# How to turn an old Android phone into a home surveillance system **URL:** https://www.compsmag.com/blogs/how-to-turn-an-old-android-phone-into-a-home-surveillance-system/ **Author:** Ayushi Chauhan **Published:** 2022-04-25 **Updated:** 2022-04-25 **Categories:** Blogs **Tags:** Android Guides, Blogs Daily, Google tips and tutorials, guiderobert, Guides and Tutorials, guiding12, How To Guide, How To Guides, office tips and tutorials, Software tips and tutorials, Tips, Tricks **Reading Time:** 6 min --- This tip is about the how to turn an old Android phone into a home surveillance system. So read this free guide, How to turn an old Android phone into a home surveillance system step by step. If you have query related to same article you may contact us. ## How to turn an old Android phone into a home surveillance system - Guide Updating your phone every few years if not every year is quickly becoming the norm, and although you try to sell the old phone, sometimes smartphones devalue so quickly that selling older hardware isn't worth the effort. The result final is that you can have a smartphone scattered around the house just by taking up space in a drawer. If you're looking for an easy way to put your device to good use, we've got an easy-to-set-up project that you can do without a lot of time or effort: you can turn the phone in a security camera. There are a number of reasons why you might want to have a home safety camera per up a simple closed circuit television (CCTV) surveillance system monitoring your home or office. However, installing dedicated CCTV equipment is quite expensive and cannot be done by most people. All you need is an old smartphone or tablet and the right software. We had many other bad experiences until we tried Home Safety Camera – Alfred and Web Camera Online: IP CCTV Camera. Both apps worked reliably, although many were missing features mentioned elsewhere. ## an improvised Home Monitoring system There are many sophisticated home surveillance systems you can buy for your home. From simple ones that help you keep track of your pets to ones that can detect theft or live stream events, there are many options on the market. However, if you like a simple DIY home surveillance system that will cost you nothing to set up up, this might be a perfect project to try out. It doesn't promise five-star performance, but if you get it right it should make for a very interesting setup for the home. This is one of the cool apps that you can use for an old Android device. an old android phone preferably running Android 7 or older. Google live transcription and notification app. An automation app like Tasker, IFTTT, or MacroDroid (we'll use MacroDroid). ## Context Up Google live transcription and notification app Google's "Live Transcription and Notification" app is where most of the heavy lifting will take place. The nifty little app can detect and identify a wide range of sounds. From animal sounds like barking, burglary-related sounds like breaking glass, to fire alarms and baby cries, the app has you covered. ### Per up the app: Download the Live Transcribe and Notification app from the Google Play Store. Once downloaded, install it and grant all necessary permissions. depending on your phone Android manufacturer and version, you may already have the app installed. Exit the application. Open the Settings app on your phone, find and tap Accessibility > Sound Notification and turn on Sound Notification. Just search for "accessibility" in the "search settings" input box in the latest versions of Android. touch the back button to return to the Accessibility Permission screen. Scroll down to find and tap Live Transcribe. Enable live transcription. ONE button will appear at the bottom of the screen unless you are using a newer version of Android. Tap floating accessibility button that appears at the bottom of the screen to open the live transcription UI. If you haven't seen any, just launch the Live Transcribe app. Snap your finger, whistle, flush, play a song and try out many other sounds to test if the app is set up correctly. Also, say some words to see if the transcript is correct. If you followed the steps accurately, the app should label each sound with a considerable amount of accuracy. With that, you are free to proceed. To receive notifications on your phone whenever you detect a sound of interest, you will need to turn it on and select the sounds you want to notify you of. Do this in the Live Transcribe and Sound Notification app as follows: Open sound notifications screen of live transcription app and sound notification. The sound notifications screen is different from the live transcription screen. You need to be on the sound notifications screen as shown in the first screenshot above. If you are on the live transcription screen, click the setting icon in the lower left corner of the screen and tap Open Sound Notifications. Click on the configuration icon in the upper right corner of the screen. Activate the switch besides that sound notifications are paused. If it says sound notifications are on, leave it untouched. Then tap Sound notifications are on to reveal the sound notification preferences screen. Activate the switch next to the sounds you want to receive notifications about. For example, turn on the switch next to Baby sounds and Dog barking if you want to receive an SMS on your phone whenever your dog barks or your baby cries when you are out. ## Context Up MacroDroid Next up is defining up the MacroDroid application. MacroDroid is an Android automation app that you can use to automate a variety of Android tasks. It uses a trigger action operational model, in which it performs an action in response to a predefined trigger or condition. For example, you can program the app to text your child's number "back home” at 6pm every day. In this project, we use the app to extend the functionality of the live transcription and notification app. Live Transcribe app does not have a remote notification feature. Instead, you use MacroDroid to send remote notifications when your phone detects an interesting sound. Install the MacroDroid app from the Play Store. Launch the MacroDroid app and grant all requested permissions. On your MacroDroid home screen, tap Add Macro and then the plus icon at the top of the area labeled Triggers. On the next screen, tap Device events > Notification > Incoming notification > OK. At the prompt that appears, choose Select Application(s) and tap OK > Live Transcript and Sound Notification. On the next screen, leave all options untouched and click OK. You will return to MacroDroid home screen. ## Final note I hope you like the guide How to turn an old Android phone into a home surveillance system. In case if you have any query regards this article you may ask us. Also, please share your love by sharing this article with your friends. --- *End of Article*