One of the iPhone features introduced with iOS 16 in late 2022 is the ability to use your iPhone's camera as a webcam for video conferencing. Apple calls this feature Continuity Camera. However, the idea is not new; in 2020, the Camo app introduced the same feature, albeit in a paid app instead of something that comes free with the operating system. The thinking behind both Camo and the new Continuity Camera is the same: the camera on your iPhone is likely to be much better than the camera in your external webcam or the one built-in to your computer.
If you are thinking about using an iPhone as your webcam, there are three issues to consider. First, is it worth going through this trouble? Second, how are you going to mount your iPhone in a way that it can even work as a webcam? Third, what software should you use to make your computer (Mac or PC) treat the iPhone as a camera?
In today's post, I'm discussing the first two topics. And for the second topic, I am reviewing the Belkin iPhone Mount with MagSafe. This Belkin device is currently the best solution for folks using a computer monitor or a computer with a built-in monitor (like the iMac). As for that third topic, see this post for my review of Camo and how it compares to the Continuity Camera feature that is available in the latest operating systems for the iPhone and Mac.
Why use an iPhone instead of another webcam, and is it worth it to do so?
If you use any recent iPhone, your iPhone has a great camera. Part of this is because Apple uses excellent camera hardware, which I understand is manufactured for Apple by Sony. But it is largely because of what Apple does with the images that it gets from that hardware. Apple uses its custom-built processor chip in the iPhone to perform an insane number of calculations on a large number of images that are taken in rapid succession every time that you click the button to take a picture. Apple then combines the best part of each of those pictures, plus some filters, plus a sprinkling of AI, to create what the iPhone thinks is the best possible picture. And the whole process takes just an instant. A similar process takes place when you are taking video except that the process is going on constantly while you continue to record video—which is the reason that taking video is one of the most battery-intensive things that you can do with an iPhone.
Because of this process, the quality of video taken by an iPhone is excellent. Unless you are filming a movie that will be shown on a huge screen in a movie theater, there is no reason for most folks to consider using a dedicated video camera instead of an iPhone. And when Apple releases a new set of iPhones every year, the quality of the iPhone as a video camera improves even more.
At my home, I use an iMac with a 27" screen that was released by Apple in 2019. It has a built-in webcam at the top, but I've always considered the quality of the video that it takes very poor. Looking at a single frame of a video doesn't really adequately show you the quality of video, but nevertheless here are three images that I took at my home in rapid succession, using the same lighting and other conditions, using Microsoft Teams and a fake background (with no green screen) on my iMac. You can click the below image to see it a little larger. It only takes a fraction of a second for you to see that the quality of my face that comes from my iMac's built-in webcam (at the top) is pitiful compared to my iPhone 14 Pro, either with Continuity Camera or Camo.
In my office, I've been using a Logitech HD Pro C922 webcam since 2020 (I did a short review of it in this post), and I've been very happy with it. In the following image, the top picture was taken using Zoom on my office PC with the Logitech webcam, and the bottom picture was taken a second later in the same lighting using Zoom on my office PC with the iPhone and the Camo software. Again, you can click to make the picture bigger.
Unlike the built-in camera on my iMac, I'm reasonably happy with the Logitech camera. However, I do prefer the quality of the iPhone's picture. Most notably, the color of my skin looks more natural—something that the iPhone has always been known for. Also, the iPhone does a better job compensating for the light on the top of my head that comes from the fluorescent office lighting. Also, the iPhone automatically produces a slight, pleasant bokeh so that I stay in focus but items in the background are slightly blurred, whereas the Logitech just tries to keep everything focused.
If you want to see video examples, you can easily do that by looking at episodes of the video version of the In the News podcast that I record on Friday mornings with Brett Burney. For most episodes up until Episode 81, which was recorded on December 30, 2022, I used my Logitech camera. But for the last two episodes, including Episode 84 recorded on January 20, 2023, I've used my iPhone with Camo and my PC. Because of the way that Brett creates those videos, my image is in a small box on the side. But that's somewhat similar to video conferences using Zoom or Microsoft Teams where I am one of many rectangles in the conference. I've embedded those two videos here if you want to compare the difference between the Logitech webcam and my iPhone as a webcam:
In my opinion, the image from the iPhone camera is always better. As compared to my iMac—and I suspect as compared to the webcams on most laptop computers—the video quality is far better. As compared to a nicer external webcam like the Logitech, the clarity of the video is only a little better but the overall feel of the video is better because the iPhone does a much better job with lighting, skin tones, and adding a slight blur to the background.
If the only consideration was camera quality, I'd pick the iPhone every time. But you should keep in mind that there are some downsides to using an iPhone for video conferences.
First, and most obviously, when your iPhone is being a webcam in a video conference, you cannot use your iPhone. If I want to look up a contact or see something on my calendar, I need to use my iPad instead of my iPhone. That works fine, but it is something I need to plan for.
