Andrew O'Hara
Camo is a new app for iPhone and iPad that allows you to repurpose your mobile device's camera as a pro-quality webcam for your Mac that works with all your favorite applications.
Camo is very easy to set up and with several nice touches along the way. When launching the app on our iPhone or iPad, it tells us to connect to Camo for Mac, and includes a quick link to AirDrop the app's download URL to a Mac in one quick step.
Users can choose which lens to use on their iPhone, adjust video zoom, and control individual settings like saturation, exposure, temperature, and contrast. The iPhone's flash can be controlled to adjust lighting, and users can even jump between multiple iOS devices during a call.
Out of the box there is a massive list of applications that Camo supports. This includes Zoom, Meet, Microsoft Teams, Skype, Slack, Google Chrome, WebEx Teams, QuickTime, and many others. There are more than 40 in total. At the moment FaceTime is left off the list, but is on the roadmap.
Not only does Camo make your webcam broadcasts much better than your Macs built-in camera, but the app gives you a constant preview image of yourself, even in apps that don't offer them, such as Google Meet.
We've been testing out Camo for the past few weeks during its beta process and his made a huge difference in the quality of our video calls. Some computers, such as the Mac Pro, don't have any webcam at all which makes the iPhone a much more affordable solution than buying a standalone camera.
Camo will be available as a free download which limits the video to 720p with the default lenses and a Camo watermark. For users that upgrade, they get all features of the app for a yearly fee of $39.99. Considering some users may be using Camo while working from home before heading back to the office, this may be a better solution than investing in a pricier high-end webcam.
Grab the app on the App Store for free.
Marko Zivkovic
Mike Wuerthele
Malcolm Owen
Andrew Orr
Christine McKee
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Chip Loder
15 Comments
Surprised Apple hasn't already baked something like this in to Mac OS.
I know I'm going to be the "hater" here but I have to question "makes the iPhone a much more affordable solution than buying a standalone camera". Thirty dollars buys you a decent camera. Eighty dollars buys you a really nice camera.
I know Apple is trying to push subscription plans for software, but this is basically you leasing a camera. Use this software for 1 year and 1 month and the "value" of it is gone.
$40 a year is outrageous.
Had me until I read the subscription part. No way. Come on guys. Leasing camera software? Don’t cry if you get Sherlocked.