How to use your Android phone as a webcam for your PC or laptop (2024)

Webcams have become an indispensable tool in our increasingly digital world as they bridge distances, enabling face-to-face communication for remote work, online learning, and virtual social gatherings. Not all laptops have good quality webcams, though, and a good third-party for your PC can cost you a good amount of money. That being said, you don't have to rush out to get yourself a new webcam, as you can use your Android phone as a webcam.

That's right, you can use your Android phone as a wireless webcam for your PC, and use its cameras for video calls, recordings, streaming, and more. I use my Android phone as a webcam all the time, especially when I'm working on my desktop setup, which doesn't have a webcam. It's fairly simple to use your Android phone as a wireless webcam for your PC, and all you really need to do is install an app for it.

How to use DroidCam to repurpose an Android phone as a webcam

A simple step-by-step guide

You can use your existing phone or repurpose an old one that’s collecting dust in your drawer as long as it's functional. There are several apps out there that let you turn your Android phone into a webcam, but we'll use DroidCam for this particular tutorial. It's the one I use to turn my Android phone into a wireless webcam, and it works very well. It has a very straightforward onboarding experience and offers all the essentials in its free version.

1. Download DroidCam on your Android phone.
2. Download the desktop client of DroidCam on your laptop/desktop.
3. Open DroidCam on your phone and grant video and audio permissions. Make sure your phone and PC are connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

   

4. Install the DroidCam app on your PC. Agree to the license agreement, choose the installation location, and click install.

5. Now run the PC client. You’ll see a small pop-up box with three options to connect your Android phone. The Wi-Fi connection is selected by default, and that’s what we’re proceeding with here.

   

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6. You’ll need to enter the IP address and port in the fields below. Go back to the mobile app and look for the Wi-FI IP and port values. Enter these values in the Device IP and DroidCam Port fields, respectively, in the PC client.

   

7. Make sure both video and audio boxes are checked, and then hit the start button. If everything was set up correctly, you will see a preview of the video feed on the DroidCam desktop client.

8. By default, the app will use your rear camera, but you can also use the front camera if you want. You can change the camera by clicking on the camera icon located beside the three-dot menu in the mobile app.
9. The next step is to configure your video conferencing app to use the DroidCam feed. Launch the video conferencing app of your choice and start a meeting. By default, the app will be using the in-built webcam. To change that, open the settings and change the video to DroidCam source 2 or DroidCam source 3 (if Source 2 does not give you output).

   

10. For audio, you can either use your phone’s microphone or rely on your computer’s microphone. To change the microphone input to your smartphone, go to the audio settings in your conferencing app, and under the microphone option, choose DroidCam Virtual Audio.
11. The only thing now left is to figure out the place for your smartphone. You can use a simple phone cradle or those fancy ones that let you adjust the angle and height to your liking. For me, my aluminum phone holder did the job. You can also mount your phone onto a mini tripod if you have one. You can pick one from the links highlighted below.

• Nulaxy A4 Phone Stand

  $9 $15 Save $6

  $9 at Amazon

• LISEN stand

  $9 $14 Save $5

  $9 at Amazon

A simple way to turn your Android phone into a webcam

DroidCam is one of the best applications you can install on your Android phone if you don't want to spend too much time and money chasing the best webcams out there. The free version of DroidCam will get the job done for the most part, but keep in mind that it only allows SD-quality video streams. The higher video quality (1080p) and extra features such as Smooth FPS, video mirroring, the ability to adjust, autofocus, brightness and contrast, and more can be unlocked by purchasing DroidCam X, the paid version of the app. Depending on your needs, it may very well turn out to be worth the investment.