Now that social distancing has made video chat a primary form of communication, webcams are suddenly hard to come by. But if your computer’s built-in cam is broken, low-quality, inconveniently affixed to the machine itself or totally nonexistent, there is an alternative to buying a separate cam: using a smartphone as a camera instead.

There are a handful of options with various pros and cons, but one of the most versatile is EpocCam, which is available on both Android and iOS and works with Macs and Windows machines for free. All you have to do is download the app on your phone, install the appropriate drivers on your Mac or PC and make sure both devices are on the same Wi-Fi network.

I had a little trouble at first (the user experience leaves a bit to be desired) but my Galaxy S20 as now shows up as camera for both my Mac and Windows device after rebooting all devices involved. You can find the official setup guide here, and test your results on this website https://webrtc.github.io/samples/src/content/devices/input-output/ before you jump into any high-stakes chats.

More advanced iPhone users might be interested to mess around with the slightly more professional NDI HX app, which ordinarily charges a subscription fee, but is currently available for free.

| |

Note: Purchasing products through our links may earn us a portion of the sale, which supports our editorial team’s mission. Learn more here.