With most of us working from home, online meetings and video conferencing are the only way to stay connected with colleagues and teammates. To make meetings easy, you need to have everything ready — a microphone for seamless audio, good speakers, and, more importantly, a webcam. If you don’t have a webcam, there’s a clever workaround. Well, you can use your Android phone’s camera as a webcam.
So until you buy a standalone webcam for your PC, here’s how you can use your Android phone’s camera as your laptop’s camera.
We’ll talk about two Android apps that make that possible. The first app on our list is DroidCam while the second is IVCam.
One of the prerequisites of these apps is that your smartphone and PC need to be connected to the same Wi-Fi network. So unless your PC came with a network card (see USB Wi-Fi Adapter), this method won’t work.
Now that we’ve established that, let’s get started, shall we?
How to use Android’s camera as laptop webcam
Method 1: Via the DroidCam . app
Step 1: Since you will be linking your PC to your Android smartphone, you will need a dedicated app/client on both the PC and the smartphone.
To install the DroidCam Windows client, click the link below.
Similarly, you also need to get the app on your phone.
Step 2: Once both apps have been installed, open the Windows client and click the Wi-Fi button at the top. Here, you will see the option to enter the device’s IP.
Open the app on your phone and it will display all the relevant details.
Step 3: Copy IP address to PC and check both Video and Audio options. After setting up the link, you’ll be able to see a preview of the video on your PC.
By default, the phone’s rear camera is selected.
To switch to the front camera, tap the phone app’s three-dot menu. Select Settings > Camera, and select Front from the list of options.
Alternatively, you can also choose to change the FPS of the video footage to save battery.
On the Windows client, there are options to adjust the brightness, zoom factor, or rotate the camera. However, all of these features are available for a fee.
But wait, that’s only half the work done. You will need to configure this new webcam on video conferencing software like Zoom and Skype.
How to configure on Zoom
Thankfully, the process of switching to a mobile webcam in Zoom is simple. To do so, open the Settings menu by clicking the cog icon in the upper-right corner and selecting Video from the list of options.
Next, select the option for DroidCam Source in the My Videos drop-down menu.
How to configure on Skype
When it comes to Skype, the app doesn’t work on the original version of Skype. The option to switch to DroidCam is not visible in the menu.
The workaround is to download Skype directly from the Skype site. Once signed in, go to Settings by clicking the three-dot menu on the right.
Here, select Audio & Video and click on the small drop-down menu in the upper right corner.
Select DroidCam from the menu, that’s it! You have a new webcam in the form of your smartphone.
Note that using your phone’s camera as a webcam will have a significant impact on battery life, especially if the meeting lasts for hours. But fortunately, DroidCam gives you the option to turn off the phone screen after a certain time. You will find this option in Settings.
Alternative: e2e Soft iVCam
Another app you can try is e2eSoft’s iVCam app. This one also works over Wi-Fi.
Unlike the above app, you don’t have to bother about manually adding an IP address. Instead, the phone app will automatically find computers (on the same network) running the same software, similar to file sharing apps. So that makes things a little easier.
To run this application, you will need to download the corresponding application on your PC and phone.
Once you have the app installed, launch it to activate Discover mode. Device discovery happens instantly, and you’ll be able to see a video preview on your phone as well as on the Windows client.
Unlike DroidCam, iVCam’s options are easily accessible. For example, if you want to switch to the front cam, you can do so right from the home page.
How to Configure on Skype and Zoom
Configuring iVCam for both Zoom and Skype is as easy as pie.
You need to go to the Video settings of the respective apps and switch to the video feed from the iVCam app.
Zoom users will find the option in Settings > Videos > My Videos.
Skype users will find the option in Settings > Audio & Video > Camera.
Did you know: You can recover Skype chat history?
Get the most out of your camera app
Our smartphone cameras can do wonders. Whether it’s as trivial as measuring the distance between objects or capturing precious moments in your life. In this age of never-ending technological innovation, the list is nearly endless.
Next: Other than the above, mobile cameras can be used in a variety of ways. Read the article below to understand better.
Categories: How to
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
