These days things like zoom, MSN, Skype and Google+ have become all the rage. With people unable to go out and meet friends and family, the best way to keep in touch is through such sites. Now seeing our loved ones is just a few mouse clicks away. One way of seeing our loved ones is through chats that use web cams. Most laptops and phones these days come with webcams. But what if your laptop or other device does not have a web cam or has a bad one? Have you ever thought of Use Android Phone as webcam? In this post we’ll be showing you how to use Android phone as webcam.
How to use Android Phone as Webcam?
The process involves streaming a video from your phone’s camera to a particular port on your PC. From there PC driver software captures it and provides it as a video content to any site that you need to use. Well enough of the details for now. It’s actually quite simple to use. In a few steps you can learn how to use your Android phone as a webcam.
Use Android Phone as Webcam using WiFi:
Getting video content form your phone to your PC via WiFi seems the most simplest and easiest way of doing things. So let’s start with it shall we?
A must have for this step to work is that both your phone and PC should be connected to the same WiFi network. There are three ways of doing this:
- Connect your phone and PC to the same wireless network using the same router
- And Connect your Android phone to your PC’s wireless virtual router. However this step only works if you have Windows 7 or higher.
- Connect your Android phone to your PC using a shared network. This works if you have a rooted phone with ad hoc networking enabled.
Once this is done, all you need do is follow the steps given below:
- From the app store download and install IP Webcam.
- Once you open the app you will see a screen where you need to enter details of port, video quality, sound, username/password
- The default option is good enough for the moment so scroll down till you see the ‘Start server’ option. Click on it.
- The app will now open your phone’s camera and will begin to stream to a particular port on a particular IP address. After this click on the “How do I connect Option” and then choose the Wi-Fi router option to get the IP address as well as port details.
- Take this address down and type it into your PC’s web browser. From there you will get a page stating the various ways in which you can use your web cam. And from this list of options given below you can choose either of the two given- Connect To PC for use with Skype or other video chats accessible from Windows or Connect to PC for use with Skype or other video chats accessible on Ubuntu GNU/Linux.
- From there click on the Windows option if you have a Windows PC or Linux option if you have a Linux PC. This will then start downloading a Web cam driver for your PC.
Use Android Phone as Webcam with a USB:
This step is a little bothersome and long compared to the one above. This is because connecting an android phone to a PC with a USB cable can be done so only in debugging mode and by using adb. Another problem with this step is that it requires you to download and install an application called DroidCam. The one above, IP Web cam, works mostly for WiFi connections and only with Windows.
Here’s how it is done:
- First of all you need to set up your phone in debugging mode. You can do this by going into settings and applications. From there on out click on development and then USB Debugging.
- The next step involves connecting your phone to your computer using a USB cable. Remember not to press storage mode when connecting the USB cable.
- From the Android store download and install DroidCam and open it. Form there you will see a “Starting server” message.
- Download and install the same application onto your PC via Dev47apps.
- Open up the application on your PC and choose the USB option given.
- Finally your PC will open up the camera on your phone to use as a web cam. Whatever chat services you’re using, remember to configure “DroidCam” onto its settings.
For Linux computers you just need to follow the same steps. Connect Your Phone using a USB cable in debugging mode and start the driver script. On your PC this will be detected and it will use adb to initiate a connection via USB.
Another option is to use your Phone itself as a means to chat:
Instead of going through the long and drawn out process of using your Android phone as a web cam, you can simply video chat from your phone itself. Of course you have to contend with a smaller screen here but it helps you to avoid the steps above.
Most video chatting services these days such as Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams have apps that you can download and install from the PlayStore. Simply download and install the app and begin chatting away. The app will use your phone’s camera and microphone for the video chat. There is no need for an additional web cam.
One thing you may want to get however is a tripod. Instead of propping up your phone against some books it’s better to invest in a good tripod.
These are some ways in which you can use Android Phone as Webcam. You can connect your Android phone to your PC using a WiFi connection or USB cable. Both are easy and reliable enough to use. Another thing is that with these steps in tow you can connect your phone to either Linux or Windows PCs.
