Most modern laptops come with integrated webcams and microphones these days to make devices ready for making video calls right after you get hands on it. However, you will still need a secondary webcam or microphone, if you want to do video calls, capture photos, or carry out similar tasks on your desktop computer. If it is not your everyday business to make video calls or use the microphone or webcam, it isn’t necessary for you to get a dedicated one. The reason is, you can simply use your Android smartphone as your webcam and microphone if you have a home Wi-Fi, or a USB data cable, which is quite common.
Android smartphones, just like most other smartphones come with multiple cameras and microphones for obvious requirements, and you can use your Android device’s microphone as a microphone or recording device for your computer using WO Mic. But, today I will talk about, the way to use the camera setup on your Android device as the webcam for PC or laptop, if you think the webcam on your laptop is not good enough for modern video conferencing and video calling requirements. This can really come in handy in a number of situations when you need to make video calls quickly.
Use Android as a webcam for Skype calls on Windows 10 PC
Step 1: Downloading the Android cam app
The first step is to download the iVCam server app on your Android device. You can download the app from the Google Play Store.
Step 2: Give Phone’s Camera permission
After you open the app, iVCam will ask for camera and microphone permissions. Just tap on ‘Allow’ for both the permission requests to get started with the app.
Now, the iVCam app on your Android device is ready. You will now have to configure the desktop app, after which you can start using the camera on your Android device as the webcam for your PC.
Step 3: Downloading and initiating iVCam on Windows 10 PC
Just download iVCam for PC from the following website on your Windows 10/8/7 PC. The size of the download is around 17 MB. After you download the iVCam program on your PC, install the program on your PC, just like you install other Windows programs
Step 4: Open iVCAM app
After the installation is complete, open the iVCam program. After the program opens up, you will see the following window. Keep it open, and get hands-on your Android device.
Step 5: Using the iVCam app and program to make Skype calls
Now, open the iVCam app on your Android device, and you can find the name of your PC on the app. Just tap on the play button on the app, and you can see the camera feed both on the iVCam mobile app, as well as the iVCam program on your PC.
Here’s how it looks. Just tap on the ‘X’ button on the app interface to end the stream.
You can also tap on the different options on the iVCam app on your Android device to flip the image, switch between rear and front camera, switch the flash, or change other settings.
You can also do the same by clicking on the gear icon on the iVCam desktop application.
iVCam will be considered as an imaging device, or webcam, by your Windows computer, and you can even see the same within ‘Device Manager’.
It means you can even use iVCam to make Skype calls or capture photos and videos on your computer without a hitch. Skype will also recognize iVCam as a camera, as shown in the screenshot below.
The only concern is, you will find the following ‘iVCam’ watermark in the camera feed, and also in the photos that are captured using the program. The only way to get rid of the watermark is to use the premium version of iVCam. However, you can get a physical webcam at the same or at a little higher price than that of the cost of the premium version of iVCam.
At the end of the day, you can use iVCam, if you do not need to use a webcam extensively. The output picture quality is also far better than most cheap webcams available in the market. There are several other similar programs available in the market that can accomplish the same task, but iVCam is better than those programs in several aspects.
So, that was all about, how you can use the camera on your Android device, as the webcam fo your Windows computer. Do you have any questions? Feel free to comment on the same below.