Use your old phone as a wireless webcam
If you happen to have a spare Android device, you might as well use it as a webcam to stream a live video! No matter if you want to observe your apartment door or watch you plants growing, having a (wireless) camera can be useful in a lot of use-cases.
Meet Zita, my 4 months old companion. She likes to play with anything and to run around without a clear intent. What she doesn’t like is staying calm, especially not in her box.
However, I would like her to calm down in her box. For that reason, I’ve crafted a little something that holds one of my old Android phones, a Nexus 5, above her box. The free IP Webcam app is running on the device, configured to stream the back facing camera video into my local network.
Setting this app up is a no-brainer, no technical knowledge required. It even comes with motion and sound detection. Now I can use any device with a web browser in my network to watch that live stream.
I just have to figure out my device’s local IP address (the app displays it on the main screen) and navigate to that address using my browser, e.g. http://192.168.0.6:8080. I’ve assigned a static IP address to my device, so that it doesn’t change.
Instead of a browser, I prefer to use VLC player to view the stream, though. I can connect by selecting File — Open Network and then entering the address of the video stream, e.g. http://192.168.0.6:8080/video.
VLC is available for all major operating systems, so I’ve set it up on my couch tablet. The tablet usually serves as a remote control for my PC, but thanks to Android’s split screen feature now also displays the stream.
Obviously Zita still tries to sneak out of her box when she thinks no one is looking, but the stream (and the motion detection) alerts me instantly and I can compliment her back into her box.
Feel free to adapt this setup to you use-case. There’s also a two-way audio stream possible, making this a cheap babyphone alternative.
