How to Use Your Android Phone as a Webcam ? (Tutorial)

After reading this article, you will be able to use your Android phone as a webcam for Skype, Google Talk, Facebook, or any other program on your computer that can use a webcam. I was frustrated that Skype did not allow video chat for my phone when they recently updated their app to allow this, and decided to figure out a way to do this using the existing video camera on my phone.

Your phone should already support video and have either wi-fi or bluetooth. You can connect via USB cable but I was not able to do it, you need to do port forwarding which is not easy to do with certain setups.

For reference, I did this using a Samsung Galaxy S phone, with other phones it may be a little different.

Getting Started

First you will have to choose which app you would like to use. This is not as big a task as you might image, as there are only really three such apps for Android that are active and have good reviews. Each app has its good and bad things, but hopefully you can find one that works for you and your phone.

All of them work with some kind of client program on your computer so you will need to download and install that before you can get it working. This allows you to sort of trick your computer into thinking the device is a webcam which can be used in Skype, Google Talk, Facebook, and so on. I tested all of the apps in Skype and Gmail chat.

Choose Your Webcam

 

IP Webcam

IP Webcam works only on wi-fi so you need your phone to be connected that way to use this app. The setup is pretty easy but there are a few things you needed to configure in Skype correctly to use it. I could not get it to work in Gmail chat (Google Talk) so that is a big disadvantage. Also, it currently does not support audio.

Price: Free
Requires: Android 1.6 or later

Setup

• Go here in your web browser: https://your.ip.address.here:8080/ (replace your.ip.address.here with the IP address that appears in the app on your phone). You will see instructions and a link to the video feed.
• Download and install this program: https://webcamxp.com/home.aspx
• In Skype Options > Video settings, select “IP Webcam MJPG” as the source.
• Click on the Webcam settings button under Skype Video Settings; use the raw URL option at the top and enter your video feed address for example https://192.168.1.1/videofeed(replace 192.168.1.1 with your IP address from the app on the phone).

 

DroidCam

DroidCam is a bit easier to install and work with compared to IP Webcam. But it seems like there are more options available in IP Webcam with DroidCam the free version does not allow you to change the video format or resolution. Droidcam works with Gmail chat and Skype. I could not get the USB option to work, as you need to forward ports on your computer. Wi-fi and Bluetooth work fine. The audio works but its a bit choppy not ready for prime-time yet.

Price: Free (DroidCamX upgrade available)
Requires: Android 2.1 or later

Setup

• Go to their website to get the application for your computer and install it.
• Open the app on your computer and the app on your phone.
• On your computer, choose which method to use (Wi-fi, USB, or Bluetooth)
• If you’re using Wi-fi, enter the IP address that appears in the app on your phone into the DroidCam client and select audio, video, or both (only video is possible via Bluetooth)
• Click Connect on the DroidCam client to start streaming video.
• In Skype or Gmail chat video settings select "DroidCam" as the source.

 

SmartCam

SmartCam works via Bluetooth and wi-fi. You can change the resolution, unlike DroidCam, so it gets a thumbs up there.

Price: Free
Requires: Android 2.2 or later

 

Setup

• Go to their website to get the application for your computer and install it. (Download latest Windows version)
• Open the application on your computer and install/open the SmartCam Android app.
• On your computer, choose which method to use (Wi-fi, USB, or Bluetooth)
• In the Settings menu on the SmartCam app, choose your connection type and configure your Bluetooth or Wi-fi settings (enter the local IP address of your computer as the "remote server" the port probably will not need to be changed)
• In the SmartCam computer application settings select your connection type the same as you did in the phone app
• In the phone app menu click the Connect Wi-fi or Bluetooth button
• In Skype or Gmail chat video settings select "SmartCam" as the source.