How to use your smartphone as a home security camera

Security cameras get smart

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Like so many gadgets of the past half-decade, security cameras have gotten smart. Typically, a smart home appliance just means you get a mobile app to tinker with settings, and maybe some light automation — perhaps an Alexa integration, if you’re lucky. But thanks to advances in artificial intelligence, security cameras are getting much more sophisticated. Almost all of the mainstream ones do motion detection, and some can differentiate between people and pets and even perform real-time facial recognition.

But do you really need a camera in your home that can tell the difference between a child and a dog, or that has a database of faces that let it recognize all your friends and family? That all depends on why you’re interested in a home security camera, what you think you’re going to use it for, and how many people in your household you’re trying to keep tabs on.

Given that criteria, the best indoor home security camera for most people isn’t necessarily the smartest, and it’s definitely not the most expensive. But it covers most bases, at a reasonable price, and it allows you to add more features through a cheap monthly subscription.

This article was updated on June 27th, 2018 to include the new Wyze Cam Pan. Be sure to check back here going forward for new updates if you’re not buying an indoor home security camera right now.

The Amazon Cloud Cam is cheaper than most other competing cameras, and what you get for the money is almost as good as models nearly three times the price. The camera itself is easy to set up. It has night vision, and it can record and store HD footage for up to 24 hours for free, or farther back with Amazon’s monthly subscription. There’s also two-way talk and audio recording.

There are downsides: the image quality isn’t the best, and you get a fair deal of graininess and noise, especially when you use the Cloud Cam’s zoom feature. And unlike cameras from Google-owned Nest, the Cloud Cam doesn’t continuously record, but only saves clips when it detects motion or people in the frame. That makes it less useful for people who’d rather not trust the software and are more comfortable scrolling through a comprehensive backlog of footage. One notable benefit is that the Cloud Cam mobile app is way less cluttered than those from Nest, Netgear, and other companies. It’s just three screens: an account management panel, a live feed screen, and settings list.

There are some compromises you have to make with the Cloud Cam beyond just picture quality. The camera on its own will only do motion detection. If you pay for Amazon’s $6.99 per month cloud subscription, the camera can perform “people detection,” so that it can differentiate between humans and pets. But unlike cameras from Nest, it cannot perform facial recognition. That means you’ll get constant notifications if the camera is facing a busy part of your home, like the living room or the kitchen. With Amazon’s subscription, you can use the Zones feature to section off portions of what the camera sees to tell it to ignore activity in that area.

Our review of Amazon Cloud Cam

So I don’t think most people are really losing out on too much, and the AI shortcomings aren’t enough to tank our recommendation. Considering all the additional features you get with the subscription plan, the Cloud Cam is arguably the most capable camera for its price.

If you’re looking for something a little pricier but higher-quality and much smarter, the Nest Cam IQ is a solid buy. The device records in HD and comes with night vision and a lot of other bells and whistles. But its picture quality is stellar, with a 4K sensor with HDR to account for constant changes in light. The Nest Cam IQ also has a powerful microphone array and speaker. So with Google Assistant built in, it doubles as a mini Google Home. And unlike the Cloud Cam, the Nest Cam IQ can record continuously if you purchase the Nest Aware cloud subscription, so you can scroll through a whole day’s timeline with the flick of a finger.

Where the Nest Cam IQ really stands out, though, is in its AI features. Unlike the standard Nest Cam, the Nest Cam IQ knows when it sees people moving and not just a pet, no subscription required. If you subscribe to Nest Aware, which starts at $5 per month and scales depending on your video storage needs, you get what Nest calls familiar face alerts. That lets the camera recognize people. You can even go into the mobile app and train it to remember certain faces and give people permanent profiles so it remembers them later.

