Hi

Has anyone used their old I phone as a dash cam? I realise a fish eye lens for a wider field of view  or something similar  may be required plus a phone holder to fix to the windscreen. I like the idea of it and the free dash cam apps and no trailing wires. I guess its ok for city driving and sort journeys  plus apart from buying a i phone mount it's a cheap option. I know it will have to be removed from view to stop scum from stealing it. Any thoughts or suggestions would be great 

I am not aware that any iPhone can take a micro-SD card, so you are limited to whatever memory you have in the phone, and whether it can capture files in timed chunks - it probably won't erase and "roll-over" continuously. And probably the recording is not motion/crash aware either....

 

Sell the iPhone and buy a dedicated dash cam, or a SatNav with built-in dash cam.

 

Don't be seen with a dash-cam in Portugal - they are illegal, owing to personal privacy concerns over there!!! You know, parking pointing at the beach, etc....

Edited 25 October, 20205 yr by freemansteve

I was aware that no iPhone has an SD card facility.  The iPhone 5 is virtually worthless but still has full functionality.  The cost of installing a dashcam or Sat/Nav  plus fitting is not a cheap option. I was merely trying to find an inexpensive way of doing this as it seemed a good idea at the time.

As for selling it, £20 on some websites which will not recompense me or offset the outlay by much.

 

It might be fun to a least try it out, given that it sounds like the phone is more or less spare - I guess you're thinking of something like this:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/smart-dash-cam/id1019175347

... but I'm pretty sure you'd need to keep the thing powered from a 12V socket, as video recording is quite power hungry.

I've downloaded that very same app and tried it. Even on a low 720p setting (for reasonable quality) it drains the battery's power from fully charged to 20% after 15mins. I've also turned off all the non essential apps and just used the smart dashcam app. The field of view doesn't capture the corners of the car and there's also a bit of camera shake. It does work but not for long. Reading some of the reviews they've confirmed  exactly what I was experiencing. I know its an old phone and perhaps the battery isn't in tip top shape but 15 mins?

So much for saving money. Looks like a bit of saving is needed for a proper dash cam. 

The battery is probably 80% (or more) the capacity of when new, which for most things is fine...

 

There many phones that, when video recording and displaying on the screen, would run the battery to zero even when on charge, i.e. using energy faster than you can replenish it! Same for a lot of games running on phones....

 

I gave up on SatNavs, so I have no recommendations! I got sick of taking off/putting on the windscreen, as they are what is known as "smack-head magnets"....          Might get one again, now I live in a very quiet Close in very quiet village though....