Use Your iPhone As a Webcam For Your Mac

When using your iPhone as a webcam (likely via Continuity Camera on macOS), the image appears mirrored or reversed.
🪞 Why It Looks Reversed
macOS Continuity Camera (and most webcam apps) show you a mirrored preview by default — so your face looks like it does in a mirror.

But other people still see it correctly (not mirrored).

This is intentional to make it easier for you to frame yourself, especially when adjusting hair, background, etc.

Continuity Camera only uses the rear camera by default
Apple prioritizes the rear camera (better quality) and does not currently allow switching to the front-facing camera directly in macOS System Settings or from FaceTime/Zoom/etc.

I have an M1 iMac running Sonoma, and a 15s iPhone, but I do not see any of the switch to another camera settings in any of the software discussed. I'll keep trying with the tips if it does not immediately work, but so far it does not seem to be an option. Does this work only with Sequoia?

I’ve found continuity camera to be very hit or miss, with it sometimes working instantly, other times I’m left scratching head as to why it’s telling me there’s no camera

Unfortunately, does not work in Europe yet.

Apple ID ❌
Apple Account ✅

I use my previous iPhone for this since my main display has no FaceTime camera. I keep it plugged in on my desk as a clock/calendar/thermometer in standby mode while not acting as a webcam.

Good one Gary. Also VPN can get in the way of continuity / handoff. Make sure you are signed out.

This is a very helpful video. Thanks for sharing Gary. How do I use iPhone’s camera for virtual meetings on Mac through Zoom, MS Teams or Google Meet?

Thanks, Gary - I recently got a Mac Mini but didn’t get a monitor with a webcam. Will try this soon 👍🏻

Is there a way to use iphone mirroring at the same time as CC?

I used my iPhone xr's camera and my Intel MacBook Air in 2023 for job interviews with MS Teams because of the low quality webcam in the MacBook. Worked fine, got the job.

Really useful, thanks Gary. I have an iPhone 11 Pro Max. To get it working I needed to plug in the lightning cable, then exit and restart FaceTime. After that, as you said, it works wirelessly as well.

I'm starting to get into content creation, so this is immensely helpful. Out of curiosity, are you willing to share how you achieve the look of your small picture-in-picture effect? It's thoughtful and unique. I'll understand if you wish to guard the secret 🙂 Thanks for another insightful episode!

That could be very handy

Can this be set up for streaming via OBS?