Home Security Camera - SeeCiTV

Review by eFreeware

Most households have a drawer with an old Android phone in it, kept around for no clear reason. SeeCiTV, from Geny Studio, suits anyone who wants to put an old phone to work as a simple room monitor while they are away. The app has been on Google Play since 2016 and has passed a million installs, with a 4.2 average across 17,210 ratings.

The pitch is straightforward. Instead of buying a dedicated camera, you install the app on the old device, leave it pointed at whatever matters, and check in from another Android phone or tablet. Pets, a baby's room, a front hallway, a garage: the app is meant for the ordinary cases where you want to see what is happening without spending on new hardware.

The app is free to download. It carries ads and offers in-app purchases, so the free entry point comes with the usual trade-offs of that model. What the app does describe is a fairly complete set of camera features, and that is where this review focuses.

Watching a room while you are out

The core of the app is live streaming. One Android device acts as the camera, another as the viewer, and video runs at up to 1080p Full HD. Audio goes both ways, so you can listen in and speak through the camera to whoever is in the room. For checking on a pet during the day or listening for a baby after bedtime, that combination covers the basics without much fuss.

The developer says the camera only activates while it is in use, which keeps battery consumption down and prevents the device from overheating. That matters more than it might sound: a phone left running as a camera sits plugged in and working for hours, and heat is the usual failure point. Whether it holds up over a long stretch is something only time with the app would show, but it is the right thing to be thinking about.

You can also switch between the front and back cameras, which gives some flexibility in how the phone is positioned. The flashlight can be controlled remotely too, a small extra that helps if the room is dim. And if you realize after leaving the house that you never started the camera, the app lets you turn it on remotely rather than turning around.

Motion clips that start before the movement

Motion detection is where the app makes its most interesting claim. The usual problem with motion-triggered recording is that the clip begins at the moment movement is detected, so anything fast has already crossed the frame by the time recording starts. SeeCiTV uses ring buffer technology to keep footage from before the trigger as well as after, which the developer presents as a way of not missing quick events.

Recorded clips are saved to Google Drive, and the app points to the 15GB of free storage that comes with a Google account. That is a sensible place to put them: the footage lives somewhere you can already reach from a browser or another device, rather than being stranded on the camera phone. It also means the phone acting as the camera does not need to hold a growing archive of video itself.

The pre-roll approach is the right idea for anyone who has reviewed a motion clip and found the interesting part already over.

Security, privacy and the connection between devices

Because a camera feed is only as good as the connection carrying it, the app's security setup deserves attention. The camera and viewer connect peer to peer, with TLS/DTLS encryption and ECDSA certificates. The developer describes the result as a highly secure connection, and you can set your own password on top of that for extra protection.

P2P means the two devices connect to each other rather than routing everything through a central server, which is a common approach for this class of app. I would treat the password option as the part worth using from day one, since it is the piece you control directly.

None of this makes the app a substitute for a professionally installed system with monitoring contracts and redundant storage. It is a way to get eyes on a room using hardware you already own, and the security measures described are aimed at making that everyday arrangement reasonable rather than airtight.

Setting up the camera and viewer

Setup is described as a matter of Wi-Fi and a Google login. Set up over Wi-Fi, then log in with one Gmail account across two or more Android phones: one films, the other watches. There is no SIM card involved and no IP configuration to work through, which removes the two steps that usually make this sort of project frustrating.

The requirement to remember is the device count. The app needs two or more Android devices online at once, so one spare phone alone will not do. The device you use as the viewer should be on a high-speed connection, with 4G or fast Wi-Fi recommended for smooth streaming and good video quality.

If you have more than one spare device, each can serve as a camera or a viewer, so a couple of old phones can cover two rooms and be checked from a third. iOS and web versions are in the works, but for now the app is an Android-to-Android arrangement.

Who this suits

SeeCiTV fits people who already have the hardware and want to put it to work. If there is an old Android phone in a drawer and a second device to watch from, the cost of trying it is a download and a login, and the app covers the essentials of live viewing, two-way audio and motion recording. Renters who cannot install permanent cameras, or anyone who wants a temporary view of a room without committing to a purchase, are the natural audience.

It also suits households that want more than one camera without buying more than one camera. Old phones tend to accumulate, and each one can be pressed into service. The trade-off is that the app depends on those devices staying powered and connected, and on the network holding up.

The free download comes with ads and in-app purchases, which is worth knowing before you commit a device to the role. For someone who wants a polished, self-contained camera product with its own hardware and app ecosystem, this is a different proposition. For someone with spare Android hardware and a specific room to keep an eye on, the fit is much better.

A worthwhile second life for an old phone

SeeCiTV does one job and does it in a way that makes sense: it turns Android hardware you already own into a camera you can check from another Android device. The 1080p stream, two-way audio, motion recording with pre-roll footage and remote control cover the practical needs of home, pet and baby monitoring. The security layer, with P2P, TLS/DTLS encryption and a password you set yourself, addresses the obvious worry about pointing a camera at your living room.

The constraints are real but predictable. Two devices are required, a solid connection is recommended for the viewer, and the free version carries ads and in-app purchases. Setup depends on signing in with the same Google account on both devices, which is simple but not optional.

With a million-plus installs and a 4.2 average from over 17,000 ratings, it has clearly found an audience among people doing exactly that. I would suggest starting with one room, confirming the stream and motion clips behave the way you want, and expanding from there.

What's new in version 7.8

Bug fixes