The AI CCTV app for the old phones in your drawer.
The home camera that can’t spy on you. One old phone films, the phone in your hand watches — iPhone, Android, or one of each. Human detection, night vision, encrypted streaming, nothing new to buy. Read why we built this →
Two devices, one QR scan, live in 3 minutes · No account · Works on Wi-Fi or cellular · iPhone 8+, iPad or Android
AI CCTV
Signal,
not noise.
Traditional cameras record everything — shadows, leaves, passing cars — and upload it all to the cloud. AI CCTV is different. Higher signal. Fewer false alarms. Dramatically lower privacy risk.
Everything, all the time.
Every leaf. Every shadow. All stored on someone else's server.
One alert. When it matters.
Only real events. Analyzed on-device. Never uploaded.
Human detection only
Filter noise. Trigger alerts only when it matters.
Face & shape detection
More context. More accurate event understanding.
No useless notifications
Less interruption. More confidence in every alert.
Security without cloud risk
Local AI means fewer attack surfaces and zero data exposure.
Spare phone
You already own the hardware.
You already own the AI, too. So why pay for another camera? Use what you already have — instantly.
Install
Get RECAM free — App Store or Google Play, on both devices. No account. No payment. Nothing to set up.
Prop it up, scan once, plug in
Any old iPhone (8 or later) or Android phone. Point it at the door, the driveway, the crib. Scan the QR code to pair the two devices, then plug it in.
Get alerts
On-device AI watches for humans. The phone in your pocket gets an instant, encrypted alert.
The old phone in your drawer already has
- 1080p / 4K camera sensor
- Enough on-device power to run the AI — Apple’s Neural Engine on iPhone 8 and later, and on-device detection on Android too
- Wi-Fi, microphone, and battery
- Zero additional cost
With RECAM installed, you get
- Instant AI CCTV, no wiring
- No mandatory subscription
- One device per zone — entrance, garage, nursery
- Multi-camera system without new hardware
Why RECAM
Everything Ring does.
None of the surveillance.
Human detection, encrypted streaming, night vision, instant alerts — the full CCTV stack. Without the surveillance economy, the mandatory cloud, or the privacy trade-offs.
Private by design
Your video is end-to-end encrypted.
No mandatory cloud. No cloud video storage. No required accounts. When your network can't make a direct connection, a blind relay forwards your encrypted stream — it can never read, store, or watch it.
On-device AI
Human detection, face direction, eye & nose visibility — all local.
Instant alerts
Only for real events. Zero server delay. Delivered straight to the phone in your hand.
End-to-end encrypted streaming
Video travels from the camera phone to the phone in your hand over UDP with AES encryption — direct when your network allows, via an encrypted blind relay otherwise. No cloud storage. No external access. Nothing readable in between.
Night-mode optimized
Built to stay useful in low light, even on older devices.
Scale to multi-camera
Every old phone in the house becomes a zone: entrance, garage, office, storage. Mix iPhone and Android freely.
Vs. Ring · Nest · Arlo
Same features.
Without the surveillance economy.
Ring, Nest, and Arlo charge $60–130 upfront plus $60–96 a year to keep your footage on their servers. Over three years, that’s $260–800 per camera — and a permanent record outside your home. With RECAM, the core stays free and your footage belongs to you.
Free core. No mandatory subscription.
- $0 hardware — reuse a phone you own
- On-device AI, no mandatory cloud
- Recorded clips stay on your phone
- End-to-end encrypted
- No account required
Over 3 years, per camera.
- $60–130 hardware upfront
- $5–8 per month, forever
- Footage stored on their servers
- Account and vendor lock-in
Take the surveillance out of home security.
Two devices, one QR scan, live in three minutes. No account. No credit card.
Use cases
One app. Every room.
Home, office, garage, entrances — anywhere you need a camera, set up a spare phone with RECAM.
Driveway CCTV
Catch real events without motion spam.
Front-door AI doorbell
Detect humans precisely. React fast.
Garage & car
Night-ready monitoring where it matters.
Home office
Private by design. No cloud risk.
Storage room
Reliable alerts without useless notifications.
Baby monitor
Eye & nose detection, for your baby’s safety.
Pet camera
Smarter motion understanding with local AI.
Studio & workshop
Secure your gear with on-device detection.
Entrances
Engineered to watch comings and goings.
On-device AI
Real AI. Not marketing AI.
RECAM runs neural networks directly on the camera phone — fast, resilient, and private.