Our review of Nest Labs Cam IQ

That said, the Nest Cam IQ is expensive, and you need to ask yourself if those AI features are really worth it. For someone like me, who lives in an apartment and doesn’t have kids or a ton of people coming in and out all the time, it’s a bit overkill. Also, I found the Nest Cam IQ to be a bit too sensitive on the AI front: it kept asking if I recognized the faces of actors it picked up on my TV screen. But if you have a big family, and you want to know when your kids come home from school or where the dog is or whether it’s the babysitter or a burglar entering your home, the Nest Cam IQ is smart enough to handle all that. Plus, it’s a really nicely designed gadget.

There are a lot of really solid cameras out there that will perform most of the tasks a majority of consumers are looking for — and pretty much every brand will let you link multiple cameras together. But there are a few shortcomings and compromises here and there that prevented some devices from making the cut. Here are some alternatives to consider:

Craig Lloyd is a smarthome expert with nearly ten years of professional writing experience. His work has been published by iFixit, Lifehacker, Digital Trends, Slashgear, and GottaBeMobile. Read more.

Setting up a simple home security camera is a great way to keep tabs on your house while you’re away. A dedicated system is great, but in a pinch, you can use an old, spare smartphone that you have lying around.

You could, of course, buy an indoor security camera that’s ready to set up and actually made for such a purpose. Something like the Nest Cam is a good option, but $200 can be a little steep. Instead, if you upgrade to a new smartphone every year, it’s likely that you have an old, spare smartphone just collecting dust in a drawer somewhere. You can put it to good use by turning it into a home security camera.

This process relies on an app called Manything, which you install both on your old phone (the camera) and on your current phone (which allows you to view the camera). The app is available on iOS and Android, although the Android version is still in beta. Thankfully, it’s rather complete for being just a beta, and it should work just fine on most Android devices. Try it out first to ensure the camera functionality works on your device.

Manything is free to use for 1 camera and no cloud recording. But Manything also has paid tiers that you might be interested in. When you first sign up, you’ll get a free month of Manything’s best plan, but after that, you can either use their free plan or go with a cheaper paid plan. Here’s what Manything offers:

The $2.99/month plan isn’t a bad way to go. It provides one camera and stores your recordings for up to two days, which is plenty of time for you to view and save them.

Once you download and install the app on your spare smartphone, tap on “Register” at the bottom to get started.

Enter in your email address and create a password to use with Manything. Tap on “Register” when done.

Next, tap on “Camera”.

You might get pop-ups of the app asking permission to access your phone’s camera and microphone. Tap “OK” on these.

After that, the camera interface will pop up. You can begin right away by pressing the red record button to begin monitoring your home. From here, you can prop up your smartphone against a ledge of some sort, or get a small tripod and phone holder. Something like the Joby GripTight Micro Stand would be perfect. You’ll also want to make sure that the phone is plugged into a power source so that its battery doesn’t die during the day.

With that set up, download and install the Manything app on your main smartphone. The app works cross-platform, meaning that you can have an Android device set up as a camera and an iPhone as the viewer, or vice versa. When you open the app, tap “Log in” at the bottom and enter in the email address and password you signed up with.

The spare smartphone that you set up should show up in the list.

Tapping on it will bring up the viewer where you’ll get a real-time view of what’s going on. You’ll also see a list of recordings below that if motion was detected. These recordings are uploaded to the cloud (a.k.a. Manything’s servers).

Tap on the gear icon in the top-right corner to view settings.

Most of the settings are self-explanatory, but there are some that deserve some explanation.

For instance, “Stills Mode” will have the camera take continuous pictures instead of recording video, which can help on bandwidth if your Wi-Fi isn’t up to snuff.

Under “Motion Detection”, you can change the sensitivity of the camera, as well as determine which areas in the frame you want left out of detection, which can come in handy in some situations.

Under “Video Quality”, you can determine the quality of the video that gets streamed. If your Wi-Fi is kind of slow, it may be best to keep this on a low setting, but if you have a faster Wi-Fi connection, feel free to crank up the quality as you see fit.

Manything can stream and record over a cellular connection, but it’s generally a good idea to keep “Allow Cellular Data” disabled so you don’t bust through your monthly data allowance. However, you can still view the live stream and recordings from your viewer phone over a cellular connection.

