[ac29]

Is it an OS thing or a hardware thing? I like the idea of using something like postmarketOS to repurpose an old smartphone, but I agree for long term use the battery might not be a good idea (especially if the hardware tries to keep it at 100%).

[mcny]

I have now fried two different phone batteries trying this: basically I wanted to set up old phones as time lapse photo capture using open camera but the battery swells up and becomes a fire hazard in a few weeks/months.

[michaelmrose]

Old phones seem like a really nice cheap high quality camera shame it doesn't work. Have you tried setting up something like a single board computer + usb cam?

[mcny]

No, so far I've only tried what hardware I already have like an old Nexus 4 phone with a cracked back.