There are many situations where you might want to use your phone as a Webcam. Most laptops of today have webcams with relatively poor quality. You can barely see the other person, and the quality is grainy and muddy. While this is serviceable for very basic use, it isn’t good for more corporate calls or even important personal meetings. Higher quality is always appreciated, and even 1080P laptop webcams don’t offer good quality. Buying external webcam mounts is an unnecessary extra expenditure, and if you want to get a good quality one, that’s over 50$.
You can avoid this unnecessary purchase and get a much higher-quality webcam solution right from your smartphone. Smartphones have excellent video capabilities, and the quality of video from even a budget smartphone is significantly higher than the video footage from a 1.5MP laptop webcam. In this article, we’ll show you some ways in which you can use your phone as a WebCam for your laptop.
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How to use your phone as a Webcam
Use your phone as a Webcam with DroidCam
DroidCam is a great app for simple WebCam recordings, and it’s straightforward to set up and use. It is compatible with almost all of today’s popular video conferencing applications. All you need to set it up is a smartphone and a computer with internet access.
If you have an Android phone, the app is available on the Google Play Store. It’s on Apple’s App Store if you have an iPhone.
You also have two connection options. You can connect your phone to your PC via a USB Cable, or you can also choose to connect using Wi-Fi. There are many features like built-in noise cancellation to emphasize your voice better, phone call muting, USB only option, and also a zoom option to get a closer look at things while you’re on a call. Your PC might fail to recognize your phone sometimes, in which case you have to restart both devices and reinstall the tool again. The app is free to use, but there’s also a paid tier with extra features.
Use your phone as a Webcam with iVcam
The iVcam tool is a user-friendly tool with an ad-supported free tier. It’s customizable, and you can choose up to 1080P resolution. There’s automatic low light correction, so you will remain visible even if your room has a dim light. You also have the option to use this as a document scanner. You can use it in both portrait and landscape orientations. Not just the resolution but even the frame rate is customizable. The recordings are high quality, and the app also runs in the background of your phone while you can do other tasks if you wish to. iVcam is available on both iOS and Android.
NeuralCam Live
NeuralCam Live is specifically for iOS and macOS, and there’s also a free tier. The app has a unique feature, and it uses AI to upscale the quality of your live stream. The app automatically adjusts exposure and white balance. You also have low-light mode and manual control if you like. It’s very easy to use, though some of the features are locked to the paid tier.
EpocCam
EpocCam is available on iOS, macOS, and Windows. There’s a free tier with a paid optional upgrade. Just download the app, and you’re ready to start using your phone as a webcam. It works will all popular video conference apps, and it supports a high 1080P resolution. You can also connect it wirelessly to your PC. Unfortunately, there’s no Android version of this app yet.
There are also other apps like Reincubate Camo, iCam, IP Webcam, and NDI HX Camera, which replicate the same basic functionality. They offer more or less the same feature set and do the job well. You can pick any one app of your choice depending on your OS and requirements and whether you want to pay for the service.
Steps to follow for Android phones
- Download the WebCam app of your choice from the list above. For example, you can download DroidCam. You have to allow the installation of the relevant drivers on your PC.
- Open the desktop app and enter the IP address of your Android phone in the designated field. Open the DroidCam app on your phone, and you’ll see the Wi-Fi IP address there. This is what you have to enter.
- On the desktop, grant permissions for audio and video.
- Open the mobile app and tap the three dots on the top right. Here, you can choose between your front camera or rear camera. This is a personal preference, and you can choose which orientation you want.
- Click on the Start button on your PC.
- Open the video conference app you want to, like Zoom. Change the default camera to DroidCam Source 2 or DroidCam Source 3 in the settings of that app. Change the audio input to DroidCam Virtual Audio too. Your setup is now ready.
Note: You can also use the DroidCam app and connect your phone to your PC with a USB-C cable. Enable Developer Options by tapping on the Build Number five or seven times, and enable USB Debugging. Then, open the DroidCam app on both devices and then click Connect over USB. This will now initiate the connection, and you can now use the phone as a WebCam.
Steps to follow for iPhone
- Download the relevant app for iOS, like EpocCam. After you install it, open the relevant drivers for the desktop.
- Open the mobile app of EpocCam (or the specific app you downloaded) and wait until your iPhone connects to your PC.
- Now, open the desktop app that you’re using for video conferences, like Cisco WebEx or Microsoft Teams.
- Open Settings or Webcam Settings and choose EpocCam (or the app you downloaded) as the webcam. If your meeting is on a browser, you have to grant it permission to your webcam.
Use your phone as a Webcam with the Continuity Camera feature
If you have both a Mac and an iPhone, Apple has a proprietary feature, Continuity Camera, which lets you use your iPhone as a Webcam for your Mac. You need to be on Ventura and above on your Mac and iOS 16 and above on your iPhone.
- Turn on both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on your iPhone.
- Go to Settings, and tap on General.
- Tap on the AirPlay & Handoff option and turn on the Continuity Camera option at the end.
- Open the app or website where you’re doing the video conference.
- Choose your iPhone as the camera source.
How to improve your video conference quality
Try to reduce as much ambient noise as possible. Use a good microphone, or use over-the-ear headphones that isolate background noise. Audio makes a lot of difference to your video conference quality. If the sensitivity seems off, you have to pick the right sensitivity for your microphone in the settings of the respective app you’re using for the meeting.
Since webcams use very tiny sensors and lenses, you need the most amount of light possible. Open the windows, and also turn on all the bright lights in the room. This makes a massive difference to the image quality. Make sure you have a decent internet connection with low latency and consistent speeds before you begin. Finally, restart both your phone and laptop before an important meeting since that can iron out any potential bugs.
