If you have an old smartphone lying around your house, you might be tempted to turn it into a baby monitor to keep an eye on your child while they sleep or play in their bedroom. Converting a cell phone into a baby video monitor is relatively easy. All you need is an old phone with a working camera, a good Wifi connection, and a baby monitoring app. And there you go, your very own DIY baby monitor.
But using an old cell phone as a baby monitor has a few drawbacks. So before we jump to our list of the top 10 best baby monitoring apps, let’s look at the pros and cons to make sure that it’s the best solution for you.
The Annie Baby Monitor app is our preferred option. It comes with a wide range of useful features that come close to the best-dedicated baby video monitors available. It’s free to download, but you’ll need to pay a one time license to use the app fully. This free Mac app is as simple as it comes, allowing you to see at a glance (and from your Mac’s menu bar) the most important data that Activity Monitor usually displays, with a focus on the.
Pros of using a phone as a baby monitor:- It’s inexpensive. Most people will have at least one unused smartphone in their home with a decent camera. All it takes to convert it into a baby monitor is a good monitoring app. Most of the apps in our top 10 will charge you a one-time payment or a small monthly subscription fee.
- It’s convenient, at first. No need to look for the best baby monitor on the market. You just need to convert an old phone and you’re ready to go.
- You can see your baby from anywhere. Because it will be using your Wifi connection, you can check on your baby from anywhere with an internet connection.
- No night vision. A phone camera doesn’t have a proper night vision. Night vision is probably the single most helpful feature in a baby monitor. What good does a camera do if it can’t see your baby in the dark?
- Missing essential features. Dedicated baby monitors now come with a range of useful features, such as room temperature, lullabies, but also movement detector and heartbeat tracking. None of that will be possible with just a phone.
- Risk of hacking. The downside of using a phone is a serious risk of hacking. An old phone could be an easy target for a hacker wanting to see what’s happening in your home. Read our article on “Can baby monitors be hacked?” to learn more.
As a result, we recommend that you start with a phone as a baby monitor if you want to test video monitoring before buying a dedicated monitor. A baby monitor app on your phone is also a great addition to an existing baby monitor if you want to cover more angles in your baby’s bedroom. Or it can be traveling you’re traveling or eating at your friends’ house.
But because of their limitations, baby monitor apps on your phones alone are not enough. You should check our comparison of the top 10 best baby monitors available today to find the one that’s right for you once you’re ready to upgrade to a dedicated video monitor.
What are the top 10 best baby monitor apps: Best drawing app on mac.
Helpful note
Using your phone as a baby monitor opens the door to potential hacking. You should also be careful with where you place your phone in your baby’s bedroom. Check our two articles on the topic:
1. Baby Monitor 3G (Android and iOS)
The Baby Monitor 3G app has no hidden free. There is a one-time payment to purchase the app and then you’re good to go for as long as you want.
Unlike the name implies, the Baby Monitor 3G works on both your Wifi network when you’re home and on your data plan when you’re traveling.
While it’s not as capable as the Baby Monitor Annie app when it comes to multiple cameras support, the strength of the Baby Monitor 3G is its ease of use. Ssd check app mac. It takes just a few taps to set up the baby camera and the parent monitor and you’re ready to go in less than 30 seconds.
It has a nightlight feature, which will brighten the baby camera to work at night. It’s handy to see your baby in the dark but might wake up your child.
The Baby Monitor 3G keeps track of your baby’s sleep through an activity log. So you can see your child’s sleeping patterns and replay sounds from different moments of the night.
And the Baby Monitor 3G has lullabies playback and talkback options, so you can soothe your baby when they wake up.
You can download Baby Monitor 3G from Google Play and the App Store.
2. Baby Monitor Annie (Android and iOS)
The Annie Baby Monitor app is our preferred option. It comes with a wide range of useful features that come close to the best-dedicated baby video monitors available. It’s free to download, but you’ll need to pay a one time license to use the app fully.
It works with your WiFi connection or your mobile data plan, so you can keep an eye on your baby even if you aren’t at home.
The quality of the video signal is great. And you can use it to monitor up to 4 children at the same time and with an unlimited number of parent units. And it works on both Android and iOS.
There is a talkback option, so you can soothe your baby even if you aren’t in their bedroom just by pressing the microphone button. You can also play lullabies on the baby unit, which is great to help your child fall asleep.
