If you have your old smartphone in a drawer or closet, you can put it to good use as a security camera. This is possible for both an iPhone or an Android phone. I’ll give you the basic steps with a link where you can read the entire article and follow the detailed steps easily. Costs can be $0. But here is one cautionary piece of advice. If the phone is really old, you may not be able to get security updates for the operating system. This is an issue because the phone obviously will be on the internet. So please be sure to wipe off any personal data before setting it up.
You need to download a security camera app. Cnet suggests Alfred. It is available for both iOS or Android. It is free to you with may great features. You can upgrade to a Premium version. Check out those options.
Pick a spot for the camera. A smartphone tripod or even a suction cup phone holder can give you the angle you are looking for.
There isn’t much else to it. Click here to read the whole article if you need more specifics.
Tip of the month
Hidden iPhone Features
Here are a few tips you may not have known about:
Copy or translate text with the camera. Open the camera app and point your phone lens at a block of text. An icon with three lines in an outlined square appears at the bottom-right corner. Tap the icon, and it captures the text with the option to copy, select all, look up, translate, or share.
Share a Wi-Fi password via QR code. The easiest way to share a Wi-Fi password on an iPhone is to stand close to the other person, then have them go into Settings, click Wi-Fi, and select the network. Then, on your device, hit Share Password in the pop-up at the bottom of your screen. But if the other person has an Android phone, or perhaps there are lots of people who need the password, it might be easier to open the Passwords app, navigate to Wi-Fi > network name > Show Network QR Code, and then hold up the QR code for them to scan.
iPhones now have a native call recording feature. After placing a call in the Phone app, look in the top left corner of the screen and tap the Start Call Recording symbol, which looks like a series of vertical lines. A voice will announce the call is being recorded. When you’re done recording, touch the red Stop button located in the middle of the screen or hang up the call.
