How to Switch Smartphone Camera as a Webcam

Tired of looking like a pixelated blob on your Zoom calls? Why use the tiny, shoddy webcam built into your laptop when you have a really cool smartphone camera in your pocket? It's very easy to use your smartphone as a webcam these days, and some options don't even require you to plug in anything. We've detailed how to do this whether you have an iPhone or Android, on Windows or a Mac. 

 July 2022 Update: We added Camo's Android compatibility and Continuity Camera.

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How to Make a Video Call With Just Your Phone

Before converting your smartphone into a webcam for your computer, the obvious thing might be to try using your smartphone to run a video meeting. Services like Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams generally have Android and iPhone apps available. All you need to do is install the app, log in, and use your phone’s selfie camera and microphone to participate in the meeting.

Whether you do this or follow our methods below, invest in a small tripod to prop your phone up so you don’t have to balance it against a pile of books. The Joby GripTight is a popular and affordable tripod with legs that can contort to stay stable on almost any surface, though a height-adjustable tripod like this might be a better option. Lume Cube’s Mobile Creator Lighting Kit is also a nice way to illuminate your face.

Ways to Use Your Phone as a Webcam

You can use a videoconferencing app on your phone if you just need to sit in on a meeting and chime in now and then, but you’ll need a better system if you’re presenting and have to share your screen. That’s where it could help to convert your smartphone into a webcam.   

General tip: Make sure your preferred videoconferencing app is closed when you’re installing a webcam client on your desktop PC or laptop. You may need to relaunch the app or restart your computer to get it all working.

How to Use Any Phone as a Webcam for Mac or Windows

The solution that works no matter whether you have an iPhone, Android, Mac, or Windows—in any combination—is a service called Reincubate Camo. It’s compatible with more than 40 video-calling apps, from Google Meet and Zoom to FaceTime and Discord. The steps below will work if you’re trying to connect an Android to a Mac, an iPhone to a Windows PC, or vice versa. 

Steps to set up Camo:

• Download the Camo application on your Mac or Windows machine. Then download the application in iOS or Android. Android phones must run version 7.0 and more, and iPhones must be in iOS 12 or posterior. It will work with Windows 7 (64 bits) or newer, and 10.13 or posterior.
• Start the application on your PC and smartphone. Connect a cable from your phone to your computer; Make sure it is a quality cable, ideally the one that came with your phone. If you end up having problems, try another cable. Touch, start at the Camo Telephone application and choose if you are connecting to Windows or Mac.
• For Android phones that connect to a PC with Windows, you must enable the USB purification mode. To do this, go to configuration> on the phone and then touch the compilation number seven times to enable developer mode. Once activated, you can find it in the developer mode Configuration> System>, although some of the navigation menus may differ according to your Android phone. Show down to find USB purification and alternate it. When I return to the Camo application, if you do not see an emerging window, ask if you want to allow USB purification, unplug and connect the cable again.
• If you are connecting an android to a MAC, you must turn off USB purification. If you never turn it on, you should be ready to go, or simply go to the developer mode again and turn it off.
• The iPhones that connect to Windows PC or MAC should not require additional steps (just be sure to press confidence when the emerging window appears on your phone).
• Now you should start seeing your rear camera in the Camo Desktop application. If you do not, unplug the cable from your phone, then restart the CAMO application on your computer and telephone. Connect it again and should see the food.

Go to your video conferencing app’s device settings and choose Reincubate Camo as the video camera, and your phone camera’s feed should pop up. You can also change the default microphone to Camo if you want to use your phone as a mic.

The downside to Camo is that a watermark remains on your video feed. To remove this and unlock several nifty features, you’ll have to pay for Camo Pro. You have a few options: a lifetime license, annual subscription, or monthly subscription. It’s spendy, but it does unlock some powerful perks, like 1080p video quality and the option to switch lenses.

How to Use Any Phone as a Webcam for Windows

If you’re on a PC running Windows and you use an Android phone or iPhone, one of the easiest (wireless) methods is to use a free app called DroidCam. It also works with Linux, but there is no MacOS support. You can also connect via a cable if you’d rather not drain your phone’s battery.

Steps to set up DroidCam:

• Download the app from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store on your phone. (Your Android phone needs to be running Android 5.0 or higher. iPhones need to be on iOS 9 or later.)
• Download the Windows client on your computer. Follow the setup wizard’s installation instructions.
• You should see the DroidCamApp icon on your desktop. Double-click it to open it. Open the app on your Android phone and give it permission to access your camera and microphone. Make sure your desktop and phone are connected to the same Wi-Fi network. (It also works if your desktop is connected via Ethernet.)
• On the phone app, you will see some numbers after Wi-Fi IP and DroidCam Port. Enter these values into the fields on the PC software that says Device IP and DroidCam Port. It’s confusing, but Wi-Fi IP on the mobile app needs to be the numbers you type into Device IP on the desktop app. Make sure both Video and Audio are checked off. Hit Start. The phone app will launch the camera, and you’ll be able to see the feed on the PC client.

To get it to work with your videoconferencing software, you’ll always need to launch the DroidCam PC client and app first (steps 3 and 4 above). Then, go to your videoconferencing app’s settings and change the camera and microphone input to DroidCam and DroidCam Virtual Audio. It should immediately start using your phone’s hardware.

DroidCam is free, but it hides a few features—like better video quality, contrast and sharpness tools, and more—in its DroidCamX paid app on Android, which also gets rid of ads in the app. You can unlock similar features by using the Upgrade feature in the iPhone app’s settings. Try the free version first, but it might be worth the $5 if you use it a lot.

Note: On Windows, DroidCam doesn’t work with apps downloaded from the Microsoft Store. For example, with Skype, make sure you download the desktop client instead of installing the app from the store. 

How to Use iPhone as a Webcam for Mac With Continuity Camera

At WWDC 2022, Apple announced a new feature called Continuity Camera that lets you use your iPhone as a webcam for your Mac—no third-party software required. The caveat? Your iPhone needs to be on the latest iOS 16, and your Mac needs to be on MacOS 13 Ventura. (iOS 16 isn’t available for the iPhone 7 or older, so you’ll need to upgrade your device.) 

I tested this using the betas and it worked. When you first install iOS 16 and MacOS 13 Ventura and open a video-calling app, you’ll see a pop-up explaining that you can use your iPhone as a webcam. The first time I tried to switch the camera it didn’t work, but a restart of both my phone and MacBook did the trick.

Steps to set up Continuity Camera:

• Make sure Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are turned on for your Mac and iPhone.
• Your iPhone needs to be nearby. In your video-calling app’s device settings, choose your iPhone as the camera source. You’ll hear a chime when your iPhone is connected.
• It works wirelessly, but you can plug it in to prevent battery drain.
• If you try to do anything else on your iPhone, the camera feed will pause.

Eventually, you will see options to turn on the center of the stage, which will give the camera to make sure it is always in the frame; Portrait, which will blur the background; and Studio Light, which will globes with a lighting similar to a study. But I still didn't see these options in video applications. The same goes for desktop mode, which will use the Ultrawide camera on the iPhone to show what is on your desktop (ER, Crumbs, really). Apple says that Belkin is working on a support that will be attached to the top of the Macbook screens to prop up the iPhone.

This is the best way to use your iPhone as a webcam with a MacBook, provided you have devices that are able to install the latest version of Apple software.

Using an iPhone/iPad as a Webcam for (Intel) Macs

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