Lastly, tap on “Screen Dimmer” and make sure that “Bright On Movement” is disabled. This makes sure that the screen of the phone doing the recording and monitoring doesn’t come on when it detects motion. It’s not a huge deal, but it’s a quick way to save energy.

After you have the settings the way you want, you can sit back and wait for notifications to roll in whenever the camera detects motion. It will automatically begin recording when this happens (if you have a paid subscription) and save the recordings so that you can view them later.

Setting up a simple home security camera is a great way to keep tabs on your house while you’re away. A dedicated system is great, but in a pinch, you can use an old, spare smartphone that you have lying around.

This process relies on an app called Manything, which you install both on your old phone (the camera) and on your current phone (which allows you to view the camera). The app is available on iOS and Android, although the Android version is still in beta. Thankfully, it’s rather complete for being just a beta, and it should work just fine on most Android devices. Try it out first to ensure the camera functionality works on your device.

Manything is free to use for 1 camera and no cloud recording. But Manything also has paid tiers that you might be interested in. When you first sign up, you’ll get a free month of Manything’s best plan, but after that, you can either use their free plan or go with a cheaper paid plan. Here’s what Manything offers:

The $2.99/month plan isn’t a bad way to go. It provides one camera and stores your recordings for up to two days, which is plenty of time for you to view and save them.

Once you download and install the app on your spare smartphone, tap on “Register” at the bottom to get started.

Enter in your email address and create a password to use with Manything. Tap on “Register” when done.

Next, tap on “Camera”.

You might get pop-ups of the app asking permission to access your phone’s camera and microphone. Tap “OK” on these.

After that, the camera interface will pop up. You can begin right away by pressing the red record button to begin monitoring your home. From here, you can prop up your smartphone against a ledge of some sort, or get a small tripod and phone holder. Something like the Joby GripTight Micro Stand would be perfect. You’ll also want to make sure that the phone is plugged into a power source so that its battery doesn’t die during the day.

With that set up, download and install the Manything app on your main smartphone. The app works cross-platform, meaning that you can have an Android device set up as a camera and an iPhone as the viewer, or vice versa. When you open the app, tap “Log in” at the bottom and enter in the email address and password you signed up with.

The spare smartphone that you set up should show up in the list.

Tapping on it will bring up the viewer where you’ll get a real-time view of what’s going on. You’ll also see a list of recordings below that if motion was detected. These recordings are uploaded to the cloud (a.k.a. Manything’s servers).

Tap on the gear icon in the top-right corner to view settings.

Most of the settings are self-explanatory, but there are some that deserve some explanation.

For instance, “Stills Mode” will have the camera take continuous pictures instead of recording video, which can help on bandwidth if your Wi-Fi isn’t up to snuff.

Under “Motion Detection”, you can change the sensitivity of the camera, as well as determine which areas in the frame you want left out of detection, which can come in handy in some situations.

Under “Video Quality”, you can determine the quality of the video that gets streamed. If your Wi-Fi is kind of slow, it may be best to keep this on a low setting, but if you have a faster Wi-Fi connection, feel free to crank up the quality as you see fit.

Manything can stream and record over a cellular connection, but it’s generally a good idea to keep “Allow Cellular Data” disabled so you don’t bust through your monthly data allowance. However, you can still view the live stream and recordings from your viewer phone over a cellular connection.

Lastly, tap on “Screen Dimmer” and make sure that “Bright On Movement” is disabled. This makes sure that the screen of the phone doing the recording and monitoring doesn’t come on when it detects motion. It’s not a huge deal, but it’s a quick way to save energy.

After you have the settings the way you want, you can sit back and wait for notifications to roll in whenever the camera detects motion. It will automatically begin recording when this happens (if you have a paid subscription) and save the recordings so that you can view them later.

Setting up a simple home security camera is a great way to keep tabs on your house while you’re away. A dedicated system is great, but in a pinch, you can use an old, spare smartphone that you have lying around.

