One tech device that has seen a price surge due to the on-going pandemic is a good webcam. Since many companies and local businesses are conducting meetings online, webcam has almost become a necessity.

However, high demand and an increase in price go hand in hand. This is why we are presenting you with some solutions that do not require arguing with an online retail service about the price of a webcam.

Source: The Verge

You just need a spare phone or tablet and you can easily turn it into a webcam.

Now there are several applications on Google Play Store that promise to morph your phones into a webcam. The only reliable option we have found so far is DroidCam that offers the easiest setup with high-quality results. There might be other similar apps so you can give those a try too but this one has good ratings.

So here’s how you should do it.

1. Download and install the free version of DroidCam from the Play Store. (It requires a device running Android 5.0 Lollipop or newer software.) The developer, Dev47Apps, makes a desktop client for Windows 10 and Linux (but unfortunately, not for macOS) that you’ll also need to download onto your computer. Make sure that you download version 6.

2 since it addresses some issues that might cause a headache if you use an earlier version.
2. After you have installed the application, try to get it running on the desktop. During installation, you’ll need to allow the app to install audio drivers. Feel free to uncheck “Always trust software from DEV47APPS” if you prefer.

Source: The Verge

3. Once the Windows App has started, you will find options near the top of the app window that will allow you a wireless connection to your device. You can also connect via USB but the Wi-Fi option is rather simpler.

4. Below those options, you’ll see a box where you need to input your Android device’s IP address. At this point, open up the DroidCam app on your Android phone or tablet. It will then show your device’s IP address. Go back to your PC and input that address in the field called “Device IP.”

5. There are two things to do before you hit “Start” in the desktop app. First, be sure both boxes for “video” and “audio” are checked. If you only check the video box, your phone’s microphone won’t pick up your voice.

Source: The Verge

6. Next, click the three vertical dots in the top-right corner of the Android app to open the settings. There, in the “camera” section, you can choose whether to use the front-facing or back-facing camera. Your back-facing camera is almost guaranteed to be more capable than your selfie cam, so we recommend using that. Most of the other default settings are set to the ideal choice, so you can leave them.

7. Finally, hit “start” in the desktop app to initiate the connection. You should see a preview of the video feed on your PC screen. If you don’t see it, ensure that both your PC and Android device are on the same Wi-Fi network or LAN.

8. Now, simply open up your preferred video conferencing app, like Zoom, Google Meet, or Skype. In the video settings within each app, switch the default camera to “DroidCam Source 2” or “DroidCam Source 3.” One of those should mirror what you see in the DroidCam Client window.

Source: The Verge

9. To make your device’s microphone the default input in your video conferencing app, go to the microphone section in your video conferencing app (it may be referred to as audio input), and select “DroidCam Virtual Audio.” Once you do that, it should work as intended.

If you have an iPhone, you can use the same procedure with EpocCam. However, certain features on the application are paid and the free version shows a watermark on your video feed.  

Voila! Enjoy your new webcam!