How I turned my old Android phone into a dashcam for free – in 5 easy steps

Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET

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ZDNET’s key takeaways

An old Android phone (or iPhone) can work as a free dashcam.
Dashcam apps enable loop recording, GPS, and timestamps.
A solid mount and charger help the setup to work best.

I don’t review phones as much as I did at the start of my tech journalism career, but at one point, I was flipping between two or three devices a month. So, today, I have a lot of old Android phones and iPhones stashed away in forgotten totes. Lately, though, I’ve been repurposing some of them. I even turned a spare Pixel into a security camera. That got me thinking: Can a phone be a dashcam?

Also: How I turned my old Android phone into a streaming stick for free – in 6 easy steps

Turns out, it’s possible and free if a few accessories, such as a phone mount, are already on hand. Obviously, a dedicated dashcam is the cleaner long-term solution for most drivers, but as a free weekend experiment, my old Android phone works surprisingly well.

How I turned my phone into a dashcam for free

What you’ll need: For this setup, I used a Pixel 9a phone, a USB-C charging cable, a car charger, a windshield or dashboard phone mount, and a free dashcam app from Google Play. I used Droid Dashcam because it supports loop recording.

First, I decided to treat my Pixel like a single-purpose device. A phone-turned-dashcam does not need Snapchat, work email, photos, games, or 47 notifications from apps and services. So, I backed up anything important and factory reset the phone. Then, after setting up the phone again, I removed all unnecessary apps, turned off notifications, and enabled Do Not Disturb.

To factory reset an Android phone, go to Settings System Reset options Erase all data.
To remove any unnecessary apps, press and hold the app icon, tap App info, and select Uninstall.
To turn off notifications, go to Settings Notifications and disable everything, including lock-screen notification previews.
To…

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