Have you recently started attending more online classes & meetings for long hours? The long hour meeting & classes can’t be done on smartphones but the fact is that you don’t have a webcam or it is of bad camera quality.
Don’t worry you have an android smartphone which is packed with advanced camera and this can be a potential webcam material. Well, it sounds a bit difficult but its rather easier than you thought. The below article will discuss how to use your Android phone as a webcam for your PC.
Note: This method perfectly works with any video conferencing app (make sure to install the desktop app. don’t install from windows store otherwise it might not work).Use your Android phone as a webcam
If you’re on a PC running Windows and you use an Android phone, one of the easiest (and wireless) methods is to use an app called DroidCam. Although there are several other application which does the same tas; this one is best which works both with WiFi and USB connection.
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Use Your Android Phone as a Webcam: Using WiFi
Step 1: Download DroidCam from Google play store and install it in your android device. (Your phone needs to be running Android 5.0 or higher. To check, go to Settings > About Phone > Android version.)
Step 2: Next Download the Windows client on your PC. Follow the setup wizard’s installation instructions and install it completely.
Step 3: Open the DroidCam app and allow all the permissions.
Step 4: Connect both Android and Windows with the same wifi connection. If everything goes perfect you should see WiFi IP and DroidCam Port as shown in the below image.
Step 5: Now open the desktop application select the wifi icon and fill in the Device IP with the WiFi IP you got from the above step and tap on start.
Step 6: You should ideally get camera footage immediately although there can be frame drops if your wifi connection is weak.
Step 7: Change the microphone and camera input in your videoconferencing app to DroidCam, and you should be good to go.
Note: It is better to use any tripod rather than using a pile of books to hold ur smartphone.
If you are not having WiFi connection or the desktop is not equipped with the wireless devices then certainly you can try the USB method given below. I recommend you to try this as this method will produce the result which is almost seamless.
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Step 1: Again Download DroidCam from Google play store and install it in your android device. (Your phone needs to be running Android 5.0 or higher. To check, go to Settings > About Phone > Android version.)
Step 2: Then Download the Windows client on your PC. Follow the setup wizard’s installation instructions and install it completely.
Step 3: Open the DroidCam app and allow all the permissions.
Step 4: Connect your android device and computer with a USB cable. Make sure USB debugging is enabled from the developer options.
Enable developer options & USB debugging: Go to Settings > About Phone and tap on Build number seven times. Now go to Settings > System and you’ll see a new option for Developer options (it might be hidden under Advanced). Tap it and scroll down a little to find USB debugging. Toggle it on.
Step 5: When the connection is established open DroidCam android as well as the desktop app. Select the USB icon from the desktop app and tap on refresh.
Step 6: Let’s suppose the device is properly connected you should see the name of the device. Tap on Start to begin the live preview from the android phone camera.
Step 7: Change the microphone and camera input in your videoconferencing app to DroidCam, and you should be good to go.
Final words
Thus the method explained above is not completely perfect as sometimes you won’t get the option to change webcam but almost all popular video conferencing platforms are compatible. If you have any queries related to this article please comment below. I will be happy to address the issue.
