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this post was submitted on 22 Oct 2023
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I'm not aware of software to achieve this, but I assume it wouldn't be possible to activate the camera based on motion detection, as the phones do not have hardware for this. Sure, it could be possible to have the camera working 24/7 and only record when there's movement in front of it (e.g. watching for pixel changes in the image being captured) but I doubt these cameras can sustain that kind of uninterrupted use, meaning at some point they will just fail. Just my thoughts, as I find the idea interesting but would love to have that same kind of solution.
I had an old HTC phone that I used as a garage security camera for 2-3 years straight. It had to be restarted every couple months, but otherwise worked fine. Now you can get a $20 IP camera that surpasses it in every way tho.
Glad to know. 2-3 years is a good lifetime, especially when compared against keeping the phone unused and stored in a drawer.
The camera is on all the time, the recording/streaming only starts when requested or on motion detection. Did you expect a PIR sensor on a phone?
That's what I meant: I don't know (as in I have zero clue) the camera is designed to operate that way. Is a naive assumption on my side and I'd be glad to learn this is not the case.
No, I didn't expect a sensor, that's what I tried to say: the hardware is not there, so (on my mind) a constant image analysis/monitoring would be necessary in order to perceive movement and start recording, as in writing video to storage.
There is no reason a camera cannot be on all the time other than power consumption. Why couldn't it? The only limitation is software. Other parts of a phone can overheat from continuous operation (CPU et al., voltage converters, maybe flash LED and vibration motor) but not the camera.
Sensor wear, mechanical parts (if any), heat, etc. Essentially wear and tear. Just like nothing lasts forever, using it in a way that it's not intended/tested/quality assured, may reduce its lifespan.
Basically: "is the device intended to be on and recording 24/7?"
This does not happen AFAIK. Most phones have no shutters so tge sensors receive light all the time, and the little required power does not overheat it.
This is a valid point but the actuators in a phone camera's focusing mechanism are more like a speaker than a motor. They can last for ages, and many apps allow disabling autofocus when idle.
This one is valid. Even basic image processing is a load on the CPU, and recording/streaming definitely is. Depends on how the camera is mounted to allow airflow.
Sure. The stakes are not very high if the phone would otherwise lay in a drawer.
That should be possible. There was an old security cam app for the iMac built in camera that would do this. There was no motion sensor — you just stepped out of frame to take a “still” image and then the app would monitor for changes compared to it.