This process relies on an app called Manything, which you install both on your old phone (the camera) and on your current phone (which allows you to view the camera). The app is available on iOS and Android, although the Android version is still in beta. Thankfully, it’s rather complete for being just a beta, and it should work just fine on most Android devices. Try it out first to ensure the camera functionality works on your device.

Manything is free to use for 1 camera and no cloud recording. But Manything also has paid tiers that you might be interested in. When you first sign up, you’ll get a free month of Manything’s best plan, but after that, you can either use their free plan or go with a cheaper paid plan. Here’s what Manything offers:

The $2.99/month plan isn’t a bad way to go. It provides one camera and stores your recordings for up to two days, which is plenty of time for you to view and save them.

Once you download and install the app on your spare smartphone, tap on “Register” at the bottom to get started.

Enter in your email address and create a password to use with Manything. Tap on “Register” when done.

Next, tap on “Camera”.

You might get pop-ups of the app asking permission to access your phone’s camera and microphone. Tap “OK” on these.

After that, the camera interface will pop up. You can begin right away by pressing the red record button to begin monitoring your home. From here, you can prop up your smartphone against a ledge of some sort, or get a small tripod and phone holder. Something like the Joby GripTight Micro Stand would be perfect. You’ll also want to make sure that the phone is plugged into a power source so that its battery doesn’t die during the day.

With that set up, download and install the Manything app on your main smartphone. The app works cross-platform, meaning that you can have an Android device set up as a camera and an iPhone as the viewer, or vice versa. When you open the app, tap “Log in” at the bottom and enter in the email address and password you signed up with.

The spare smartphone that you set up should show up in the list.

Tapping on it will bring up the viewer where you’ll get a real-time view of what’s going on. You’ll also see a list of recordings below that if motion was detected. These recordings are uploaded to the cloud (a.k.a. Manything’s servers).

Tap on the gear icon in the top-right corner to view settings.

Most of the settings are self-explanatory, but there are some that deserve some explanation.

For instance, “Stills Mode” will have the camera take continuous pictures instead of recording video, which can help on bandwidth if your Wi-Fi isn’t up to snuff.

Under “Motion Detection”, you can change the sensitivity of the camera, as well as determine which areas in the frame you want left out of detection, which can come in handy in some situations.

Under “Video Quality”, you can determine the quality of the video that gets streamed. If your Wi-Fi is kind of slow, it may be best to keep this on a low setting, but if you have a faster Wi-Fi connection, feel free to crank up the quality as you see fit.

Manything can stream and record over a cellular connection, but it’s generally a good idea to keep “Allow Cellular Data” disabled so you don’t bust through your monthly data allowance. However, you can still view the live stream and recordings from your viewer phone over a cellular connection.

Lastly, tap on “Screen Dimmer” and make sure that “Bright On Movement” is disabled. This makes sure that the screen of the phone doing the recording and monitoring doesn’t come on when it detects motion. It’s not a huge deal, but it’s a quick way to save energy.

After you have the settings the way you want, you can sit back and wait for notifications to roll in whenever the camera detects motion. It will automatically begin recording when this happens (if you have a paid subscription) and save the recordings so that you can view them later.

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If you have an old Android smartphone gathering dust somewhere in your house then maybe you can make good use of it instead of selling. In the last couple of years, smartphones have started to offer good quality camera, memory capacity and even battery life. So, instead of selling a capable old Android phone , you can convert it into a home security camera.

An Android smartphone is more compact than a CCTV camera and can be hidden or camouflaged anywhere inside your house. All you need is an app to turn your old Android phone into a security camera.

Talking about apps, while there are several free surveillance apps, not all of them produce the desired results. One of the most popular apps is Alfred Camera. Backed by Google Play Protect, the Alfred Camera app can convert any old smartphone into a security camera in minutes. There are Android apps too and you can try them as well. You can either choose to watch the live feed on another mobile that you are using or even opt to watch the live feed on a computer as well.

