That's absolutely right. You can use your cellphone as a webcam for video calls or chats on Skype, Google Hangouts, etc. You can even use it as a security camera. You don't have to worry about replacing a broken webcam or getting a new one. You just have to use a software and configure the settings.
There are a bunch of apps out there that you can use to set up your phone as a webcam. The most commonly used ones are DroidCam and IP Webcam. I have tried and used both.
To begin with, download Droidcam app on both your pc and phone or tablet.
For the Windows client, get it here. For your mobile phones, just go to Google Play.
Once downloaded and installed, you can now use your phone as a webcam either via wireless connection or USB mode. However, configuration of the settings is required.
Here's how to configure both.
Configuring Phone as webcam via WiFi connection
When you open the app on your phone, the WiFi and browser IP settings will be displayed on the screen.
Open the app on your PC and copy the IP to the Device IP box.
Press Start to start streaming the video through your cellphone camera.
Or, you can use Chrome or Mozilla browser to stream the video. Just copy the URL link below the Browser IP Cam Access and paste into the browser.
Configuring Skype settings
To use your phone on Skype, you need to change the default camera first. Open Skype, click on Tools and select Options → Video Settings. Choose the webcam source. In this case, DroidCam.
Configuring Phone as webcam via USB
Before you can use the phone as a webcam by connecting it directly to your PC, you need to enable USB debugging first in the Developer options menu. To do this, go to Settings, select About phone, and tap Build number several times until the "Developer options" is enabled.
Then, go back to the Settings and tap on Developer options. Enable this option by swiping it ON, and then tap on USB debugging and OK.
Also, make sure that the driver for your mobile device is installed on your computer.
Check the list of drivers here.
When you're done installing and configuring the settings, open the DroidCam client and click the USB icon as displayed below, and then hit Start.
Record Video Feed on Cam
You can also record a video feed by using another app, which is IP Webcam.Download and install the app on Google Play to your phone.
When you open the app on your phone, the wifi IP setting will be displayed on the screen.
Copy and paste the URL into the web browser (Chrome or Mozilla Firefox). In my case, it's
http://192.168.254.100:8080.
To record, just select any Video renderer or audio player that works best for you, and then click the red record button under Recorder control. You may also enter a name or label for the recording.
