How to turn your iPhone and iPad into a surveillance camera

Have you ever think of buying a surveillance camera for your home or office? You want to see or monitor what is going on at the other place. You went to a mall or internet to look for the best surveillance camera but when you looked at the price-tag, you had to put this aside because the price is too expensive or not within your budget. I got this a lot and had been looking around for the possibility of using my old iDevice to connect to the internet for surveillance camera purpose.

Yes, it is finally here and it is literally free but of course you need to have a spare iDevice around. I have an old iPhone 5 which I didn't manage to sell it off when I bought an iPhone 6. Someone offered to buy my iPhone 5 for $550 but I was looking for $600. In the end, I have forgotten about it and have let it in my closet. When I wanted to sell now, iPhone 6S is already in the market. I think the price that I will get is quite low and not worth it anymore.

So, when I want to buy a surveillance camera for my new home, I think of whether my old iPhone 5 can be used as a surveillance camera. I did some research and found that it is possible now.

The free app that I used is Manything. Go to the Appstore and download the app called "Manything". It is free if you just need to monitor an area with only an iPhone. The basic free plan allows you have live streaming, motion alerts and set detection zones for one camera. If you need more recording options, then you can check out the pricing.

If you have many cameras, you can have the options for multi-camera views or switch between each camera. Also, there is a beta Android app which can be used as a viewer.

I tried out the app using an iPhone 5 as a camera and iPhone 6 as the viewer. I must say that the user interface is smooth and there is a slight lag in the live streaming. But it is quite good and better than I have expected for a free app.

I used the front facing camera and the image quality is quite bad on the viewer. I switched the camera to the rear and the image quality improved significantly because the rear camera itself has higher resolution than the FFC. It is recommended to use the stock or genuine charger to power the device because it is going to consume energy during recording and you wouldn't want the camera to go flat in battery. For non-genuine parts, there will also be a risk of overheating and may cause fire.

Apple iOS 9.0.1 software update

Apple iOS 9.0.1 software update is available now. I have not even upgraded to iOS 9 yet but I think this iOS 9.0.1 update has fixed the privacy vulnerability bug. According to the computerworld.com, Apple iOS 9.0 has a nasty lock screen bug as it allows anyone to see your photos and contacts. Well, I can't verify this yet because I have not even updated to iOS 9. 

Apple iOS 9.0.1 software update

You can refer to the Apple site on the bug fixes or the below:

iOS 9.0.1 : This update contains bug fixes including:

• Fixes an issue where some users could not complete setup assistant after updating
• Fixes an issue where sometimes alarms and timers could fail to play
• Fixes an issue in Safari and Photos where pausing video could cause the paused frame to appear distorted
• Fixes an issue where some users with a custom APN setup via a profile would lose cellular data

I wouldn't recommend anyone to update to iOS 9 yet until there are enough users to feedback all bugs to Apple. It may take a while say one month or two. Apple will release more updates to the iOS 9 and hopefully can iron out all the bug issues. In the meantime, for those who have updated the software, please update to the latest to see whether the bugs have been fixed. If not, continue to wait or feedback to Apple. Hopefully someone in Apple can fix them.

The iPhone 6S and 6S Plus have been launched yesterday 25 Sep 2015. My colleagues have already bought them and we will test the phones out. For those who have bought them, congratulations! You will not regret buying one.

Apple iPhone 6S

Apple iOS 8.1.3 software updated successfully!

iOS 8.1.3 verifying update...

It has been a week since I have updated my iPhone 6 and iPad Air to iOS 8.1.3. There is no issue so far and I didn't experience any battery life dropped. It is working as per normal. I didn't experience the weird sound when I made a call. The weird sound is liked someone washing the dishes at the kitchen sink. I have another iPhone 6 Plus which I have not updated yet. I will probably update it in a few days time.

When you want to update the software, I recommend that you check that you have enough storage space in the iPhone or iPad before performing the update. It is better to charge your devices to 100% battery life before the update. Do it when you don't need the phone or device for the next few hours just in case there are issues during update. I have been using iPhone, iPad for the last 5 years at least and I have never encountered issues during updating. Of course, don't interrupt the process of updating. Leave it there and the OTA system will update the device accordingly. That is why you need to charge it to 100% first before updating. Sometimes, I would leave it with the charger switched on just in case there was any issue.

Remember to backup your data before updating just in case. However, recently, I have not done any major backup and I have not encountered any issues. But like I said, just in case, you probably need to backup the device periodically so that you don't lose your important photos or files.

iOS 8.1.2 updated!