Second, what happens if you get a call while you are using your iPhone as your webcam? That actually happened to me this week. While I was in a video conference, I heard my iPhone start to ring and I looked on my Apple Watch screen to see that I was receiving a call from the clerk's office of the Louisiana Supreme Court, where I had filed a brief about an hour earlier. I suppose in retrospect that I could have taken the call from my Apple Watch. Instead, I quickly clicked the buttons to mute my microphone and turn off my video in Teams, then I picked up my iPhone from the top of my monitor and answered the phone call. Camo continued to run in the background, but that didn't matter because I had turned off my video in Microsoft Teams. Once I finished with the quick call—fortunately, it was a minor issue and not a problem with my brief!—I put my iPhone back on the Belkin mount, turned my microphone and video back on, and I was back to the conference when I could explain my quick absence. Of course, if the call had been unimportant, I could have just ignored it. But for me, the Apple Watch was a key part of that equation so that I could learn who was calling me while the front of the iPhone was faced away from me and impossible to see.
Third, because you will only keep your iPhone mounted on your screen while you are on the video conference, you might have to do some slight adjustments every time you mount the iPhone to make sure that your face isn't too high or too low in the video. This is something that you don't need to think about when you use an external webcam that never moves or a built-in webcam.
To avoid all of these issues, I've heard of some people repurposing an older iPhone to make it a dedicated webcam so that their current iPhone can still be used as an iPhone. I suppose that is an option if you have an unused but relatively recent iPhone.
One final thing to consider: how good do you need to look in a video conference? I see so many people who look horrible in video conferences, and I'm sure that you do too. People who sit in front of a window on a sunny day so that their face is in the dark and can barely be seen. People who never even look at the camera. People with horrible lightning. It may seem silly dressing up for work if everyone else is wearing jeans and a T-shirt, and similarly, it may seem silly fussing about the quality of your video conference camera when others make less of an effort. On the other hand, if you are talking to clients or a court instead of colleagues, it is always a nice idea to look your best.
For all of these reasons, although I really like the look of my iPhone as my camera for video conferencing, I don't think that I'll use it all of the time. But I do like being able to use it most of the time.
How to mount your iPhone as a webcam for a video conference
So now that you have decided to use your iPhone as a webcam, how do you mount it? On a video conference, you want for your camera to be at the top of your monitor and as close to the edge of the screen as possible. That way, it is easier to create the illusion that you are looking directly at the other people when you start into the camera.
Before this Belkin product was available, I tried some other solutions. For example, I used a Glif—which does a great job of holding an iPhone and giving you a standard 1/4" tripod screw thread—but I found it difficult to use a tripod, even a flexible tripod like the ones made by JOBY—and get the iPhone in the right position on top of my monitor. I don't recommend this approach.
Last year, Belkin introduced a mount designed for the relatively thin screen of a laptop computer (available on Amazon for about $28). But that version won't do you any good if you use an external monitor or an iMac. Fortunately, Belkin is now selling a similar version that is designed to work with any monitor. It is not yet for sale on Amazon, but you can currently purchase one from Apple or Belkin for about $40. I purchased one from Apple the day that they went on sale (December 17, 2022) and mine arrived on January 5, 2023. I've been using it frequently since then.
The Belkin mount has three primary parts connected by hinges. On the top, shaped like a circle, there is a magnetic MagSafe mount. Unlike MagSafe chargers, this one doesn’t contain any electronics, so it doesn’t charge your iPhone or transfer data. It simply uses strong magnets so that you can quickly attach or detach your iPhone.
This circular part can optionally shift forward almost halfway to bring the iPhone’s camera about an inch closer to you. This mode only works if you are using your iPhone in landscape mode, not portrait mode. But for the purpose of videoconferencing, landscape mode is by far the most popular orientation. I seriously doubt that I will ever mount my iPhone in portrait mode while using this Belkin mount, so I will also be able to take advantage of this slider to bring the camera a little closer to me.
Also, because this top, circular part of the mount is on the hinge, you can bend it forward or backward to make the iPhone camera face more up or more down. You can have the circle completely vertical, at a 90º angle to the middle portion, or you can bend it forward 25º. The ability to tilt makes it easier to get your head in the middle of the frame—or top or bottom, if that is what you prefer.
The middle part of the mount is incredibly strong and includes a lip at the front end. That lip comes over the front of your monitor and holds the mount in place.
The bottom part of the mount, which I will call the foot, is adjustable because of the hinge. How far you bend the foot at the hinge will depend upon the thickness of your monitor (or your iMac). It is quick and easy to bend the foot into the right position, and the combination of this foot against the back of the monitor along with the lip of the middle part keeps the mount securely in place, even with the weight of an iPhone. You can also adjust the foot to make slight adjustments to how high or low the camera is looking.
