How to use your iPhone as a webcam for your Mac using the Continuity Camera feature

Learn how to use your iPhone as a high-quality webcam and microphone for your Mac for making FaceTime, Zoom, Slack, and other video calls.

Using iPhone as webcam on Mac

Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro do not have a built-in camera. And no matter which iMac or MacBook you use, it’s certain that its inbuilt camera is not as good as your iPhone camera.

So for improved video calls, presentations, and shooting tutorial videos, using your iPhone as a webcam is a significant upgrade. Secondly, using iPhone as your Mac’s camera also adds extra features like Center Stage.

Requirements

You need the following to use Continuity Camera as a webcam:

  • iPhone XR or later running iOS 16 or later
  • Any Mac or MacBook running macOS Ventura or later
  • Both iPhone and Mac should have the same Apple ID
  • Turn on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on both devices

Note: The following special features of Continuity Camera have specific device requirements:

  • Center Stage and Desk View: Requires iPhone 11 or later. It’s not supported on iPhone SE.
  • Studio Light: Requires iPhone 12 or later.

Use your iPhone as a webcam for Mac

It takes just six easy steps.

Step 1. Choose wireless or wired setup

You can use your iPhone as a webcam for Mac wirelessly or use it via a cable:

  • To use wirelessly: Enable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on your iPhone and Mac. Also, make sure both devices are near.
  • To use via a wire: Connect your iPhone to your Mac using a USB-C or Lightning cable.

Tip: While using iPhone as a webcam, you’ll see a notification on your Mac if the iPhone battery gets low. When that happens, you can plug your iPhone into your Mac or a charger.

Continuity Camera Low iPhone battery notification on Mac

Step 2. Position your iPhone

You can mount your iPhone to the top of your Mac desktop or MacBook using a third-party attachment like this one. If you don’t have that mount, you can use any cell phone stand and place your iPhone steadily on it or even 3D print one.

Remember to keep the iPhone in landscape orientation.

iPhone mounted on a MacBook to use as webcam
Image: Amazon

Step 3. Lock your iPhone

Your iPhone’s screen must be locked to use it as a webcam. If you wake your iPhone and go inside, the video feed to your Mac will pause.

Note: If you receive a call while your iPhone is being used as a webcam, it will pause the video and audio until you end the call and lock the iPhone. This is true even if you have set your iPhone to receive calls on your Mac and pick up the call directly there. To avoid this, put your iPhone in Do Not Disturb mode.

iPhone call notification on Mac when using Continuity Camera

Step 4. Select your iPhone’s camera as your Mac’s webcam

You can use it during FaceTime, WhatsApp, Slack, Zoom, Skype, and other video calls. Plus, you can use it in Photo Booth, QuickTime Player, and pretty much any app where you need to work with camera and microphone. Here’s are the steps for popular Mac apps:

FaceTime: Click Video from the top menu bar and select your iPhone as the Camera.

Use iPhone as Mac webcam on FaceTime video call

WhatsApp: Make a video call using the WhatsApp app for Mac. Next, click the three dots icon from the call screen and choose your iPhone as the Camera.

Use iPhone as Mac webcam on WhatsApp call

Slack: Initiate a video call or Huddle with a colleague. On the call screen, hit the Settings icon and select your iPhone as the camera input.

Using iPhone as webcam during Slack video call on Mac

Zoom: Click the tiny arrow next to the camcorder icon and select your iPhone as the camera source.

Use iPhone camera for Zoom calls on Mac

Photo Booth: Apple Photo Booth is the fun built-in camera app for your Mac, using which you can take selfies with various effects and record videos. To use your iPhone camera in Photo Booth, click Camera from the top menu bar and select your iPhone Camera.

Using iPhone Continuity Camera in Mac Photo Booth

QuickTime Player: This is another Apple app that comes preinstalled on all Macs. It’s used primarily for playing videos, but you can also use it to make movies, record your Mac or iPhone screen, and even tape iPhone FaceTime or WhatsApp calls. To use your iPhone as a camera source inside QuickTime, open QuickTime Player > File > New Movie Recording > tiny arrow next to the record button and select your iPhone.

