Turn old phone into camera
How‑To‑Geek published a step‑by‑step on turning an old iPhone into a Home Assistant security camera — and notes the same approach works for Android devices — making cheap repurposing of spare phones a practical route to local surveillance (howtogeek.com). The guide walks through using Home Assistant integrations rather than cloud services so the feed stays local to your network (howtogeek.com).
An old iPhone or Android phone can now do a credible second job as a Home Assistant security camera, using a local video stream instead of a cloud camera app. (howtogeek.com) How-To Geek published the guide on April 11, 2026, and writer Tim Brookes said he repurposed an iPhone 13 Pro by installing an IP camera app that sends RTSP or Motion JPEG video to Home Assistant. He said the same setup idea works on Android phones. (howtogeek.com) On Android, Home Assistant already documents an Android IP Webcam integration that turns a phone or tablet into a network camera and can also expose phone sensors inside the dashboard. The setup starts when the Android app launches a server and shows the device’s internet protocol address on screen. (home-assistant.io) The basic idea is simple: a spare phone runs camera software, the software publishes a live feed over the home network, and Home Assistant treats that feed like any other internet protocol camera. Brookes wrote that Home Assistant works with cameras that deliver RTSP or Motion JPEG streams, which are common formats for doorbells and security cameras. (howtogeek.com) That keeps the project in the same lane as a broader Home Assistant push toward local control, where devices keep working inside the house even if an outside service changes or goes offline. Frigate, another popular Home Assistant companion, describes itself as a local network video recorder with on-device object detection for internet protocol cameras. (docs.frigate.video) Brookes said the cost can be close to zero if the phone is already sitting in a drawer, though he used IP Camera Lite on iPhone and noted a $2.99 pro upgrade to remove restrictions. He also wrote that Android users can start with IP Webcam, which he described as having more than 10 million downloads. (howtogeek.com) The tradeoff is that a phone is still a phone, not a purpose-built camera. Brookes said his iPhone ran on a 5-volt, 1-amp charger but still produced noticeable heat, and he recommended the setup as a temporary camera rather than a permanent installation. (howtogeek.com) He also added two practical steps that matter for reliability: give the phone a static local address in the router and disable auto-lock so the camera app keeps running. On Android, Home Assistant’s documentation says some sensor data also requires enabling data logging inside the app. (howtogeek.com, home-assistant.io) That leaves the old-phone camera in a useful middle ground: cheaper and more flexible than buying another camera today, but less suited to round-the-clock duty than wired hardware built for heat, mounting, and continuous power. (howtogeek.com)