I had updated my iPhone 6 to iOS 8.1.2 and so far there is no issue encountered. Battery life on iPhone 6 did not improve and become worse. I think it is comparable before and after the update. I have taken screen image captures on the battery usage for at least 3 days but I'm too lazy to post it in this blog. I will try when I happen to find them. So, if you are worried that your iPhone 6 or 6 PLUS has issue updating to iOS 8.1.2, you don't have to worry anymore. Update and enjoy! Just a note, I'm not liable for any damages to your iDevice when you update.

iPhone 6 transparent casing + screen protector from Qoo10

I got my iPhone 6 gold 64gb on 3 Dec 2014. I was very excited because this is my present for 2014. I have waited for one month to get this since I could already renew my mobile contract in November. However, iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are always sold out in the SingTel shops. Well, I'm lucky to get the iPhone 6 and the Gold version in December. I'm sure there are few thousands people who are still waiting to get their hands on the iPhone 6.

There are a lot of iPhone 6 16gb in the shops and I don't recommend buying 16gb version. This is because more apps are developing for high end mobile devices and the 16gb version will only give you say 10gb of space. After you take say 1000 photos, plus a few videos, you will run out of space. You will need to delete and free up space for new photos and videos and not considering new apps. I would say go for a minimum 64gb and if possible a 128gb version. You will not regret it because it is much more convenient to have >64gb as you don't need to worry about running out of memory. Just imagine that you are taking an important photo shoot or video and your iPhone runs out of memory...arg...

The casings from the accessory shops are about S$7 without screen protector. I think the cost of the casing with screen protector will be around S$10 and above. This is expensive, so I quickly went online to Qoo10 to buy a transparent casing plus screen protector. I was looking for the back protector but most sellers had only front screen protectors for sales. I got a transparent casing and front screen protector for only S$6.25. The delivery took 4 working days and I had to use my old iPhone 5S while waiting for the package to arrive. The package arrived on 9 Dec and the quality was what I had expected.

Transparent casing plus screen protector for my iPhone 6

Hunting for an iPhone 6 / iPhone 6 Plus Gold

The hunt of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in Singapore is a hit or miss thing. iPhone 6 was launched on 19 Sep 2014 and even though my wife got a registration with SingTel, she was unable to secure a time slot for the iPhone 6 launch event. Of course, she was disappointed and she had patiently waited for the launch. She was using a Samsung Galaxy S4 and she was very, very, very disappointed with the performance. Though the screen size is big but after one year, the S4 will start to give problems such as battery weak, charger not charging, etc… She waited for her 2-year plan to expire (the S4 was from her mother’s mobile plan) and wanted to quickly get the iPhone 6 Plus that she had waited for, BIG SCREEN and LONGER battery life. She wanted the Gold version.

She had used iPhone 3G, iPhone 4 and she had no complaints so far except that the screens were too small.

On 12 October 2014, we were having breakfast at West Gate McDonalds. The telcos shops normally start operations at 11am. I told my wife to quickly go and queue at the shops before they opened for business. Well, she went to a StarHub shop at JEM at about 11am and was the first one in the queue. I think most people already gave up to get an iPhone 6 Plus already so no one was queuing up. She asked the counter staff and he told her that there was no more stocks. However, she insisted and the manager checked the system and told her that there was one iPhone 6 Plus Gold 128gb available. My wife quickly told him that she wanted that. She had to port her SingTel line to StarHub and she got her iPhone 6 Plus Gold… She was happy and excited.

My hunt for an iPhone started out in November 2014 because I could only upgrade my handset then. It was almost impossible to get one because they were either in grey, silver or 16gb only. I’m looking at Gold and at least 64gb version. I don’t mind iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus because this iPhone will be given to me as a gift and I don’t mind whichever. But after using my wife’s iPhone 6 Plus, it is very clear now that I will not be able to bring the big phone with me in my pocket. My wife asked me to hold onto her iPhone 6 Plus and I placed it in my back pocket. It was very risky as I nearly accidentally sat on a seat with the phone in my back pocket. Luckily, it didn’t go into bendgate situation. I think I will sit on the phone eventually if it is mine.

So, I have decided that whichever iPhone 6 comes by, I will buy that. So yesterday, 3 Dec 2014, I was on half day afternoon leave and I happened to pass by the SingTel shop at Bugis junction at about 5.30pm. I saw that it had the iPhone 6 Gold 64gb available. I quickly went in and collected a iPhone 6 slip (see below). This slip would entitle me to buy the iPhone 6.

iPhone 6 slip

I waited patiently for my turn, 8 persons in line and within 15 minutes, it was my turn. I asked the staff why it was always out of stock. She said that Apple had given limited stocks and that day, they had only 30 sets of iPhone 6 Gold 64gb. She said I was lucky to get one because the stocks just arrived a couple of hours ago. I told her that the update notice on SingTel website is not reliable as when it is not updated in real-time. I would recommend that if you want to buy an iPhone 6, you need to go to the telcos either in the morning or late afternoon to see whether they have stocks. Don’t bother to go there if it is around 7pm because the stocks would have snapped up by others already. So, if you happen to pass by any telcos shops around 4 to 5pm, drop in and ask on the stocks, maybe you will as lucky as me to get the iPhone that you have dreamed of.