The connection with your baby is safe, thanks to Annie’s encrypted signal. With industry-standard encryption, the app ensures that only parents have access to their baby video and audio feed.
The Annie baby monitor app comes with an activity log to track your baby’ sleeping habits.
You can download Baby Monitor Annie from Google Play and the App Store.
3. Dormi Baby Monitor
The Dormi baby monitor app for Android devices is one of the most complete mobile app available today. The free version is limited to 4 hours per month, so you’ll need the paid subscription if you want to use it every day.
It works with the WiFi connection of your mobile data plan and uses a secured connection to avoid hacking concerns.
You can connect multiple parent units to a single child device simultaneously, so you and your partner can both watch your baby. The Dormi app also adjusts the noise levels automatically, so it can detect when your baby is crying and amplify the sound on the parent unit so you can be alerted.
Alternatively, you can just press and hold the Listen button in the app to hear your child even if they are not crying.
The app has a talkback function, so you can soothe or calm your baby from anywhere in your house. If you’re on the phone when your baby starts crying, the app will vibrate to notify you and a gentle beep without abruptly disconnecting the phone call.
Importantly, the Dormi app can work in the background, even when your phone screen is off. That way you can save battery life while still being informed if your baby wakes up.
Have you got an old Android device sitting in the drawer that you have no use for? Not anymore – try using it as the child device with Dormi. We have made the effort to ensure it runs from Android 2.3 onwards.
You can download Dormi – Baby Monitor from Google Play.
4. Universal Baby Monitor
The Universal Baby Monitor app on iOS works across both Wifi and 3G/4G connections. So you can keep an eye on your baby even if you aren’t at home. It’s easy to set up, you just need to decide which device will be the baby camera (an old phone) and which device will be your parent unit (your current phone or iPad). You can also check on your baby from your Mac and even the Apple Watch if you want.
The video quality is good and the app offers a talkback option. It can also display a selection of 12 different shapes of animals on the screen to help your baby fall asleep. But we wouldn’t recommend that. An active screen in your baby’s bedroom might have the opposite effect.
To see in the dark, the Universal Baby Monitor app offers the option to turn on the flashlight on the baby camera if needed. But here again, this might disturb their sleep so we wouldn’t recommend it.
The Universal Baby Monitor app can keep track of your baby’ sleeping patterns on iCloud so you can check the recordings later if you want.
You can download Universal Baby Monitor from Google Play or the App Store.
5. WiFi Baby Monitor
The BabyPhone Mobile app comes in multiple versions. The one we recommend works across both Wifi and data plan and requires a monthly subscription if you want to use it fully. The free version will cut every 30 minutes, which isn’t very practical.
The BabyPhone Mobile is very similar to the other apps mentioned above. It offers audio and video feed, a talkback option. It can even support temperature and humidity sensors if you have some in your baby’s bedroom.
You can download BabyPhone Mobile: Baby Monitor from Google Play.
6. Cloud Baby Monitor
The Cloud Baby Monitor app on iOS is another good option with a one-time payment. It works on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple Watch, and Mac and is very easy to set up. You can stream audio and video from your baby’s bedroom over Wifi and 3G or even Bluetooth.
Of particular notice is the option to play white noises in addition to lullabies. It has a talkback feature of course. We also like that you can adjust the brightness of the night light to avoid disturbing your baby’s sleep.
You can use Cloud Baby Monitor for up to two babies at the same time with up to two parent units. The audio and video streams are protected with industry-standard encryption.
You can download Cloud Baby Monitor from the App Store.
7. Ahgoo baby monitor
The Ahgoo baby monitor on iOS is a clean and easy to use app. The app hasn’t been updated for over a year though, so we don’t know if it will continue to be supported as new iPhone and iPad models are released.
The Ahgoo baby monitor app works over your Wifi and 3G connection. It uses an easy to set up QR code system to connect the baby camera with the parent monitor.
Ease of use comes at the cost of features, however. The app doesn’t have lullabies playback for example. Which is handy to soothe a baby.
You can download Ahgoo baby monitor from Google Play or the App Store.
8. Baby Monitor & Alarm
The Baby Monitor & Alarm app on Android will require a one-time payment and then you’re done. No need to pay a monthly subscription fee. The app hasn’t been updated since 2015, however, so we recommend that you check the compatibility of your devices before purchasing the app.
