Smartphones as dashcams?

cdlu

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I was just thinking... is there an app for iPhone, Blackberry, and/or Android that employs the phone itself as a dashcam? The only hardware needed would be a windshield mount that points the camera forward without obstruction. For iphones and others with two cameras it could even do dual-channel. It could upload incidents immediately and already comes with a charger. It just wouldn't do parking mode. Most of them can do GPS positioning as well.

Food for thought.
 
Yes there is a few. I have used Witness Driving and Car Camera DVR for IOS. These two programs work very well and allow you to email the video to whome every you want. But, there are a few down falls. My iPhone 4s over heated and shut down every time I used the apps. I cannot afford to have my phone fail premature. Also, these two apps will stop recording if you get a call or text. After your phone call is over, the app resumes the video recording. During the phone call, if you are in an accident, nothing will be recorded. This is a fatal flaw in the IOS operating system. It is better to have a dedicated dash cam hidden away, out of sight, out of mind. You can leave the phone in your car, but that phone would invite every car prowler in a 100 mile radius to break your window.
 
You can try using your phone, but if it starts to over heat, stop using it or your phone will go bad. Most smart phones were not designed to record 1080p video for long periods of time. They were only designed for short family videos of your kids.
 
Buy a dashcam even a cheap one and forget the ”dashphone”.
There is no reason to use a phone or any other recorder except a dashcam.
Why not:
- you are wasting time with mount and unmount the phone
- if you forgot the iPhone on the windshield even to buy a soda a thief can steal it
- destroy the phone battery
- overheat and destroy the phone
- wasted card space
- trembling recordings
- more money to the car holder (maybe a iphone car holder will cost as much the cheapo dashcam)
- the Loop Recorder is the main feature of a dashcam, without Loop Recording you don't have a dashcam

And the main reason as AD said: the driver must forget he have a dashcam. He must think only to drive. Safe. No stop, no start, no unmount or hide the camera. The best is a very small hidden camera. Black. The record is always there ready if you need it. Keep your life nice and easy.

enjoy,
Mtz
 
AmericanDriver said:
Yes there is a few. I have used Witness Driving and Car Camera DVR for IOS. These two programs work very well and allow you to email the video to whome every you want. But, there are a few down falls. My iPhone 4s over heated and shut down every time I used the apps. I cannot afford to have my phone fail premature. Also, these two apps will stop recording if you get a call or text. After your phone call is over, the app resumes the video recording. During the phone call, if you are in an accident, nothing will be recorded. This is a fatal flaw in the IOS operating system. It is better to have a dedicated dash cam hidden away, out of sight, out of mind. You can leave the phone in your car, but that phone would invite every car prowler in a 100 mile radius to break your window.

Instead of spending > $250 for a finevu 500 or $280 on a blackvue 500, i have been considering buying a DEDICATED used iPhone 4s on craigslist. and mount from ram for $45. I for saw you problem about recieving calls, a dedicated is the way to go. I need to leave it and forget that it is there. Buying a used 4s is cheaper than a new ipod touch! i was looking a ipad mini, but that would be just too large mounted on my windshield.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0066B ... 01_s00_i00

There are plenty of apps available for iOS. I have bought Car Camera DVR $2, isymDVR $2, and Triprec $2. I have downloaded at more but so far Car Camera and iSymDVR are the best.

I will find a way to disguise my iphone so that i can leave it mounted 24/7. IMHO leaving a FinevuCR500 or Blackvue DR500 vs a 4s is moot. Those are both very likely to be stolen! And actually they cost more than a used 4s!
 
If your car and AmericanDriver car will be in the same place and a thief want to steal something, for sure will steal your iPhone 4S. Is more easy to sell and will have more money from it. Who will buy an used dashcam with a missing or broken wire and/or mount? Most stolen things are sold and money, not object, is the main reason.
But you also are right with big and visible cameras, many of them looking too stylish instead to be invisible as possible and dull. There is no Miss Dashcam beauty contest.
And about your Ram mount I was close. And is so big that you cannot hide it. With $15 more you could buy a DVR-027 which is smaller than only your iPhone mount. But is possible to spend that $15 on the iPhone car charger. Also take care your mount to no vibrate when recording because the mount arm is too long instead of very short and stiff.

Good luck with your iPhone. In 6 months you will look back to my advice. :cool: Nobody changed a dashcam to a phone, but many changed their phones or ordinary cameras to a real dashcam. And don't forget many dashcams with almost good quality, not as good as an iPhone, are between $70 and $120. Finevu and Blackvue are better in low light than iPhone and many people are paying so such price because of night mode quality. Some users were lucky with the Itronics ITB-250HD bought for $170 which was also a great low light camera, the real best seller under $200.

enjoy,
Mtz
 
Thank for all the advice mtz...

I will definitely be looking at how stable the mount will be. Thanks for pointing that out.

If the dedicated 4s doesn't work well. I can resell it Craigslist and get my money back.

I already own a few ram products, so I can repurpose the suction cup mount. I use the xgrip mount already for my i5 and iPad mini.

Which dashcam do u have? Which one do u want to upgrade to?

I will wait a little while and see what others think of the blackvue 500, before I jump in and get it or a finevu.
 
Hi lkwan78,

I prefer dedicated dash cams but there is nothing wrong with using a smart phone, especially if you have an old one lying around. There is another thread on this topic as well. Talks about the different apps, mounts and phones.
 
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lkwan78 said:
Which dashcam do u have? Which one do u want to upgrade to?
I have the ITB-100HD, but when it was $170, and now I am searching for a good priced ITB-250HD because of it WIi-Fi (wireless feature), under $200.
These cameras are without display, but for ITB-250HD I can set it up and watch the videos using my Android smartphone. But for iPhone I think there is no application regarding this.
Are small (not very), full black and more easy to hide, but the most important thing is the low light quality, like latest Finevu or BlackVue.
But as I already wrote I don't want expensive cameras over $200 and you can read here many topics about some recent cameras.

enjoy,
Mtz
 
Post removed, as I've spoken to DashCamMan and started a new thread. Please see here: iPhone App - CarCamApp

:arrow: :)
 
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if some day I got a new smartphone, then the old one might be used as a backup or rear view dashcam,
it's inconvenient to use the phone you're using for phone call as a dashcam, I don' t want to take it in and out every time I drive.
 
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