Since the developers of Magic Earth decided to pull a bait-and-switch with their latest update, locking the automatic dashcam function behind a perpetual 15$/year paywall, I need a new alternative that ideally also supports automatic dashcam recording while navigating. Does anybody have a good recommendation?

  • HiddenLayer555@lemmy.mlEnglish
    2·
    3 days ago

    I would still consider buying a cheap one for $20 (cheapest price I could find from a quick search) if privacy is your priority. Having it record to an SD card with no online capabilities is intrinsically more private than any app you can get. In fact I would specifically get a cheap one because apparently even a slightly more expensive one will have app integration.

    A free alternative is an old phone you don’t use anymore, permanently in airplane mode and with just the regular camera app. Can be one where the battery doesn’t hold a charge anymore that you just have plugged into your car.

    Or your old point and shoot you probably haven’t touched since smartphones became popular. Would be a good way to make use of it again.

    • unwarlikeExtortion@lemmy.ml
      2·
      2 days ago

      A free alternative is an old phone you don’t use anymore, permanently in airplane mode and with just the regular camera app. Can be one where the battery doesn’t hold a charge anymore that you just have plugged into your car.

      How is it supposed to be recording?

      AFAIK dashcams are usually connected to the car so they run when it does. Having tp manually turn it off and on (and having to wait 20+ seconds for Android/iOS to spin up) & fiddling around the phone to start recording seems like way too much work. Or am I missing something?