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Use a spare phone as a pet monitor

Want to check on a pet from the next room without a cloud camera? Point a spare Android phone at them and watch live in a browser. WebCam keeps the stream on your own Wi-Fi — no subscription, no account.

Set up the camera

1. Prop a spare phone where it has a clear view, and keep it on a charger.
2. Connect it to the same Wi-Fi as the device you'll watch from.
3. Open WebCam, pick the camera, and tap Start.
4. On your phone or laptop, open the shown address in a browser — or scan the QR code — to watch live.

Watch from another room

As long as your viewing device is on the same Wi-Fi, you can watch from anywhere in the house. The feed is live in a normal browser tab, so there's no separate app to install on the device you're watching from.

Keep it running

For longer check-ins, leave the phone plugged in and follow the in-app battery guidance so the stream isn't paused. The free tier's session and daily limits are fine for quick looks; WebCam Pro removes them for continuous watching.

Keep it private

The video stays on your local network and isn't sent to a developer cloud. Set a password so only you can open the stream and controls.

Reusing an old handset for this? See turn an old phone into an IP camera.