Unlike most of the other apps on our list, Baby Monitor & Alarm doesn’t give you a live video stream of your baby. Instead, it will send you an alert by calling your second phone if your child makes a noise.
You can play lullabies or other songs automatically when your baby wakes up through the night. You can even record your own voice if you prefer.
Baby Monitor & Alarm also comes with an activity tracker that will show you at the end of the night the different events that took place and at what time.
You can download Baby Monitor & Alarm from Google Play.
9. Baby Monitor for iPhone
The free version of the Baby Monitor for iPhone of iOS is very basic. You won’t have a video signal but instead receive an SMS every time your baby wakes up. For a monthly subscription, you can add a live stream video signal to the app, which is considerably more useful.
The app comes with a remote flashlight, lullabies, and talkback options. And it will inform you whenever a certain noise threshold is reached in your baby’s bedroom. So you’ll only be alerted if your baby is crying for example, instead of just turning around in their bed.
You can download Baby Monitor for iPhone from the App Store.
10. Facetime or Hangout
Last on our list but serious contenders nevertheless. The default video calling apps from Apple and Google can be just as good as the other apps on our list if all you want is a video stream from your baby’s bedroom. We recommend that you dim down the screen on the baby unit as much as possible. Or even better, hide the screen behind something. So that only the camera remains visible to avoid distracting your baby.
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You’ll need to keep the baby camera plugged in to ensure that the battery is always full. And you’ll have to keep the parent unit always on as well. But at least the two apps are free and provide great audio and video signals.
How to turn your old smartphone into a baby monitor?
Turning your old smartphone into a baby monitor is relatively easy. You just need two smartphones and a Wifi connection. One of the phones, the old one, will act as a camera in your baby’s bedroom. The other smartphone will be the monitor on which you can access your baby’s video feed.
You’ll need to install one of the top 10 best baby monitor apps from our list above on both phones to be able to record the video. And then you’re ready to go.
Once you’re ready to upgrade to a dedicated baby monitor, you should check our baby monitor buying guide and our comparison of the top 10 best baby monitors on the market to find the one that’s right for you.
Best productivity apps guarantee best working environment! Have you ever thought how much time do you waste on typing and clicking, organizing files, and trying to find the date? It’s time to put your laptop to work with this list of 15 best productivity apps for Mac.
Best Mac Productivity Apps
Sometimes you don’t need full-screen apps with lots of features to improve your productivity. Instead, have a look at these small tools that do one-two things and make your life easier.
1. Krisp
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Krisp is an easy-to-use but powerful app that recognizes your voice and separates it from extraneous noise next to you, leaving only your clean voice. It’s one of the best productivity apps for Mac that can help you to have better conference calls. You can work from any place that’s convenient for you and don’t worry about the crying baby or airport announcement in the background. Krisp also launched on Appsumo Deals.
2. Magnet
To be productive means having an organized workplace. Magnet app does exactly that – organizes the space on your desktop. This small app allows you to drag windows to show two, three, or four apps side-by-side.
Having multiple windows side by side eliminates the neebad for app switching and enhances your multitasking. Organize your workspace and seamlessly copy the text from one window and paste it into the second one. You can also customize the shortcuts for the app for maximum efficiency.
Price: $1.19
3. Itsycal
Have you ever wondered why your Mac doesn’t show full date on menubar? We have. While we don’t know the exact reason why Mac doesn’t support this function natively, we’ve found a good solution with this nice productivity app.
Itsycal adds a small calendar on your menubar. With it you can always have a brief glance at the whole month, week, your day and even appointments. It integrates with your macOS calendar and reminders, and you can modify the appearance if you wish too.
Price: Free
4. Flux
Sometimes you have to work during night or in place with bad lighting. For these situations use Flux – productivity app for Mac that changes the brightness and color temperature of your display. It matches them with the time of the day, so you call work better and feel less tired.
Price: Free
5. SelfControl
If you can’t resist the urge to check your Facebook, Twitter or any other website you stick for hours – this tool is for you. SelfControl app helps us to save us from meaningless waste of time of these websites.
Simply add the websites which distract you from your work, set the timer and turn it on. The app will block the mentioned sites for the specified time.
The best part is that even if you reboot your Mac, you can’t turn off the application until the timer’s up. So if your “selfcontrol” is not enough, use this small tool to be more productive with your time.
