Smartphones can take on the roles of many other gadgets — cameras , figurer , e - reviewer , dictaphones , and all the rest — and they can also do double duty as webcams . In fact , this functionality is now build into both Android and iOS , so it ’s easy than ever to use a speech sound as a webcam when it ’s connect to your computer .
You might want to do this for a few reasons , not least because you might not already have a webcam hooked up to your computer . Or perhaps you do , but the quality is n’t very upright — certainly not up to the quality that the rear tv camera on your smartphone of option can proffer .
Here , we ’ll cover what you may do out of the box with the latest versions of Android and iOS and what else you may do with the help of a third - political party app or two .
Image: Apple
Using an Android phone as a webcam
If you want to habituate the functionality built into Android to plow your earpiece into a webcam , you ask to runAndroid 14or later . If that ’s what you ’ve have , and you have a spare USB line W. C. Handy , all you need to do is link up your phone to a computer lam Windows or macOS , and you ’re almost quick to go .
Swipe down from the top of the sieve on your phone , and you ’ll see a notification saying that it ’s charge over USB . dab on the notification to get a choice of connection option ( for tethering , file carry-over , and so on ) . One of those should be Webcam , so take that to become your phone into a photographic camera your figurer can employ .
Yet another notice will then pop up — strike on this to configure your phone in webcam mode . You ’re able to choose whether you use the rearward or forward - face camera , for example , and change over between different camera modes ( such as ultrawide ) if they ’re available on your French telephone . you’re able to also see a preview of the webcam output .
Android 14 offers a webcam connection option.Screenshot: Android
All being well , every diligence on Windows or macOS that can use a webcam will now recognize your Android phone as one . If you want to test this out , launch the Camera app on Windows or the FaceTime app on macOS to verify everything is working — notice that your phone will show that the tv camera is being accessed when the webcam is live .
Using an iPhone as a webcam
If you ’re using an iPhone , you might not be appall to find out that you’re able to only habituate it as a webcam with macOS without resorting to third - party apps . It ’s a feature called Continuity Camera , and you require to be runningiOS 16or later on your sound and macOS 13 Ventura or later on your Mac .
ensure both earpiece and computer are logged into the same Apple ID and that both have Wi - Fi and Bluetooth enabled . Apple recommend that you attach your iPhone to a mount to keep it stable , but it ’s not essential . The feature will influence wirelessly , but you may attach your iPhone to your Mac with a cablegram if you opt .
Get everything set up as we ’ve explained above , and Continuity Camera is enabled automatically — you do n’t necessitate to do anything else for your iPhone to appear as a webcam pick in your macOS applications programme . With FaceTime , for example , unfold the Video menu , and your iPhone should show up on the tilt .
The on-screen message when an iPhone is connected to a webcam.Screenshot: iOS
While your iPhone is being used as a webcam , you ’ll see a message on its show to this effect , together with options to Pause or unplug the link . You ’ll also have the alternative to pause the webcam provender from your Mac if a call comes in on your iPhone . Note that Wi - Fi is handicapped on your iPhone if you ’re using it wirelessly as a webcam — employ a cable television if you ’d care to keep Wi - Fi enable on the handset .
Using third-party tools instead
If the make - in webcam options do n’t contact your needs — or you do n’t have Android 14 — then several third - party tools are around to do the occupation for you . One of the best for Android isCamo , which works with both Windows and macOS , add up with a gang of options and filters and is controlled via an visceral dashboard on your estimator background .
Then there’sDroidCam , which has been around for years — so you hump you’re able to bank on it . Again , you ’ve got wired and wireless options for associate and plenty of configurations to play around with , though it ’ll only mould on Windows ( so it ’s not an choice for Macs ) . One of the spear carrier you get with this app is the ability to get at the webcam provender over the web . you may also getDroidCamfor iOS .
If you ’re using an iPhone , one of the best third - political party apps we ’ve come across isEpocCam . It ’s really elementary to use , it ’ll work wirelessly or over a USB cable , and it works with Windows and macOS too . The app also brings with it a number of utile features and permeate it , including a background fuzz option if you ’d rather your untidy home did n’t come out on your video feed .
DroidCam gives you the option of connecting via an IP address.Screenshot: DroidCam
Another option isiVCam , though it can only connect your iPhone up to Windows computers , so it does n’t cover Macs . The alternative here cover video provender and still image gaining control , and you could adapt the webcam video in various ways . you could also ladder multiple provender ( utilise unlike photographic camera , for exercise ) from the same telephone .
FaceTimeiPhoneMachMacOSSmartphone
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