When you use an iPhone as a camera for your computer, your iPhone can send the video to your computer wirelessly or over a Lightning cord. If you use a cord, the foot of the Belkin mount has a hole in the bottom that you can run the cord through to keep things more tidy.
Although I don't connect my iPhone to my PC, I do recommend using a cord for charging purposes when you are using an iPhone as a camera for a video conference. For my iPhone 14 Pro, I find that I use about 30% of my battery power for every hour that I use the iPhone for a video conference. It is extremely rare for me to be on a video conference that lasts more than three hours so it typically isn't essential to keep my iPhone plugged in, but I often do so anyway just to keep my iPhone with a full charge. If you keep a charging cord in that hole on the foot of the Belkin mount, it will always be ready for you as soon as you attach your iPhone to the MagSafe circle.
The foot also includes a standard 1/4" tripod screw thread. Thus, if you have a tripod, you could use this mount to connect an iPhone. Simply fold up the foot so that it is fairly flat with the middle section and then attach a tripod.
I tried this feature to make sure that it works, and it does, but I didn’t use it for very long. For something like a tripod that could move accidentally, I personally would feel safer using a more secure mount that clamps to the iPhone. The Glif by Studio Neat that I mentioned above is something that I've used for many years for this purpose (my review), and that product gets my highest recommendation for a tripod or for a hand grip. But the Glif doesn’t connect to a monitor, and it is nice to have the tripod connector on the Belkin mount just in case you need it in a pinch.
All of the parts of the Belkin mount have a weighty, sturdy feel to them. The quality of the components is excellent. The danger of magnets in general, and MagSafe in particular, is that it doesn’t take a significant amount of pressure to remove an iPhone from a MagSafe connector. This is nice if you intend to disconnect your iPhone, but you do need to be careful with an iPhone in this Belkin mount that you don’t accidentally push your iPhone hard enough that it drops from the top of a monitor onto the desk below. Although I have been conscious of this risk, it hasn’t actually happened to me. This mount does a good job of holding the iPhone secure when it is supposed to be secure, while at the same time, it is not very difficult to pull the iPhone away from the Belkin mount.
When you are not using the Belkin mount to hold your iPhone, you can simply leave the mount on your display. It stays in place and isn’t all that distracting. But if you do take it off of your display, you can fold it up so that it is more compact for travel. Belkin includes a small cloth bag with the mount, which I suppose protects the mount from getting scratched while it is in a purse or briefcase. It's very thin, and I'm worried that it might tear at some point, but I guess it is something.
Like any external webcam, the iPhone camera will be slightly above the edge of your monitor. Thus, for other people on a videoconference to have the feeling that you are looking directly at them while you speak, you will need to look just above your monitor at the iPhone’s camera instead of at the Zoom or Teams window on your screen. But this is nothing new for people using external webcams, and it even applies somewhat to built-in webcams since they are at least a little bit above the screen of a monitor. I did find that it was better when I positioned my iPhone so that the camera was at the bottom left instead of the top right.
Speaking of which, when you first use an iPhone as an external webcam, it might seem weird that the back of the iPhone is facing you. This is the opposite of having a FaceTime conversation or using the Zoom or Teams app on the iPhone, where you are looking at the other people on the iPhone's screen and using the front-facing camera. But it makes sense that Continuity Camera and Camo are designed to use the camera on the back of the iPhone because that is the highest-quality camera.
Belkin says that this mount works with Mac desktops and displays. That is true, but incomplete. This mount would likely work with any display, and it works fine with the Dell display that is standard issue in my office. Unless you are using something unusual like an old CRT display (do those still exist?), I suspect that this mount will work fine no matter what display you are using.
Conclusion
If you participate in video conferences with some regularity and you want to look your best, it is worth considering using your iPhone as your camera. Depending on what webcam you have been using, the iPhone might be a little bit better, or it might be a lot better.
But to use your iPhone as a camera, you need a good mount. And the Belkin mount is an excellent mount. In fact, the highest praise that I can give it is that I am thinking of buying a second one. For the past few weeks, I’ve been traveling back and forth to my office with this mount in the same bag in which I carry my iPad because I want to be able to use this mount with either my iMac at home or my Dell display in my office. But just a few days ago, I forgot to pack it in my bag when I went to my office, and Murphy’s Law kicked in because that was the day I had lots of video conferences and couldn't use my iPhone. Keeping one at home and one at the office would solve that. And again, if you want to use a mount on a laptop computer that is not connected to an external display, I suspect that the Belkin laptop mount ($28) is also quite good considering how much I like this version for a monitor.
Once you have the mount, you'll need to decide if you want to use it with the Continuity Camera feature or Camo. Click here for my post with my thoughts on that decision.
Click here to get the Belkin iPhone Mount with MagSafe for Mac Desktops and Displays one from Apple or Belkin ($40).
