Which iPhones and iPads work as a baby monitor

Last updated: 2026-08-31

HushCam needs two devices running iOS 16 or later. In practice that means an iPhone 8 or newer on both ends. The receiving side has a way around that requirement, covered further down.

Supported iPhones

Every iPhone that can run iOS 16, which is Apple's list, not ours:

• iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus
• iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max
• iPhone 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max
• iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max
• iPhone 13, 13 mini, 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max
• iPhone 14, 14 Plus, 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max
• iPhone SE (2nd generation) and iPhone SE (3rd generation)
• Every iPhone released since

Supported iPads

• iPad (5th generation) and later
• iPad mini (5th generation) and later
• iPad Air (3rd generation) and later
• Every iPad Pro, including the original 9.7-inch and 12.9-inch models

Using an old iPhone as the camera

This is the best thing you can do with a phone you no longer carry. An iPhone 8 from 2017 is a perfectly good dedicated baby monitor camera: it has a decent sensor, it charges over a cable you already own, and it is doing nothing in a drawer. Set it up facing the cot, plug it in, and it never needs to leave the room.

If your spare is an iPhone 7, an iPhone 6s or the original iPhone SE, it will not run HushCam. Those models stopped receiving updates at iOS 15, and the app needs iOS 16. Lowering that requirement is something we are looking at.

The receiver does not have to be an Apple device

Only the watching device needs the app. For the parent unit you can open hushcam.net/pair in any modern browser and use that instead: an old laptop, a desktop at work, an Android tablet propped up on the bedside table. Same pairing, same end-to-end encryption, no installation.

That means an ageing iPhone that is too old for the app can still be useful on the other side of the pairing, as long as its browser is current.

What both devices need

• An internet connection on each device. Mobile data counts, and the two do not have to be on the same network. There is no fully offline mode today; a local-network mode is something we are exploring.
• Power for the watching device. Streaming all night will flatten a battery, so keep it on a charger.
• Camera and microphone permission on the watching device, and nothing at all on the receiver beyond a browser or the app.

What about Android?

The Android app is built but has not been released yet. Until it is, an Android phone or tablet works as the receiver through the browser, paired with an iPhone doing the watching.