mount for the "camera" smartphone you can find it here -> Koala 2.0 wall mount (8 €)
Just screw the two supports with screws or a double-sided tape (handy if you don't want to make holes in the wall or don't have a drill) on the chosen wall and place the old smartphone "turned backwards", so as to have the rear camera of forehead ready to take it all back.
If you are looking for more directionality for smartphone support you can choose a support with an adjustable neck like the one I chose here -> Phone Support with flexible neck (16 €)
In this case you can use the edge of the desk or of a table to fix the support to the smartphone, without losing the possibility of fixing it to a wall (perhaps near a corner of the ceiling) thanks to the double-sided tape.
Also in this case you will have to fix the smartphone in reverse so as to have the rear camera pointed frontally.
The first problem of using a smartphone as an outdoor camera is the weather: a sudden downpour or wind can damage the smartphone if not properly protected.
So before using the smartphone as an external surveillance camera it is better to equip it with a waterproof case, such as the one available here -> Waterproof Case YOSH (7 €)
Insert the smartphone inside and place it on the stand; so well protected it will not risk damage from humidity or rain but better to avoid exposing it to direct sunlight, choose a point under a balcony or in an attic.
For the attachment to the external wall, the articulated support that I presented to you in the previous section of the guide and a bit of double-sided tape resistant to rain is also fine.
The only precaution is to position this new camera "high" enough not to be grasped by any attackers (at least 4 meters) and to place alongside the smartphone a good power bank small and thin enough to fit into the waterproof protective cover.
All these concerns could make the solution impractical, which is why it is preferable to focus directly on wireless IP camera models optimized for outdoor use; many models useful for the purpose you can find them in the guide -> Best wifi IP rooms to buy
You prepared the support for your smartphone and found the point on the wall where to place this new surveillance camera, but which apps you can use to record videos and take photos with this "camera" "> Alfred: home security camera
- tinyCam Monitor FREE
- IP-Cam Home security
Special mention deserves, in this category, the Snowden app that controls suspicious noises and movements in a room.
Do you have an old iPhone ? In this case, the apps for transforming the iPhone into a surveillance camera are as follows:
- AtHome Video Streamer
- AtHome Camera - Home
Whichever app you choose (both on Android and iPhone), the operation is quite simple: start the app you prefer and enable the surveillance system; the app will exclusively take control of the device's rear camera, starting to record (you can also disable the continuous video recording function since a lot of space is required in the internal memory).
If you also intend to record the footage, buy a fairly large micro SD and use it to save the files generated by the apps every day.
Now just take the IP address and the port of the smartphone used as a camera (the surveillance app itself will communicate this data to you) and use them from the same app but on another smartphone or by typing the IP address and port number on the inside a web browser.
The apps are able to offer advanced features such as recording on cloud computing, the movement detector with real-time notification via SMS or email and an advanced facial recognition system, so as to be able to manage the entrance of all known people and report immediately the presence of intruders in the house by the only recognition of the face.
READ ALSO: Video surveillance with WebCam and IP cameras: best programs
Before continuing, remember to connect your smartphone (which will function as a surveillance camera) to your home WiFi network, so that you can access it when you are at home (via other connected devices) but also when away from home by forwarding the IP address and the door used by the surveillance app (as you will see at the end of the guide).
Indoor use surveillance camera
If you want to place the old smartphone in the bedroom or any room in the house you need a support to hang it on the wall with screws or a double-sided tape.
You can choose both a fixed model and a model with an articulated neck, so you can direct your smartphone to the point to be monitored.
A good fixed wall mount for the "camera" smartphone you can find it here -> Koala 2.0 wall mount (8 €)
Just screw the two supports with screws or a double-sided tape (handy if you don't want to make holes in the wall or don't have a drill) on the chosen wall and place the old smartphone "turned backwards", so as to have the rear camera of forehead ready to take it all back.
If you are looking for more directionality for smartphone support you can choose a support with an adjustable neck like the one I chose here -> Phone Support with flexible neck (16 €)
In this case you can use the edge of the desk or of a table to fix the support to the smartphone, without losing the possibility of fixing it to a wall (perhaps near a corner of the ceiling) thanks to the double-sided tape.
Also in this case you will have to fix the smartphone in reverse so as to have the rear camera pointed frontally.
Surveillance with Android external use
The first problem of using a smartphone as an outdoor camera is the weather: a sudden downpour or wind can damage the smartphone if not properly protected.
So before using the smartphone as an external surveillance camera it is better to equip it with a waterproof case, such as the one available here -> Waterproof Case YOSH (7 €)
Insert the smartphone inside and place it on the stand; so well protected it will not risk damage from humidity or rain but better to avoid exposing it to direct sunlight, choose a point under a balcony or in an attic.
For the attachment to the external wall, the articulated support that I presented to you in the previous section of the guide and a bit of double-sided tape resistant to rain is also fine.
The only precaution is to position this new camera "high" enough not to be grasped by any attackers (at least 4 meters) and to place alongside the smartphone a good power bank small and thin enough to fit into the waterproof protective cover.
All these concerns could make the solution impractical, which is why it is preferable to focus directly on wireless IP camera models optimized for outdoor use; many models useful for the purpose you can find them in the guide -> Best wifi IP rooms to buy
Apps to turn a smartphone into a surveillance camera
You prepared the support for your smartphone and found the point on the wall where to place this new surveillance camera, but which apps you can use to record videos and take photos with this "camera" "> Alfred: home security camera
- tinyCam Monitor FREE
- IP-Cam Home security
Special mention deserves, in this category, the Snowden app that controls suspicious noises and movements in a room.
Do you have an old iPhone ? In this case, the apps for transforming the iPhone into a surveillance camera are as follows:
- AtHome Video Streamer
- AtHome Camera - Home
Whichever app you choose (both on Android and iPhone), the operation is quite simple: start the app you prefer and enable the surveillance system; the app will exclusively take control of the device's rear camera, starting to record (you can also disable the continuous video recording function since a lot of space is required in the internal memory).
If you also intend to record the footage, buy a fairly large micro SD and use it to save the files generated by the apps every day.
Now just take the IP address and the port of the smartphone used as a camera (the surveillance app itself will communicate this data to you) and use them from the same app but on another smartphone or by typing the IP address and port number on the inside a web browser.
The apps are able to offer advanced features such as recording on cloud computing, the movement detector with real-time notification via SMS or email and an advanced facial recognition system, so as to be able to manage the entrance of all known people and report immediately the presence of intruders in the house by the only recognition of the face.
READ ALSO: Video surveillance with WebCam and IP cameras: best programs