Here’s what you will need:

-You need a Wi-Fi connection at home or at least a 4G connection for your old phone
-A power bank or power source nearby or ensure the old phone doesn’t run out of battery
-A spare Google account exclusively for this purpose. To ensure best privacy, it is always recommended not to use your main Google account for this type of apps.
-An old Android phone after factory reset

Download Alfred Camera app on your old Android phone. The setup is pretty easy. You will need to select the old Android phone as “Camera” and not viewer when the app asks “I use this device as”. You are then required to sign-in to your Google account. Use the spare Google account to sign-in. And that’s pretty much it. You are now streaming your home live.

To watch the feed, download the app on another phone and log-in with the same spare Google account. Select “Viewer” option when the app prompts “I use this device as”. And this will let you see the live feed on the mobile. If you wish to see the live feed on computer then open Chrome browser and open the website “alfred.computer”. On the website, sign-in with the same Google account and the live feed will be visible. Note that you can watch the live feed on only one device or computer.

As far as the image quality is concerned, for free version the image quality is bad and certain options are limited. Like with most security camera apps, you will need to get a subscription. The Alfred Camera comes with a subscription of $2.49 (or Rs 178) per month for a 12 months pack. Monthly packs start at $3.49 or Rs 285. Ensure that you keep the old Android phone plugged to a power source or power bank to avoid the risk of the phone shutting down.

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• How to use your old smartphone as a home security camera
• How to check the authenticity and validity of Aadhaar card
• Apple iOS 15 guide: How to change text size for each app in iPhone and iPad
• How to give Windows 10 a ‘makeover’ to look like Windows 11
• WhatsApp solves one of biggest its problems with multi-device support: Here’s how to use it and all details

If you have an old Android smartphone gathering dust somewhere in your house then maybe you can make good use of it instead of selling. In the last couple of years, smartphones have started to offer good quality camera, memory capacity and even battery life. So, instead of selling a capable old Android phone , you can convert it into a home security camera.

An Android smartphone is more compact than a CCTV camera and can be hidden or camouflaged anywhere inside your house. All you need is an app to turn your old Android phone into a security camera.

Talking about apps, while there are several free surveillance apps, not all of them produce the desired results. One of the most popular apps is Alfred Camera. Backed by Google Play Protect, the Alfred Camera app can convert any old smartphone into a security camera in minutes. There are Android apps too and you can try them as well. You can either choose to watch the live feed on another mobile that you are using or even opt to watch the live feed on a computer as well.

Here’s what you will need:

-You need a Wi-Fi connection at home or at least a 4G connection for your old phone
-A power bank or power source nearby or ensure the old phone doesn’t run out of battery
-A spare Google account exclusively for this purpose. To ensure best privacy, it is always recommended not to use your main Google account for this type of apps.
-An old Android phone after factory reset

Download Alfred Camera app on your old Android phone. The setup is pretty easy. You will need to select the old Android phone as “Camera” and not viewer when the app asks “I use this device as”. You are then required to sign-in to your Google account. Use the spare Google account to sign-in. And that’s pretty much it. You are now streaming your home live.

To watch the feed, download the app on another phone and log-in with the same spare Google account. Select “Viewer” option when the app prompts “I use this device as”. And this will let you see the live feed on the mobile. If you wish to see the live feed on computer then open Chrome browser and open the website “alfred.computer”. On the website, sign-in with the same Google account and the live feed will be visible. Note that you can watch the live feed on only one device or computer.

As far as the image quality is concerned, for free version the image quality is bad and certain options are limited. Like with most security camera apps, you will need to get a subscription. The Alfred Camera comes with a subscription of $2.49 (or Rs 178) per month for a 12 months pack. Monthly packs start at $3.49 or Rs 285. Ensure that you keep the old Android phone plugged to a power source or power bank to avoid the risk of the phone shutting down.

We all have busy lives. When I started looking for extra security for my home I wanted to keep it easy. For a simple home security system look no further than your smartphone. There are so many security cameras that now offer a free app on your smartphone so there’s no excuse to not invest in home security. Keep yourself and your family safe by following these tips…

Many people think that you have to pay a lot of money to be able to keep an eye on your home. Some of them even do pay every single month to have their home monitored.

