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Comment by alanwreath | Hacker News Reader

Am I the only one sooo excited that we’re getting native support to pair the iPhone with your Mac as a webcam???!!! I know someone is getting sherlocked but I am loath to install an app on my phone and then on my Mac

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Camo (by Reincubate) is the app they’re copying. Camo is awesome. It does color correction, cropping, zooming, a ton more features. Also works on Android, Windows, and many combinations of devices. Worth checking out.

Camo is also quite expensive though.

To remove watermarks or use those features you mention you need “Pro”.

Pro costs $4.99 a month, $39.99 a year, or $79.99 for a lifetime license.

Camo is really great!

I hope they survive.

They have the advantage of working with older devices like the iPhone 6S and iPhone 7, both of which have excellent cameras that are better than most webcams I've tested them against!

There were quite a few players in the space. I know a few people who had luck with EpocCam: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/epoccam-webcamera-for-computer...

Camo will get 1080p60 soon which I doubt Apple will support but that alone would be worth continuing to use Camo. (if they can ever do 4k30 they'll have a strong video recording niche)

I also doubt Apple will include the other video tweaks you mention.

There is also DroidCam, which despite the name also has an iOS version. It has a pro version that's a one-time purchase.

Yeah that’s a nice one, I was testing some 3rd party solutions for this a few weeks ago and concluded they suck. Looking forward to this one.

What Mac do you own that doesn't have a webcam built-in?

Mini, Studio, Pro, any laptop in clamshell mode, and previous generation laptops with 720p cameras…

Have you seen the image quality of laptop webcams?

I think it's more about the ability to position the camera independently from the screen.

The Studio Display's webcam's quality looks like a flip phone from 2006.

That's only a way to burn your battery faster. Go and buy a webcam. With 100$ you get maybe the best on the market.

I have epoccam only for emergencies (like when with covid webcams were sold out)

Strong disagree. I bought the Logitech Brio 4K and it was a complete waste of money. Even the best webcams are terrible compared to the iPhone cameras, front or rear. On top of that the camera is glitchy and the angle from on top of my 30” monitor looks terrible. EpocCam is way better. The quality is better. It never glitches. And I have much more flexible placement of my phone.

You can connect to the phone over either lighting or wireless. If you do it via lightning then you don’t burn the battery at all.

Logitech c920 is still the best 1080p webcam for most usage, and easy to find under $70.

Ya, the only thing my Brio does particularly well is Windows Hello, otherwise it’s nothing special.

The sensors, optics and processing on any recent iPhone leaves even $200 webcams (Brio, Elgato) in the dust. If you want a better camera, you have to go with a mirrorless or DSLR hooked up to your Mac, and these setups are finicky and require third party software. If this Just Works, it will be a massive upgrade in image quality for most people with a camera they already have, perhaps not for everyday (except if you want to reuse your old phone as you upgrade) but for that one job interview or other important meeting where you want to look your best.

Do you really need that? I was amazed when I tried Epoccam on my iPhone and used it for a while, I wasn't able to find a webcam around...

Now I don't care. I look more than good with a Logitech webcam and some proper lighting.

Is there somewhere I can read more about this? I was optimistic that using my phone as a camera while plugged into a charger might not hurt my battery much.

It’s generally just having your phone hot that degrades the battery. Try it out and feel your phone. If it doesn’t seem worryingly hot, it’s fine. I wouldn’t be worried about this at all unless you are in calls all day, and even then, it’s still likely a non issue.

And then even if it is an issue, it’s pretty cheap to just replace the battery later. All this stressing over battery life is pointless.

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