Price: Free
Best Mac Productivity Apps – Useful Tools
1. OmniFocus 3
This productivity app is all about managing your tasks. OmniFocus has a clean interface and every feature you need to get stuff done. And its sleek design is simply a perfect match for your Mac.
https://dhjpygo.weebly.com/blog/sound-byte-mac-app. Add all your projects, to-do lists into OmniFocus and track all details like dates, notes, files attachments. Also you can easily synchronize between your iPhone or iPad. Free up your mind from storing all your tasks and enemies of every good conference call.
2. Bear
One of mac productivity apps in this list is called Bear. It’s a beautiful and flexible note-taking app. It has all functions that you’ve wished the pre-installed Notes on Mac would had.
With Bear it’s super easy to jot down your notes on the go. Write prose and outlines, create to-do lists and reminders for yourself, and many more. The best part is that many functions of Bear are free and you can enjoy all the perks without spending much.
Price: Free ($1.49 monthly)
3. CleanMyMac X
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CleanMyMac is a lifesaver for your Mac. It combines many optimization tools in single app. Monitor the performance, remove malware and clean up your macOS. https://dhjpygo.weebly.com/blog/awareness-app-mac-os.
This is a must-have app for any Mac user if you want your device to be healthy. And you want it, right?
Price: One year subscription costs $49.95
4. Alfred
Alfred brings productivity to your fingerprints! This app for macOS boosts your efficiency by helping you search your computer and web with great speed.
You can use Alfred for multiple things. It allows you to open things, search for things, define and time them, easily calculate things and expand tests, contact people and manage clipboard and so much more. Definitely give Alfred a try and experience its possibilities.
Price: Free
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5. 1Password
Have you ever forgotten your password? Now you really forget your passwords as 1Password will remember all of them for you. Using 1Password is super simple: just save your passwords and login to websites with a single click.
Besides, if you often have a hard time thinking of new and unique passwords – worry no more. 1Passwords has your back and it will create a strong password instead of you and sync between your devices.
Price: $2.99 monthly
Best Mac productivity apps – Utilities
1. Bartender 3
Have you ever wanted to organize the apps on menu bar? Now you can!
With Bartender 2 you can easily rearrange apps on your menu bar, hide them and even move to separate Bartender Bar. Give it a try and find out multiple variations of your menu bar.
Price: $15
2. AppCleaner
This small productivity app allows you to safely uninstall unwanted apps from your computer. As you know any time you install an application dozens of files are distributed throughout your System. Besides taking up much space, they leave traces which are hard to find with custom tools.
That’s why you need AppCleaner to clean up the mess and delete all traces of unwanted apps from your device.
Price: Free
3. Things
You definitely have a lot of things, right? Add one more “thing” to your list – Things app. This is a small and easy-to-use task manager which makes you truly productive.
If you’re tired of all big apps with dozens of features (most of which you don’t need), then Things is your choice. Give it a try!
Price: $49.99
4. MalwareBytes
Don’t believe people who say that you don’t need a anti-malware program on your Mac. While, there might not be a need for heavy-weight and cumbersome applications, Malware Bytes is all you need.
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware scans your computer, finds and removes code that lowers system performance or destroys your system. If your Mac is running slow and annoying adware and pop-ups keep coming, definitely install this app and revive your Mac.
Price: Free
5. Gemini 2
Sometimes you can’t find the exact file you need, but often times it turns out you have multiples of the same file. Finding and removing every duplicate file seems like a redundant task. That’s what Gemini is for!
Forget about the problem of duplicate files with Gemini. It spots duplicates and similar files, sees how they’re different and deletes the ones you don’t need. Gemini is smart and it learns all the time to improve the process. Sounds amazing, right? Get yourself mac productivity apps like Gemini and free up tons of space on your Mac.
Price: Free
Mac Productivity Apps Bonus: Email Analytics
This app is one of those mac productivity apps that will help you keep in track of and visualize your team’s email activity. It is private and secure and will let you to monitor and measure the email productivity of your team and other employees.
Email Analytics provides an opportunity to segment the teams which you need to monitor, and compare their analytics data to rule out the top performing members. You can see the analytics in real-time and the reports are updated frequently to ensure you get the most precise results.
This is great for boosting your and your team’s productivity in the long run, so give it a try on your Mac. There’s a 14 day trial after which you will have to pay $15 per mailbox a month.
By now you should already have your Mac ready to took off and allow you to be your most productive self. Let us know in the comments which Mac app is your favorite!