But there’s an easy and simple way that you can watch your home’s security yourself. All you need is a smartphone. There’s so much that you can handle when it comes to home security – and since you already have a smart phone – you won’t have to invest in a monitoring service.

⇒ For an excellent price on this system, Click Here to see more.

Save money to invest in security

By saving money on a monitoring service you’ll be able to buy extra cameras or motion sensor lights to increase your home’s security.

With a simple home security system you install yourself, you can use it at home or while you’re away to see what’s going on. Some systems that you can buy for your home work with your phone to enable you to see who’s standing at your front door before you even open it.

There are plenty of free apps that you can download once you have a home security system that can help keep your home safe. What features you get, the mounting hardware and the type of equipment will vary depending on what model and type of system that you purchase.

Compatibility of your simple home security system

You need one that lets you easily program the security and sync it with your phone. You’ll want to read before you buy to make sure that it’s compatible with your type of phone. If others in your household need to access the app make sure the system you buy will work on multiple smartphones.

Some of the systems that you can buy to work with your smartphone are ones that have cameras built right into the doorbell. They’re so small and so unobtrusive that anyone who comes to your door won’t even know that the camera is there.

Not only can you get the app hooked up with a system like that to monitor while you’re home, but you can see it when you’re away, too. You can usually find a system like this for less than a few hundred dollars.

Pretend to be at home

It has the ability to let you see who’s outside and it will allow you to communicate as well. You’ll be able to speak as if you were really home and the person on the doorstep won’t know that you aren’t.

It’s a great theft deterrent. You can get a system to use with your smartphone that works with any camera – including ones that go outside your home. And the good news is that these systems have the ability to be programmed so that if something goes on, your phone will send you a notification to check it out.

There are systems that are plug and play setups that come with contact sensors as well as loud alarms to alert neighbors. But these features can vary based on which system you get.

Make sure the one you choose specifically states that you can control the system with your smartphone. Some of the home security systems have Cloud storage so that you can hold onto the security images in case you need them.

Once you decide on a home security system that integrates with your smartphone, you’ll want to do a quick test to make sure the system is compatible and does work well with your phone. Also be sure to check out reviews and feedback from real customers before you buy.

Not only for intruders

A simple home security system can be useful for so many different reasons. Perhaps you want to check on your pets while you’re at work. You can see you pets on your smartphone with the right setup. You can also monitor what time your teenager is coming in at night by setting up an alert to tell you on your smartphone.

With so many different reasons to get a simple home security system there’s no time to waste. You’ll feel safer being able to monitor your home and you might even get a laugh from seeing what your pets are up to while you’re at work.

☑ Need outdoor home security lights? Read more here.

The Manything app for iOS can turn your iPhone into a security camera. (Photo: Manything)

In these days of non-stop hacking, phishing and data breaches, it’s easy to forget that regular old burglars are still lurking around to steal from your home. That’s why I’m a big fan of home security systems, especially ones that let you watch your home from a distance and alert you automatically when someone breaks in.

Of course, you don’t always need a security system that covers an entire house. Maybe you want to watch a specific drawer or jewelry box, your cubicle at work, the door to your room (if you have roommates or a snooping contractor), or what’s happening in your hotel room while you’re out. In those and similar cases, you might be able to set up a quick security system for free with the right tools.

Getting started

The main thing you need to get going is a smartphone (a tablet with a rear camera can work, too), a stand to keep the gadget upright and a monitoring app. Set up your gadget on the stand and point the camera in the direction you want to watch. Then start the app. When the app detects movement, it can alert you via e-mail or text, take pictures of the thief and even sound an alarm to scare them off.

If you already have an old smartphone or tablet lying around, you can be up and running in no time. You can also use your main smartphone if you want to guard something overnight while you’re sleeping, like a hotel room door.

So, let’s take a look at the apps that turn your smartphone into a security camera. At the moment, few monitoring apps work for both Android and Apple, so I’ll tell you about one for each.

