Use your phone as a wireless WebCam

This is quite niche, but for anyone who regularly uses Google Meet / Microsoft Teams / Zoom and a multitude of other live streaming services, I have found a way around the restrictions sometimes found when using either an integrated WebCam or a wired WebCam.

We’ve started offering Yoga classes online and now have people from UK, USA and Sweden joining us.  The TV monitor for us to see clients had to be mounted reasonably high up to prevent anyone bashing their head on it inadvertently and placing the WebCam on top, or on the desk didn’t give a wide enough field of view.  The ideal was then for us to use a wireless webcam so we could position the camera in the ideal position and not have wires trailing everywhere.

But wireless webcams, whilst available, are not cheap.  Not at all.

So I stumbled on some cross platform software called “Camo Cam”.  It is completely free for the basic necessities i.e. 720p.  You install the free app on your phone - Android or iPhone, and then download the software and install on your computer - Windows X64 or 32, or Mac (and I believe Linux as well)

When installed, it’s a joy to use.  Start the app up on the phone, start the software.  Click the little wireless connect button on the app, and press “pair” on the computer.  First time, computer generates a QR code.  Scan that with the phone camera and you now have a wireless webcam.  It saves it as a Camera Device so with Camo running, your wireless camera is available to any application on the PC that can see camera devices.  Gives you a hell of a lot more flexibility, gets rid of cables … and is FREE.

So not just meetings, if you keep in touch with family overseas, this gives you a camera you can easily move around.  It allows usage of the phones “selfie” camera as well as rear facing wide and ultra-wide lenses.

If anyone is interested and wants to know more, either respond here or send a message, I’ll be happy to elaborate.