Neural networks on the camera phone
- Human detection
- Pose estimation
- Face direction tracking
- Eye and nose detection, for your baby’s safety
- Motion heatmap recording
- Instant event classification
Because it runs locally
- 10× faster than cloud
- Zero dependence on the internet
- Your video is end-to-end encrypted, readable only by you
- Smaller attack surface — no footage stored in the cloud, so no server to breach
Privacy
No mandatory cloud. No tracking.
No surveillance economy.
Most “AI security cameras” upload your footage to their servers by default. RECAM is built the opposite way — your video is end-to-end encrypted and stored nowhere in the cloud, and you’re the only one with the keys.
Monitoring modes
Baby monitor. Pet cam. Security cam.
Same phone, one tap apart.
Nap time: tap Baby Phone — the camera listens for cries, giggles too, and keeps its light off in the nursery. School run: Pet Watcher, tuned to barks, whimpers and meows. Lights out: Home Security, listening for 25 sound patterns you hope it never hears, glass breaking included.
Switching is free, on an iPhone or Android camera alike · Every mode is a preset — each detection toggle stays adjustable in settings · Whichever you pick, human and animal detection, alerts and motion recording stay on
Baby face monitoring
Knows when their face is covered.
Alerts you instantly.
On-device AI helps alert you when your baby’s nose or eyes appear covered during sleep — without uploading a single frame. No cloud watching your nursery. Just you.
RECAM is not a medical or certified safety device. It complements but does not replace direct supervision.
Recording & playback
You missed it live.
Your camera didn’t.
Your phone buzzes at 3 p.m. — motion in the hallway. Over coffee you open the live view, tap the clock, and the camera plays back what it saved: newest clip first, at real speed. Nothing was uploaded for you to watch it — the clip never left the phone at home.
RECAM Pro, €1.99/month to start a replay — recording, and watching on the camera phone itself, stay free · The camera phone records on motion or sound detection, or when you tap REC
Push to talk
Say it out loud at home.
From wherever you are.
Tap the mic, say a few words, and your voice plays out loud on the phone you left at home — screen off, app closed, it doesn’t matter. Comfort the dog, tell the kids dinner’s ready, or answer the delivery driver.
RECAM Pro, €1.99/month · Up to 30 seconds a message · Recorded and delivered · Encrypted with your camera’s own key
Remote siren
One tap from anywhere.
The room gets very loud.
There’s an intruder in your home. Tap the siren: the phone you left at home starts wailing — a rising alarm sweep that silent mode does not stop — whether you’re in the next room or another country. No monitoring centre, no operator, no call-back about a false alarm. Simple, effective deterrence.
RECAM Pro, €1.99/month · Stops itself after 5 minutes, or the moment you tap again · On an Android camera phone RECAM sets the alarm volume to maximum; on an iPhone camera it plays at the volume that phone is set to · Not a monitored alarm service — nobody is dispatched
Your spare phone watches your home — and now speaks for you. Free to start.
Start today
Protect your home in three minutes.
Download RECAM — the AI CCTV app for iPhone and Android. Turn a spare phone into a private security camera, then watch it live from your phone. No account required. No mandatory cloud. No surveillance economy.
Mix any two — iPhone 8 or later, iPad on iPadOS 16+, Android 7.0+.
FAQ
Questions, answered.
Is this really an AI CCTV camera using an iPhone?
Yes. RECAM turns any iPhone — or any Android phone — into a private, AI-powered CCTV with human detection.
Can an Android phone be the camera, or only watch?
Yes — an Android phone can be the camera, and it does everything an iPhone camera does: live HD video and sound, AI detection running on the phone itself, and it keeps streaming with the screen off, so it can sit on a charger all day. It can just as easily be the viewer instead — you decide, device by device. Best part: the two phones don’t have to match. An old Android can watch the crib while you check in from the iPhone in your pocket, or the other way round — so any two phones in the house are enough to start. Either way the stream is end-to-end encrypted: direct when your network allows, via an encrypted blind relay otherwise.
Is my old phone too old for RECAM?
Probably not. RECAM runs on iPhone 8 and later (on iOS 16.3+), any iPad on iPadOS 16 or later, and any Android phone or tablet on Android 7.0 or later — Android 7.0 shipped back in 2016. To check: on iPhone or iPad, Settings → General → About; on Android, Settings → About phone → Android version. Learn more
Does RECAM store video in the cloud?
No cloud video storage. All AI analysis runs on the camera phone itself. Live streams are end-to-end encrypted — direct when your network allows, via an encrypted relay otherwise. Recorded clips stay on the camera phone — replaying them from your other phone travels over that same encrypted stream, and we never see them. Apple’s App Store privacy label for RECAM lists “No Data Collected.”
Can I use multiple iPhones as cameras?
Yes — add as many cameras as you need and switch between them in a tap. You can mix iPhone, iPad and Android devices in the same system.