Select iPhone wireless camera in Mac QuickTime Player

Just like choosing your iPhone as the webcam, you can also use it as the microphone input for your Mac.

Step 5. Use video effects and mic modes

After following the above steps, you can use your iPhone for a simple yet improved webcam experience. But that’s not all. You can take things further using the following video and microphone effects. Here’s how:

1) When using your iPhone as a webcam, click the video call icon or the macOS Control Center icon from the top of your Mac’s screen.

2) From here, you can use Center Stage, Portrait mode, Studio Light, and Desk View as long as your iPhone supports it. On older versions of macOS, click Video Effects first.

  • Center Stage: Even if you move around slightly in the room, the Ultra Wide iPhone camera will use its intelligence to keep you in the center of the frame.
  • Portrait mode: It keeps your face sharp and blurs your background, thus helping the person on call focus on you and not your (maybe messy) surroundings.
  • Studio Light: Let’s say you’re in a room with poor light or in front of the window. If you turn on Studio Light, it will dim the background and illuminate your face, which improves the overall video presentation in difficult lighting situations. Your iPhone 12 and later does all this using its powerful processor without relying on external lighting.
  • Desk View: It uses the Ultra Wide camera on your iPhone 11 or later to show your desk as well as your face at the same time.
Using iPhone as Mac Continuity Camera

3) Like videos, you can customize your microphone experience by clicking Mic Mode in the macOS Control Center. From there, select:

  • Voice Isolation: It minimizes the background noise and focuses on your voice, making it easier for the person on the other end of the video call to listen to you clearly.
  • Wide Spectrum: It does the opposite. It will capture both your voice and also what’s around it.

Step 6. Pause, disconnect, or stop using your iPhone as a webcam

When you’re done, you can do the following:

  • Use the button inside the video calling app to end the call.
  • Tap your iPhone screen and choose Pause or Disconnect.
  • If you’re using your iPhone as a wired webcam, you can simply disconnect it from your Mac, and it will end the Continuity Camera feature.
  • And if you’re using it wirelessly, turning off Bluetooth or Wi-Fi should disconnect the connection.
Pause or Disconnect iPhone as webcam on Mac

Fix iPhone not working as Mac’s webcam

No Camera Available To use FaceTime. Connect a camera error on Mac

If the Continuity Camera fails to work:

Check the basics

  • Keep the iPhone and the Mac close to each other.
  • Turn on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on both the iPhone and the Mac. Make sure the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth icons are blue (not white) in iOS Control Center.
  • Go to iPhone Settings > General > AirPlay & Handoff and make sure Continuity Camera is on.
  • Turn off Personal Hotspot on iPhone.
  • Turn off Mac’s Internet Sharing if you’re using it.
  • Make sure you’re using the same Apple ID on your iPhone and your Mac.
  • For wireless Continuity Camera, make sure you’re not using AirPlay to stream music or videos from your Mac to devices like HomePod or AirPlay-supported TVs. Secondly, you must not be using Sidecar on your Mac to extend its display to an iPad.
  • For wired Continuity Camera, you must trust the Mac when you connect your iPhone to it. If you tapped Don’t Trust, reconnect it and tap Trust. If you don’t get the popup, you will have to reset your iPhone’s Location and Privacy settings and then reconnect to Mac.

Use this FaceTime trick

Open FaceTime on your Mac and do the following:

  1. Click Video from FaceTime’s top menu bar and select your iPhone if it appears. If not, check Automatic Camera Selection.
  2. Now, keep the iPhone in landscape orientation on its side and lock it.
  3. Keep FaceTime open on your Mac and wait for a short while.
Automatic Camera Selection in FaceTime on Mac

Once you follow the above steps, you will hear a tone signifying your iPhone is being used as your Mac’s camera. You can tap the phone screen, and it will show “Connected to your Mac.” Now, you can use your iPhone as a webcam in FaceTime or apps like Zoom and Slack.

Other fixes

If the above steps do not bring luck:

  • Connect your iPhone to your Mac using a cable and follow the FaceTime tip once again.
  • Force Quit FaceTime and reopen it.
  • Restart both your iPhone and your Mac.
  • Update to the latest version of iOS and macOS.
  • Reset all iPhone settings and retry.

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