Your phone already has the better camera. Add a Phone Camera source in SplitCam, scan the QR code it shows, and the phone starts sending video and audio over the network — through its browser, with no app to download and no cable.
This is not a trick to save money on hardware. A phone from the last few years usually has a better sensor and better optics than a mid-range USB webcam.
Phone cameras are built to a photography standard because that is what phones are sold on. A typical USB webcam is built to a price. In the same room and the same light, the difference is visible without measuring anything.
The place most webcams fail is a dim room at the end of the day. Phone cameras spend their whole design budget on exactly that problem.
A webcam lives on the monitor. A phone on a small tripod can be beside you, above the desk, pointed at your hands, or across the room as a second angle.
The Phone Camera source carries audio as well as video, so a phone propped close to you can be a better microphone than the one built into your laptop.
Two minutes, and the only thing you type is nothing.
In SplitCam, add a Phone Camera source to your scene. A QR code appears on the desktop.
Point the phone's camera at the code. It opens a web address in the phone's browser — there is no app to find, install or sign into.
The browser asks for camera and microphone permission, the way any video call would. Allow it and the picture appears in SplitCam.
Select SplitCam as the camera in Zoom, Teams, Meet, Discord or OBS. They see the finished scene, phone included.
If the only thing you want is your phone acting as a plain webcam, a single-purpose tool like DroidCam, Iriun or Camo is the more direct answer, and you should use one. They install a camera driver on the computer, so the phone appears in Zoom as a camera by itself, with nothing in between. SplitCam goes through a scene and its own virtual camera — that is one more moving part, and if you never intend to add a screen share, a second angle, an overlay or a recording, it is a moving part you are not using. Those apps also tend to offer a wired USB mode, which matters on a congested network or where the phone and computer are not allowed to reach each other. Check each one's current features and pricing yourself — several are free up to a resolution and charge above it, and those tiers change.
What each approach is actually for. Where a row depends on a product's current version or tier, it says so rather than quoting something we cannot stand behind.
| Feature | SplitCam | a webcam app |
|---|---|---|
| Install something on the phone | No — the QR opens a web page | Usually an app on both ends |
| Cost | Free, no watermark | Often free to a limit — check current tiers |
| Phone appears directly as a camera | Through SplitCam's virtual camera | Yes, that is the whole design |
| Wired USB mode | Network only | Commonly offered |
| Phone alongside screen, slides, second camera | Yes — it is a scene layer | Camera only |
| Audio from the phone | Yes, video and audio | Varies by product |
| Effects, background removal, overlays | Built in | Varies by product |
| Also multistreams and records | 84+ platforms, local recording | Not its purpose |
No. Adding a Phone Camera source shows a QR code; scanning it opens a web address in the phone's own browser, and the camera joins from there. Any phone with a current browser works — iPhone or Android.
They see SplitCam as the camera, and SplitCam sends them the scene your phone is in. Select SplitCam in the app's camera list. If you want the phone to appear in Zoom by itself with nothing in between, a single-purpose webcam app is the better fit.
The pairing does — the QR handshake is how the phone and the computer find each other. The video then flows between your two devices.
Yes. The Phone Camera source runs on macOS 13 and later, the same as scenes, recording and the virtual camera.
That is what it is for. The phone is a layer in a scene, so it can sit beside your webcam, your screen or a slide, and you can switch between arrangements while you are live.
Yes — the Phone Camera source supplies audio along with video, and the audio arrives as its own track you can mix.
Free download for Windows and macOS. Nothing to install on the phone.
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