Does the app work if my internet goes down?
Yes. RECAM runs even offline. Notifications and video streaming need internet access, but the actual video recording is stored locally on the camera phone.
Can I use RECAM as a doorbell or garage camera?
Absolutely. RECAM was engineered for entrances and outdoor monitoring too.
How does RECAM stay private without the cloud?
RECAM runs its AI on-device and keeps no cloud video storage. Your live stream is end-to-end encrypted — direct device-to-device when your network allows, and when it can't, a blind relay forwards the encrypted stream without ever being able to read it. Learn more
Is the live stream encrypted?
Yes. RECAM streams in real time over UDP with AES encryption — end-to-end encrypted, direct device-to-device when your network allows, with an encrypted relay fallback that can never read your stream.
Can RECAM detect animals or outdoor activity?
Yes. RECAM can be used for outdoor monitoring (e.g., garden/pool/entrances) with smart alerts for meaningful activity.
Can I monitor a shop, office, or storage room with RECAM?
Yes. Many use RECAM to cover workspaces like home offices, garages, stock rooms, and delivery doors with instant alerts and privacy-first monitoring.
Can I view RECAM remotely from another network?
Yes — it just works on Wi-Fi or cellular, on any router, with no setup. RECAM connects your devices directly when the network allows; otherwise an encrypted blind relay forwards the stream. UPnP or port forwarding is optional, only to favor a fully-direct path.
Does RECAM only detect motion, or can it analyze sound too?
RECAM can use on-device analysis for both motion and sound events to reduce false alerts and prioritize real situations. Learn more
Can I use RECAM as a baby monitor?
Yes — RECAM is one of the safest iPhone baby monitors available because nothing streams to the cloud. Your video is end-to-end encrypted the whole way; if your network can't make a direct connection, a blind relay forwards the encrypted stream but can never read it. On-device AI can alert you to crying, unusual stillness, or face coverage — without uploading a single frame of your baby. Learn more
Does RECAM work as a pet camera?
Yes. RECAM makes an excellent private pet camera. On-device AI listens for barks, meows, and distress vocalizations and detects animal movement, so you only get alerts when something actually happens. No mandatory cloud, no mandatory monthly fee, no strangers watching your living room. Learn more
Can RECAM be a baby monitor and a security camera?
Yes — the same camera phone switches jobs in one tap. The Monitoring picker in the live view offers three modes: Baby Phone, Pet Watcher, and Home Security. Each one retunes what the camera watches and listens for, and you can switch remotely from the phone in your hand, without touching the camera. Whichever mode you pick, human and animal detection, alerts, and motion recording stay on, so switching never leaves a room uncovered. Switching modes is free on iPhone and Android alike, and every detection stays adjustable in settings. See how the modes work
Can I use RECAM to protect an Airbnb, studio, or short-term rental?
Yes. RECAM records to your own device (not a cloud server) and uses on-device AI, so you can discreetly monitor common areas and exteriors while respecting guest privacy. Encrypted, with a free core (optional Pro at €1.99/month), and well suited to short-term rentals. Learn more
Can RECAM watch my driveway and car?
Yes. Point a spare iPhone at a window facing your driveway and RECAM's human-detection AI triggers alerts only when someone approaches — not when a leaf blows by. You get encrypted, local video without paying a camera company $10 a month. Learn more
How much does RECAM cost compared to Ring, Nest, or Arlo?
RECAM is free for one owner and one viewer — real-time streaming, on-device human detection, end-to-end encrypted. No hardware to buy, no account required. RECAM Pro is €1.99/month for unlimited sharing, smart alerts, and clip replay from anywhere — one month free for new users, cancel anytime. Ring, Nest, and Arlo charge $60–130 upfront plus $60–96 a year for cloud storage — that’s $260–800 over three years per camera, depending on plan tier. Learn more
Where do I put the camera phone?
Anywhere an inexpensive mount can hold it: a gooseneck arm clamped by the crib, a suction cup on the window facing the driveway, a simple dock on the dresser or a shelf. Pick a spot with power nearby — a camera phone stays plugged in. See our recommended mounts
What does the remote siren do?
From the live view, you tap once and the camera phone plays a loud alarm wail — even in silent mode — whether you’re in the next room or another country. It keeps sounding until you tap again, and stops on its own after five minutes per trigger. On an Android camera phone RECAM raises the alarm volume to maximum itself; on an iPhone camera phone it plays at the volume that phone is set to, so leave it turned up. The siren is always fired by you and never automatically by detection; it’s part of RECAM Pro at €1.99/month, and RECAM is not a monitored alarm service, so nobody is dispatched.