What a phone camera can (and can’t) do for your car
Keyless relay theft is real, and no camera blocks it. Thieves can relay the signal of a key fob lying inside your house and drive off without breaking a window. The fix for that is on the key side: a signal-blocking (Faraday) pouch, or turning off the fob’s keyless entry if your car allows it. RECAM, the camera app for the iPhone or Android phone you already own, covers the other half: knowing someone is at your car while it’s happening.
Most of us have an old phone in a drawer, or can pick up a refurbished one. Stand it behind a window that faces the driveway, or on a shelf in the garage, keep it plugged in, and it watches the car while you get on with your evening.
How RECAM watches your driveway
- 📱 A spare phone becomes the camera: your everyday phone is the viewer. iPhone and Android mix freely.
- 🧠 On-device person detection: the camera device looks for a person in the frame, right on the device, so a swaying branch or a passing headlight causes fewer false alarms than plain motion detection.
- 🔔 A push alert when someone walks up: detection alerts are part of RECAM Pro.
- 👀 Look in live: tap the alert to open the end-to-end encrypted live view, direct between your phones when the network allows, otherwise through a blind relay that forwards the encrypted stream and can’t read it.
- 🚨 Remote siren (Pro): from your phone, make the camera device sound a loud siren so whoever is at the car knows they’ve been seen.
What happens next is your call: go to the window, switch the porch light on, sound the siren, or call the police if something is really going on.
Three places it earns its spot
1. The driveway at night: someone tries your door handles at 2 a.m. You get the alert, look in live and sound the siren from bed. At night the camera needs some light in view, like a porch or street light: RECAM has no infrared night vision.
2. Vandalism: a keyed door or a snapped mirror takes seconds. RECAM won’t stop that, but the alert tells you it’s happening while it happens, and with RECAM Pro you can replay the clips the camera device saved, from wherever you are.
3. The garage while you’re away: leave the phone on a shelf facing the car. If someone walks in, you get the alert on holiday and look in live.
Why a spare phone instead of a car camera
- 🚫 Free to start: live video and alerts for your first 3 days, or all of Pro for 3 days with the yearly plan’s free trial (then £44.99/year; cancel anytime). Monthly: £4.99, no trial. Always included: as many cameras as you own, end-to-end encryption, no sign-up. Pro also adds the remote siren, push to talk, clip replay and extra viewers.
- 🔐 True privacy: your video is end-to-end encrypted and never stored in a cloud; clips stay on the camera device.
- 📍 UK camera rules: if the camera also films beyond your property — the street or a neighbour’s drive — the ICO’s guidance for home CCTV applies, so point it at your own driveway where you can.
- 💡 Detection on the device: the analysis runs on the camera device, not on a server.
- ⚡ Quick setup: no drilling, no wiring: two phones, a charger and RECAM. A suction mount holds the phone against the glass.
A dashcam records what happened and you watch it the next morning. RECAM tells you while it’s happening, so you can react. That’s the difference, not a promise that nothing will ever happen to your car.
Set up your driveway camera tonight
Find the spare phone, pick the window that sees the car, plug it in. A few minutes later you’ll know when someone walks up to your car, wherever you are.
FAQ
Can RECAM stop keyless car theft?
No camera can block a relay attack: that happens between the thief’s kit and your key fob, so keep the fob in a signal-blocking pouch. What RECAM does is detect a person near your car and alert you, so you can look in live and react, for example with the remote siren (RECAM Pro).
Can I use an old phone to watch my car?
Yes. A spare or refurbished iPhone or Android phone works. Put it behind a window that faces the driveway, or on a shelf in the garage, keep it charging, and watch the car through end-to-end encrypted live view.
What happens if someone walks up to my car?
On-device person detection spots them and your phone gets a push alert (detection alerts are part of RECAM Pro). Tap it to open the live view, and if needed make the camera device sound its siren (Pro).
Does it work at night?
It needs some light in view: a porch light, a garage light or a street lamp. RECAM has no infrared night vision, and a lit room behind the window causes reflections on the glass, so keep that room dark.