How to use your Android or iOS device as a webcam

A good webcam, let alone any webcam, is tough to find these days.

With so many people in need of basic tech supplies, demand for webcams has surged, and as supplies dwindle, prices have unsurprisingly skyrocketed.

How to use your Android Phone/ Tablet as a webcam

• Download and install the free version of DroidCam from the Play Store.

• Download the latest version in your Windows device. (This software is not available for macOS)

• During Windows installation, you’ll need to allow the app to install audio drivers.

• Now, you’ll see options near the top of the app window that will let you connect your device wirelessly or via USB.

• At this point, open up the DroidCam app on your Android phone or tablet. It will then show your device’s IP address. Go back to your PC and input that address in the field called “Device IP.”

• Finally, hit “start” in the desktop app to initiate the connection. You should see a preview of the video feed on your PC screen. If you don’t see it, ensure that both your PC and Android device are on the same Wi-Fi network or LAN.

• Now in the video settings audio settings within your preferred video conferencing app, switch the default camera and microphone to “DroidCam Source 2” or “DroidCam Source 3.” One of those should mirror what you see in the DroidCam Client window.

• You can close the app without interrupting the camera feed.

• You may also notice several additional DroidCam X Pro controls in the screenshot below; you’ll need to pay $4.99 to access those. You can do that if you wish to support the developer, but you may be happy with the free version, which doesn’t display watermarks or make you jump through too many hoops.

How to use your iOS device as a webcam

• You can use DroidCam on iOS as a webcam.

• Another option is EpocCam

• Download and install EpocCam from the App Store.

• It is available at Kinoni.com for both Windows and macOS.

• Look for “EpocCam” in the camera settings. Once you select it, you should see a notification appear on your computer confirming that the camera is connected via Wi-Fi. In my case, it said “EpocCam iOS connected using Wi-Fi.”

• There are a few more things to note about the free version of EpocCam.You will be able to use the rear-facing camera on your iOS device and will have a watermark on your video feed and throttles the resolution at 640 x 480 and 30 frames per second in the free version

• The free version doesn’t even let you use your device’s microphone. The EpocCam Pro app does away with all of these limitations and adds more functionality for $7.99 on the App Store if you’re installing on an iOS device or $5.49 on the Play Store if you want to follow the steps above on an Android phone.