WingNews logo WingNews GitHub [2]
top | item 45001815

Turning a Decommissioned iPhone into a UniFi Protect Camera

121 points| ingve | 6 months ago |caseyliss.com

51 comments

order
[+] VoidWhisperer|6 months ago|reply
> "At first, I was presented with an endless spinner, as I hadn’t configured things properly. The documentation on Github is enough, but frustratingly, the failure mode I ran into was the video just… not loading. However, I eventually got it nailed down, and now I have a new camera in Protect."

------------------------

It is unfortunate that they decided to omit how they fixed the last issue they mentioned. That could've been useful knowledge for others

[+] nodesocket|6 months ago|reply
I also thought this strange to leave out the exact details and information that people would actually be interested to learn about.
[+] jakeydus|6 months ago|reply
Honestly, I saw this and was very interested to learn how they actually solved the problem. Cool that OP did it! Bummed that they weren't willing to share how they did it.
[+] Belphemur|6 months ago|reply
Might be a case of: tried so many things, no idea what fixed it.
[+] gerdesj|6 months ago|reply
"The documentation on Github is enough, but frustratingly, the failure mode I ran into was the video just… not loading. However, I eventually got it nailed down, and now I have a new camera in Protect."

Are you sure you want to go down this route: "Turn device into IP Camera"? - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ip-camera-lite/id1013455241

Anyway - this is likely the Github mentioned: https://github.com/p10tyr/rtsp-to-onvif

... its a proxy that takes a RTSP stream and makes it look all lovely and ONVIF (ie discoverable). The particular fix that OP mentions will be in that Github repo/wiki/issues but given I don't anything Apple, I can't be arsed to search

I think that Frigate has recently had a proxy or proxy handling recently added. Zoneminder would also work with this approach.

Please, whatever you do, put your cameras on their own VLAN, with no access to the internet. Especially if names like Reolink (int al) are involved. I own quite a few Reos and they live on a VLAN called SEWER!

[+] treesknees|6 months ago|reply
From some research, Unifi Protect doesn’t support live audio or audio playback for third-party cameras. It also lacks support for people and vehicle detections.

I would likely consider using this setup for some inexpensive auxiliary cameras to enhance coverage. I’ve also had the desire to add a cheap remote camera while I’m staying in an Airbnb. However, I wouldn’t use this system for any serious surveillance around the house.

[+] varenc|6 months ago|reply
If can support detection events on 3rd party ONVIF cameras, but you have to buy a seperate ubiquiti hardware product to run the detections. Either an AI Port or an AI Key.
[+] xp84|6 months ago|reply
Casey, this is the most Casey thing I've ever heard, using an iPhone + some hackery when even cheap Amazon no-name PTZ cameras ($30-40 usually) natively support onvif! I'm happy it worked for you though.
[+] lgfr3000|6 months ago|reply
Who the hell is Casey? ;)
[+] thisislife2|6 months ago|reply
I have heard the camera modules get hot and degrade as they weren't created to be always ON in smartphones?
[+] high_priest|6 months ago|reply
And the answer is as always, it depends. Mostly on the chip & sensor combo and if there is additional heat absorbing mass designed for the SoC.
[+] Havoc|6 months ago|reply
Disappointed to see no discussion on battery. That's what is keeping me from implementing this. My old iphones are at 2+ years battery life. i.e. at the point where they're at risk of becoming spicy pillows and I'd love to not have a lithium fire in my apartment. In that context spending 50 bucks on amazon for a camera suddenly seems sound
[+] xp84|6 months ago|reply
Can confirm that sticking an old iPhone, say, connected to power in your garage to serve as a kiosk device 24/7 will 100% result in the battery swelling up. I had it happen. Now, in my case it didn't cause any harm and I was even able to replace that 5S's battery. But tbh I would not trust an Apple device in a permanently-powered situation for this reason.

Especially since Apple, in their benevolence, software-restricts the technology of the "only charge to 80%" option to only their newest devices (14 series and up, only) so anything older than that will be torturing its battery if left on a charger long-term.

[+] thebruce87m|6 months ago|reply
> 2+ years battery life

Is this considered old? I own countless devices with batteries older than this.

[+] uz3snolc3t6fnrq|6 months ago|reply
i could be wrong but you should be able to solder/connect the battery contacts to the output of a power supply at the same voltage as the battery you're replacing and just have it plugged into the wall or a UPS, but not sure if the battery manager would still think the battery is being spent and freak out after getting to 0%
[+] DrNosferatu|6 months ago|reply
Any list of cool uses for decommissioned iPhones?

I would be actually quite interested in using my 6S as a tv box / HDMI dongle for streaming and emulation.

[+] yapyap|6 months ago|reply
UniFi people are like the vegans of tech
[+] gerdesj|6 months ago|reply
Sorry?

I run an IT company and a lot of my customers have Unifi APs (we sold them). Our in house controller has a lot of sites on it and it must be a good 10 years old now. Its certainly gone through at least three Ubuntu LTSs.

I eat vegans for lunch.

[+] nodesocket|6 months ago|reply
It is really good though. Network has come a long way, and really is powerful, intuitive, and can support most advanced use cases. Protect is awesome, no cloud storage tomfoolery. AI features like license plate and facial recognition, and partner it with access and you can do some awesome integrations such as automatically open up your front gate, door, etc based on your car or face.
[+] mmastrac|6 months ago|reply
The joke for those who missed it:

"How do you know somebody loves Unifi?"

"Don't worry they'll tell you"

Disclaimer: I do like unifi.

[+] protocolture|6 months ago|reply
No this is false. Vegans have a point. UniFi enthusiasts are damaged without any underlying technical or moral reasoning.

UBNT has this weird market slice where their kit falls into being either dogshit with long term support or almost great with terrible support.

Seeing the same people complaining that they have to move to a new portal every few years, deploying customer facing Unifi OLTs gives me this incredible belly laugh.

[+] tucnak|6 months ago|reply
The only bit of Ubiquiti gear I can tolerate is the many years out-of-date EdgeRouter 8 Pro, and only because OpenWrt supports it, and it runs dual-core octeon (2 GB DDR3 which is huge for a router) with decent hardware flow offloading.