My contract with xfinity home will end in Dec.i really dont need everything that xfinity or adt provide all i really need it for is to view/record when some teenager drunk on two buck chuck decides to do donuts in my lawn or when my neighbors take out my mailbox. for the past 3 weeks ive been testing different app based "turn your phone into a security camera" type of things. so far ive tried alfred, ip webcam and manything. many thing allows me to view but not record unless i pay although i did find they have the sharpest resolution options. alfred is also awesome but i need a 2nd phone to be the viewer and after using my main phone as the viewer found that it drained battery life a ton because of its need to run in the background. out of the three i like ip webcam the best. it allows me to use a web browser another tablet or another phone to view. i can use the cameras flash to use night vision mode it also allows me to record to my phones sd card so that i can review it later. the down side to this is that my "camera" must be plugged in at all times, if i want two cameras i need to have two web pages open as each camera has a different ip to link to viewing, and that due to sd card size i only get about 30 mins of recorded video. Does anyone have any longer term ( longer than the week ive tried all 3 of these out) results of using their tablet/phone as a "security system". if i choose not to go with the app based camera system does anyone have any good results with the diy at home systems from bestbuy ie nest, vivant etc. please note i live in a pretty friendly area. i would never go as far as to say its 100% secure because even the best secured areas have their problems. but we dont have nightly break ins around here. so i dont see the dire need to erect a 10 ft fence topped with barbed wire and post a ginormous rottie by the name of fluffy around my property line. some no solicitors signs, a beware of dog sign, deadbolts and auto flood lights seem to keep most at bay. I am in the camp that if they want what i have badly enough no deadbolt, iron security door, 10 ft fence or remote security system will keep them from it.
I use IP Camera in conjunction with another app that automatically uploads video recordings to Google Drive and deletes them when that upload is done.
Video is automatically recorded if motion or sound is detected by the camera.
This set up allows me to view recordings through the cloud.
I also set up my router to allow direct access to my cameras so I can view them live from outside my network.
This is a totally free solution outside of hardware.
Tinycam monitor pro seems like a good app. I've haven't used it much but for a one off $3.99 it comes with limited cloud storage to dropbox/google drive etc. as well as motion detection, emailing stills, and other things.
ive been reading up on an app that will upload stills to your drop box account. i may have to dig deeper to find one that does video. id like a bit more than 30 mins of recording a day especially since i cant be here 24/7 to change the sd card. the uploading is a great idea .thanks for the tip.