Android users first

Android users can grab the free Salient Eye app. The name is little odd, but the features are top notch (click here for tips on using security camera apps).

It uses your phone’s camera to sense motion, and alerts you via e-mail or text. Then it starts capturing photos of the thief and uploads them online to a free cloud storage account. A few seconds later, it triggers an audible alarm that, hopefully, scares the thief away. To shut off the alarm requires a password.

For the notification and uploading features, you will need to have your gadget connected to a cellular or Wi-Fi network. Salient Eye can still capture images and sound the alarm without a connection, but if the thief steals the gadget, then it doesn’t do as much good, aside from the fact they’ll be running around blaring an alarm.

In situations where you know someone is coming in, like a cleaning person, you can turn off the alarm so you can see what they’re doing but not alert them. You can also turn off notifications if you just want to use it as a motion-activated alarm.

The developer claims Salient Eye can work up to 10 hours on battery alone, so it will even work in places you can’t access an outlet, like a drawer or jewelry box, or on a camping trip. There’s also a paid remote-control app that lets you turn it on and off from a distance.

For Apple folks

Apple users will want to download the free Manything app to both their old iPhone and new iPhone or iPad. Like Salient Eye, Manything uses your gadget’s camera to detect motion and trigger an alert.

Unlike Salient Eye, it can capture video in addition to still photos, and it streams video live to the iPhone or iPad you have with you. It also stores up to 12 hours of video in a free cloud account.

Manything has other fancy features like adjustable motion sensitivity, programmable motion zones so it can watch very specific areas, easy time-lapse creation and a built-in remote control. If you’re really feeling adventurous, Manything has IFTTT support for triggering updates to social media or even triggering Internet-connected home appliances like some LED light bulbs.

Your only limit is your imagination. Use Manything to record activity around a bird feeder or know when a child leaves their room at night. Or just stick to using it for security.

As I said, Manything is free, but it has some paid options that let you use it with more than one gadget at a time or get more than 12 hours of video recording storage in the cloud.

More security

As I said, a smartphone security camera is good for quick security or a limited area. If you want to upgrade your home security, though, I recommend wireless security cameras.

In addition to streaming video to you on the go and sending motion alerts, these have additional features like night vision, two-way audio and sometimes even pan and tilt control.

Whatever you end up buying, make sure that it has an encrypted signal and that you change the default password right away. Otherwise, hackers will have no trouble finding it on the Internet, logging in and using the camera to spy on you.

After Belkin revealed a baby monitor that connects to iOS devices just a few weeks ago, it was only a matter of time before they took that concept up a notch with a full security camera. The company recently revealed the new NetCam Wi-Fi Camera, which uses night vision and connects to a smartphone or tablet, so you can monitor your home remotely.

The camera itself is equipped with a wide-angle lens for capturing a much larger view of the room it’s placed in and can also record digital audio. It’s also equipped with infrared night vision, which allows for a clear view even with little or no light.

Belkin’s new security cam was designed to make home security much easier and portable by connecting directly to your Wi-Fi router without the need for a computer. Instead, users just download a free app on any iOS or Android device, which lets them monitor the camera live and even save video on their smartphone or tablet. The NetCam can also be set to send out email alerts and automatically take still shots if it detects any movement in the area.

Compared to some of the other smartphone-enabled security camera’s out there (iZON’s Remote Room Monitor, for example), Belkin’s NetCam does seem to come with a few extra features without spiking up the price. It certainly should be an enticing device for anyone who wants to remotely check up on their house while they’re on vacation or just make sure the kids got home from school alright.

The device supports 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and captures JPEG stills and video in MJPEG format at resolutions of 160×120, 320×240 and 640×480 at up to 30 fps. With a F2.6 lens with focal length of 3.1 mm, the camera boasts a viewing angle of 64° horizontal, 48° vertical and 80° diagonal. It measures 3.8 x 8 x 7.1 inches (9.6 x 20.3 x 18 cm), and weighs 15.2 ounces (431 g)