Homeye: Old Phone Security Cam

JeromeLiee

About this app

That old Android phone in your drawer becomes a camera as soon as you plug it in. No hardware to buy, no account to create.

■ It doesn't lie to you
• You'll know when it goes down — you don't have to notice the frozen picture yourself.
• When it lowers video quality because the phone is hot or low on battery, it tells you why. It never just gets blurry.
• A "Stability check" lists the system switches that quietly kill background apps, and walks you to each one.
• If something breaks, you can export a diagnostic log and send it to the developer. The log is never uploaded anywhere on its own.

■ How it works
1. Install Homeye on both phones, on the same Wi-Fi.
2. On the old phone, pick "Use as camera". Plug it in and point it where you want.
3. On your everyday phone, pick "Use as viewer" and scan the QR code on the old phone.
Pair once; after that just open the app.

■ What it does
• Live video and audio, with four quality levels that follow temperature and battery
• Push to talk
• Motion detection, with an alert and a thumbnail on the viewer
• The camera phone can blank its screen and keep working
• Low-battery and overheating alerts from the camera phone
• Zoom from the viewer, as far as that phone's lenses allow
• 15 languages, following your system setting

■ Privacy (every line is something you can verify)
• Video and audio travel only inside the Wi-Fi you are on, never through our servers.
• No account needed. We do not collect your email or phone number.
• No ads, and no analytics SDK.
• We run no media server and offer no cloud recording.

■ What this version cannot do — said up front
• It only works on the same Wi-Fi. When you are out and your phone is on mobile data, this version cannot connect. Remote access needs servers; it is being evaluated and is not in this release.
• It cannot promise "never offline". Android limits background work for everyone, and nobody can promise that. What we do promise is that you will know when it stops.
• It is not a medical device and does not replace adult supervision.

■ What you need
Two Android phones (7.0 or newer) on the same Wi-Fi. Keep the camera phone plugged in.

What’s new

First release.

Turn a spare Android phone into a home camera on your own Wi-Fi. No account, no cloud, no ads.

• Live video and two-way audio between two phones you pair yourself
• Motion alerts with a thumbnail
• Four quality levels that follow temperature and battery - and it tells you why the quality changed
• A stability checklist for the system switches that quietly kill background apps
• It tells you when it goes down, instead of leaving you with a frozen picture