DIY Pet Camera for free*

We have two dogs at home, and occasionally we have to leave them alone for a few hours. I always wondered what they are up to when nobody is home. Sleeping? Barking? Playing? It doesn’t happen often enough to justify buying a regular pet camera, and I don’t want one anyway. These things are insecure, subscription-based [webarchive], stream through a third-party server and require proprietary apps to view the stream. Not to mention they’ll force you to upgrade after one bad fiscal year and the product will stop working when the company goes bankrupt [1][2]. No way I’m buying one of those.

Luckily there is a better way! It’s accessible to almost anyone and can be set up for free¹ - using an old smartphone and Discord.

The setup 🔗

First, you need to prepare your main phone, the one you’ll be using to check in on your pets:

1. Install Discord
2. Create a Discord account if you don’t have one already

Then you need to prepare your old phone, the one that will be used as a pet camera:

1. (recommended) Factory reset it to wipe all your old data
2. (recommended) Install a custom ROM to get rid of all the spyware that comes with stock ROMs. LineageOS is a good choice if your phone is supported
3. Install Discord (you might need an APK if the phone is older, unsupported or without Google Play services)
4. Create a new Discord account that will be used purely for the pet camera. Do not use your main account for this purpose
5. Create a new Discord server
6. Invite your main account to the server

Then if you want to use the pet camera:

1. Open Discord on the pet-camera phone
2. Join a voice channel
3. Turn on the camera
4. (optional) Turn down the call volume² to avoid startling your pets
5. Lock the screen to save battery
6. Lean the phone against wall or furniture so that the camera has a good view of the area you want to monitor

To check in on your pets you just open Discord on your main phone and join the voice channel. :tada:

Upgrades 🔗

Take your setup to the next level!

Tripod 🔗

Leaning the phone against a wall or furniture isn’t the best strategy to have a good overview of a larger area, not to mention your pets knocking it over.

Buy a tripod or phone stand to expand your options for camera placement. I bought a 4$ tripod / selfie stick from AliExpress with adjustable height and angle. It works great.

Extended battery life 🔗

The older phone probably don’t hold a charge very well. Mine can get around 3 hours of streaming just from the battery. You can work around that limitation by keeping your phone plugged in constantly. It gets the job done, although it’s not very convenient because it limits your placement again or obstructs the path if you use power extenders.

Simple solution is to use a power bank. I had a very cheap one lying around and it gives me additional 4 hours. Not bad.