Your old Androids make the BEST camera system! Wi-Fi cameras and the cheapest storage you can get!

Turn any old Android phone or tablet into a fully offline IP camera and surveillance recording server.

CSHICS is a lightweight Android security camera app that runs on Android 4.1+ (API 16) and turns unused phones into a self-hosted CCTV / motion-recording system. The phone hosts its own local web server, allowing you to view, record, manage, and download camera footage from any device on the same Wi-Fi, hotspot, or Bluetooth tether network - no cloud, no accounts, no internet usage, no root access!

This project is designed for privacy-focused surveillance, low-resource devices, and long-term recording using SD cards or USB OTG storage. All recording and motion-detection settings are controlled through the browser interface.

Key features:

Android phone as a web-based IP camera server
Works fully offline (LAN / hotspot / Bluetooth tether)
No cloud, no login, no third-party servers
Motion detection with configurable parameters
Automatic storage handling (USB / SD / internal)
Old recordings auto-deleted as storage fills
Optimized for low CPU, storage, and network usage
Supports very old Android devices (Jelly Bean and up)
Open-source and self-contained
No root access needed for SD card/USB OTG access on any old device
You can use computers and laptops on the network too!

Use cases:

DIY home security camera
Offline CCTV system
Workshop / garage camera
Reusing old Android phones
Private surveillance without subscriptions
Modify into a general purpose file server

GitHub repository and APK releases:
https://github.com/import-regex/CSHICS
Supporting hardware (3D printable phone mount):
https://www.printables.com/model/1524...

Android surveillance camera
Android IP camera
Old phone security camera
Offline CCTV Android
Self-hosted camera server
Android motion detection
Local network camera
No cloud security camera
Android webcam server
DIY security camera Android