[NOTE 15 June 2022: the information in this post is outdated, please see the newer post Using an iPhone or iPad as a CCTV Camera]
Most Mac users have an old iPhone or two lying unused in a drawer. One great way to repurpose these devices is to turn them into security cameras – all you need is an app that does a good job of capturing and streaming video from the iPhone’s camera. In this blog post we review a few such apps, which work with our Mac NVR software SecuritySpy. To turn an iPhone into an effective CCTV surveillance camera it should be permanently connected to a power supply, and have access to a good WiFi signal for reliable transmission.
1. Wireless Camera
This is a well-designed app that has some nice features, such as control over the camera’s flash LED, a range of resolution options, and the ability to switch between front-facing and rear-facing cameras. It’s very easy to configure and provides good video quality – from 640×480 at 10fps to 1920×1080 at 5fps.
Pros
- Inexpensive ($1.99)
- High resolution
- Reasonably good performance
Cons
- JPEG only (no H.264 encoding)
- No audio