How to Use IPhone As a High Definition Webcam (Free)

Access to a high-quality webcam isn’t always guaranteed: while most laptops now have decent options built-in, not all are of an acceptable standard. You may have a monitor without a webcam connected; maybe you need a different angle – there are many reasons why you might need another webcam.

If you have an iPhone, you also have a webcam. The process of setting up your iPhone as a webcam has become easier over the years, especially on macOS, although you can also use it as a connected camera on a Windows PC with a little more effort.

Use your iPhone as a webcam on macOS

Macs, iPhones, and other Apple gadgets now work together virtually seamlessly in a variety of ways, from mirroring an iPhone on macOS to using an iPad as a second display . This cross-device set of tricks, called Continuity Camera, includes the ability to use your iPhone as a webcam for any app on your Mac.

There are a few simple rules to make this work. Both your Apple computer and your iPhone must have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on, and you must be signed in to the same Apple account. The two devices must be within 10 meters or 30 feet of each other and meet the minimum requirements (in short, an iPhone released in 2018 or later and running iOS 16 or later, and a Mac running macOS 13 Ventura or later).

Selecting iPhone as a camera in FaceTime. 1 credit

Assuming you’ve checked all these boxes, open Settings on your iPhone, go to General > AirPlay & Continuity , and make sure the Continuity Camera is turned on. Next, you need to set your iPhone to landscape orientation – you can change it while in use, but the initial connection must be in landscape orientation.

Load up any app that uses a webcam on macOS and you’ll see your iPhone as an option for a video stream. For example, using FaceTime, open the Video menu and you’ll see it listed. You can move your iPhone and change its angle while you’re using it, but you can’t switch between the front and rear cameras: you can only use the rear camera for your webcam.

It all works wirelessly via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, but you can also connect your iPhone to your Mac via a USB cable if you prefer – you may find that you get a slightly more stable connection, and it also means you won’t be draining your phone’s battery while you’re using it as a webcam.

You can pause or disconnect from the iPhone screen. 1 credit

Click the video stream icon in the menu bar at the top of the macOS interface to access the various webcam features Apple now offers, including Portrait and Studio Light , although not all of them work on all iPhones: to keep yourself in view through Center Stage , for example, you’ll need an iPhone with an ultra-wide camera. You can also enable desktop view from this drop-down menu, which allows you to create a top-down view of everything on your desk (very handy for sharing documents).

While your iPhone is being used as a webcam, you’ll see a Pause button on your iPhone screen that temporarily stops your live stream. The second button at the bottom, Disconnect , disables webcam mode completely. You can also close the video app you’re using or switch to another webcam to exit webcam mode on your iPhone.

Use your iPhone as a webcam on Windows

Using your iPhone as a webcam on Windows is a little more complicated, and you’ll need the help of a third-party app to make it work. However, there are plenty of apps to do the job, and most of them are free or at least offer basic webcam functionality for free.

What are your thoughts so far?

One app that has been serving users reliably for a long time is DroidCam . You need to install both the Windows client on your computer and the iOS app installed on your iPhone, and then all you have to do is run them both—there’s no need to sign up for an account, and everything works over your Wi-Fi network.

Using DroidCam on Windows with iPhone. 1 credit

The app gives you several settings and filters to play with so you can see your feed exactly the way you want, and with DroidCam running, your iPhone becomes available as a webcam option for any software running on your PC. It will simply appear as a webcam that you can switch to.

You can use DroidCam for free, but if you pay $4.99 per year or a one-time fee of $14.99, you’ll gain access to resolutions higher than 1080p and be able to remove the DroidCam watermark on your webcam. Paying for the software also adds a few additional controls on both the Windows and iOS sides.

Another option that I found simple and reliable is Camo . As with DroidCam, you need to set up the software on Windows and on your iPhone via the iOS app . It couldn’t be much easier to set up, with no registration required, and you can connect via Wi-Fi or by connecting your iPhone to your Windows computer using a USB cable.

Camo offers a range of video effects and filters. 1 credit

Camo is more of a software package with a number of features that you can use with any webcam you like, from adjusting exposure and white balance to smart background effects. Once you set up your iPhone as a webcam in Camo, you can use it to stream video to any other app on Windows.

Most Camo features are free to use, but there is a Camo Pro subscription level that will cost you $4.99 per month. Key benefits include up to 4K video resolution (instead of 720p), variable frame rate support, and access to the Smart Zoom feature, which uses some clever tricks to improve the zoom level without losing image quality.

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