Holidays are nice. You possibly can go away behind your day by day worries, your obligations… your work. On the identical time, you allow behind your home and your pets. Each time I go away for various days, I fear concerning the safety of our home and miss our cats so badly that I take into consideration reducing the holiday brief.
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It isn’t nearly holidays. A yr in the past, considered one of our cats had a critical accident and wound up in a solid and collar. As a result of I wanted to maintain a continuing eye on him — and nonetheless meet my deadlines — I made a decision to repurpose one of many many Android telephones I had mendacity round. With the assistance of a simple-to-use software known as DroidCam, I turned my cellphone right into a webcam appropriate for a wide range of safety and monitoring purposes.
Since I first wrote this text, the developer has launched a extra highly effective model of the software program, known as DroidCam Webcam & OBS Camera, which provides OBS Studio integration. For those who solely want to make use of this as commonplace webcam, the unique software program will suffice.
Let me present you ways that is performed.
Methods to use an outdated Android cellphone as a safety or pet digicam
What you may want: An Android cellphone (operating model 5.0 and up), an influence twine for the cellphone (you do not need your battery to expire), the DroidCam app, and an internet browser on the identical community because the cellphone.
Open the Play Retailer in your Android machine.
Seek for DroidCam and, as soon as you have discovered it, faucet Set up.
Ensure your Android machine is on the identical wi-fi community because the desktop or laptop computer you may be utilizing to view the digicam, then begin the applying. As soon as it begins, it’ll current you with the handle you employ to attach out of your browser.
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The output on the display screen shows the IP handle and the port you have to use to entry the digicam. For those who level an internet browser to http://SERVER:4747/video (the place SERVER is the IP handle displayed by DroidCam), you may see the video output from the digicam.
The free model of the app solely gives 240p or 480p resolutions. To get 720p and 1080p resolutions you should buy the professional model of the app (DroidCamX $5.49 on the Google Play Retailer), which provides sound, HD mode, and SmoothFPS for extra secure video. Nonetheless, for very fundamental safety/child/cat cam utilization, the free model does simply effective.
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Bear in mind to plug that cellphone into an outlet, as streaming video can eat away on the battery. The excellent news on that entrance is that the app will proceed streaming, even after your cellphone is locked and asleep.
That is the gist of utilizing DroidCam as an internet/safety cam. I’ve used this setup for a couple of purposes, the place I wanted extra eyes than evolution gave me.