It's exciting to buy a new phone. If you're coming from a phone that's been around for two years or more, there are tons of new features to check out, increased performance to relish, and likely a new version ofAndroid to learn from.
What are you supposed to do with your old phone? Depending on its age and condition, the amount of money you would get may not be worth the hassle of going through all of that. You can recycle your phone at stores and other places, but you may not live near one or be ready to give up your phone.
If you don't mind getting a little creative, there are other ways to reuse your device without adding to the pile of e-waste. If you enjoy how these apps work, you could even pick up a cheap phone and use it as a security camera.
Several apps that allow you to do this can be found on the Play Store. I will run through the setup process and give you my thoughts on two of the most popular ones so you can start.
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The first person on the list is Alfred. Alfred is one of the most popular security camera apps, with over 10 million downloads and a 4.5 star rating on the Play Store.
Alfred is the app that a lot of people will default to when looking for a way to turn their phone into a camera. We need to get the app set up before we can go any further with it.
If you download a security camera app, you'll need two phones to complete the system, one for the camera and one for the control panel.
Alfred does a great job of guiding you through the setup process. There is a step-by-step guide for both parts.
I decided to set up the camera first for Alfred because you can set it up any way you want. This is what it looks like.
With your old phone set up with Alfred as the security camera, it is time to get your current phone configured to be the viewer. This process is the same as the others.
It's easy to set up Alfred on your phone, but what's it like actually using it?
Even though most of the controls are done from your phone, there are a few settings you can play with. There are three icons at the bottom of the screen, which include a shortcut for your settings, enabling/disabling motion detection, and turning on a power-saving mode.
If you want motion detection to stop when the camera is being moved, you can use the settings. It's easy to find what you need withoutcluttering up the screen with the nice and clean overallUI.
The old phone is being used as a camera. When it comes to checking in on what it sees or managing most settings, you can do that from the viewer device.
Your active cameras are listed at the very top of the Alfred home screen. Clicking on this will take you to a live feed of the camera and some helpful remote controls.
You can use the microphone button to talk to someone else on the other end. If something is going on that you want to record, the video button is next to that.
You can find more features if you tap the arrow icon next to the controls. Left-to-right are included.
You'll be taken to the full settings for your new security camera if you tap the gear icon at the top left of your viewer home screen. Here you can change the camera's name, add other people that can manage/view it, set up a schedule for motion detection, and a lot more.
There is an Alfred Premium subscription that you can sign up for if you want the best experience. You can either pay a monthly fee of $5.99 or a yearly fee of $29.99.
I think that's a fair price, and if you're going to use the service, you should pay the cash. The free version of Alfred gives you a good taste of what to expect, but without spending any money, video quality is terrible, and the advertisements can be a bit much at times.
Alfred has been reliable during my testing, it offers timely notifications when motion is detected on your camera, and it has an easy to use app for managing everything.
I would happily pay $30 a year to take full advantage of everything this place has to offer, even though the free version is limited on the video quality side.
Alfred may be the go-to for most people, but I wanted to compare the app to something else. The Security Camera CZ comes in with over a million installs and a 4.2 star rating.
It does the same thing as Alfred, but with less restrictions and a cheaper premium subscription.
Alfred requires you to have a security camera and a viewer in order to use it. To make sure we are all on the same page, here is how to get everything up and running.
Setting up the phone as the security camera is what we will do first. Let's go for a swim!
Now that your security camera is ready to go, it's time to get it configured on your phone to act as a viewer. The process is easy.
It's time to get familiar with how each component works after Security Camera CZ is set up on your phone.
The interface for the camera part of the app is very basic. If you tap the preview button, you can see what the current view of the camera looks like, and you can change the resolution.
It's all done and dusted. You won't be able to change any settings from the phone that's acting as the camera, so you'll have to use the viewer/monitor app. It's not that big of a deal since both of your phones are in this setup.
The Security Camera CZ shines when moving over to the viewer. You can see a list of active cameras on the home screen. To see a live feed of the camera, or to see a list of detected motions, tap the video icon.
You'll be taken to all of your camera settings if you tap on the gear icon to the right. There is a lot to mess with here.
A lot of the same features from Alfred can be seen here. Even though Security Camera CZ doesn't have an option for only alerting you if people are detected, it does allow you to modify the motion detection sensitivity, set it up on a schedule, and exclude certain areas of the video from triggering the detection alert.
You can sign up for a paid subscription that will allow you to keep video history for up to 30 days, support video without interruption for 30 minutes, and get rid of in-app ads.
This is similar to Alfred Premium with the exception that Security Camera CZ is more affordable and doesn't cripple the video resolution for free users.
Alfred and Security Camera CZ can turn your old phone into a security camera. It's difficult to decide which service to use because the feature set is the same.
The video quality with the free version is disappointing. Alfred has the advantage when dealing with security cameras for your home. The company has received a lot of media attention over the years.
The developer who runs Security Camera CZ is from the Czech Republic. There's nothing inherently wrong with that, but if you prefer a more publicly-facing company for your security needs, Alfred is the one to go to.
If you're on a tight budget and don't want to spend a lot of money, Security Camera CZ is a great choice. The app isn't quite as pretty, and it's missing a few features compared to Alfred, but considering how good it works without spending a dime, it's really impressive.
It's a good idea to give both apps a try and see which one is better for you. You can try them for yourself and get a better idea of how they work.
You can rest assured that you're using your old phones well and making your home more secure at the same time.
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