Give your old phone new life as a security camera

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• Step‑by‑step setup
• What you get with the free plan
• Paid tiers and added features
• Practical considerations

If you have an unused smartphone, you can turn it into a working security camera with a few minutes of setup. The free AlfredCamera app works across platforms and lets your main phone monitor live video, alarms and two-way audio from the older device.

Step‑by‑step setup

Install AlfredCamera on both the primary handset you use and the spare phone. On your main phone, open the app and create an account. When prompted to “Prepare another device as your camera screen,” choose Mobile Device.

The app offers two pairing methods: sign into the same account on the spare phone, or use a QR code to link the devices. Open Alfred on the old phone and complete the pairing with whichever option you prefer. Finally, confirm that your main phone is set to Viewer and the old phone is set to Camera.

What you get with the free plan

Even without paying, AlfredCamera provides several useful features. You can stream live video to your main phone and trigger a full‑volume siren from the app. The free tier also includes a low‑light mode for night viewing, two‑way talk between devices, and the ability to switch between cameras or rotate the camera view remotely.

Paid tiers and added features

Alfred offers two paid plans that expand storage, resolution and the number of cameras supported.

• Standard — $5.99 per month: increases the camera limit to four (the free plan allows two), enables HD streaming, provides an eight‑hour recording loop, 14 days of cloud storage, and adds person, vehicle and pet detection.
• Premium Plus — $7.99 per month: removes the camera limit, upgrades to full HD, allows unlimited recording, and extends cloud storage to 30 days.

Practical considerations

Using an old phone as a camera can be a low‑cost alternative to buying a separate device. Keep the spare phone plugged in and on a stable Wi‑Fi connection for continuous monitoring. Also check your account settings in Alfred to confirm which device is acting as the camera and which is the viewer.