Short answers first. For step-by-step help, see the guides; if something isn't working, start with troubleshooting.
Camlane turns an Android phone into a webcam and microphone for a Windows, macOS or Linux computer over Wi-Fi or a hotspot, with very low delay. The phone app captures and hardware-encodes the video; the desktop app receives it and shows it to every app as “Camlane Camera” and “Camlane Microphone”. It also turns spare phones into room cameras that your computer can watch and record.
Yes. There is no paid tier, no watermark, no resolution or time limit, no in-app purchase and no locked feature. The Android app shows one small banner ad per screen to pay for development, and the desktop apps have no ads. How ads fund Camlane.
The Android app shows one banner ad on each screen: the device list, the camera screen, settings, about and the QR scanner. Banners never cover the camera picture or a control, there are no full-screen, video or pop-up ads, and the camera screen banner doesn't refresh while you stream. Ads don't load offline, and blocking them changes nothing. The desktop app shows only a small sponsor strip.
Yes, completely. The phone and the computer only need to be on the same local network: a home router, an office network that lets devices see each other, or a hotspot from the phone or the computer. Video and audio never leave that network.
No. There is no account, sign-in or email address anywhere in Camlane. Devices trust each other because you pair them once with a 6-digit PIN.
Phones and tablets with Android 8.0 or newer, and computers with Windows 10 or 11, macOS 13 or newer (beta), or Linux on x86-64. An iPhone and iPad version is coming as a sideloaded beta.
Not yet. An iPhone and iPad camera app is in testing and will arrive first as a sideloaded beta. What to expect.
Camlane has no paid tier: manual ISO and shutter, 3D LUTs, background blur, 4K and several phones are free, and Linux is a first-class platform. As of October 2026, DroidCam's free tier limits resolution until you buy Pro, Iriun keeps 4K for Pro, and Camo puts most advanced features behind a subscription. Those apps are older and more established, and Camo and EpocCam have a native macOS virtual camera, which Camlane doesn't have yet.
Yes. Install the .deb or AppImage, load the v4l2loopback module with exclusive_caps=1, and pick “Camlane Camera” in Zoom, Chrome, OBS or Discord. The microphone is created automatically on PipeWire and PulseAudio. Linux setup.
Yes. Camlane appears as a normal camera and microphone, so any app that can choose a webcam works. On Windows the camera is called “OBS Virtual Camera” because Camlane uses the driver OBS Studio installs; on macOS only the microphone is available until the virtual camera ships. Per-app steps.
Typically 30–80 ms from the camera to the screen on 5 GHz Wi-Fi. The phone encodes in hardware with no B-frames, stale frames are dropped instead of queued, and the computer decodes each frame the moment it arrives. Call apps add their own 50–100 ms, as with any webcam.
Up to 4K at 30 fps and 1080p at 60 fps, depending on the phone's camera and encoder. Most phones from 2020 on do 1080p60. Bitrate is adjustable, roughly 6–8 Mbit/s for 1080p30, 10–14 for 1080p60 and 20–30 for 4K30, and changes live.
Yes. ISO, shutter, focus, white balance, exposure, zoom, lens, torch, stabilisation, filters, LUTs, blur, auto-framing, resolution and audio all change from the desktop app while the stream runs. Pro camera controls.
Yes. Camlane keeps streaming through a foreground service with a visible notification. Some brands, including Xiaomi, Samsung and OnePlus, stop background apps anyway unless you change their battery settings; here's how.
Yes. Four phones connect by default and up to 16 with Settings → Cameras, each with a camera number and a tally light. Cut between them, let the auto-director follow whoever is speaking, or use picture in picture, side by side or a 2×2 grid. Several phones.
Yes. The computer removes background noise with RNNoise (adds 10 ms) or DeepFilterNet 3 (adds 30 ms), and runs a studio chain with a gate, de-esser, compressor and EQ, presets such as Podcast and Broadcast, and a steady −16 LUFS level.
Yes. If the computer's firewall blocks the phone, the computer connects to the phone instead, usually within a second, with nothing to set up. The desktop app also offers a one-click rule that allows phones on your local network. Firewall guide.
TCP 47393 for the stream and UDP 47392 for discovery, plus UDP 5353 for mDNS. Allow them from your local network only, and never forward them to the internet.
Not yet; Camlane works over Wi-Fi, Ethernet and hotspots. For the most predictable connection without a router, turn on the phone's hotspot and connect the computer to it.
Yes, as a beta for Apple silicon and Intel Macs on macOS 13 or newer. Pairing, preview, remote control, the microphone (through BlackHole), several phones and recordings work; the virtual camera doesn't exist on macOS yet. The app isn't notarised, so right-click it and choose Open the first time.
Yes, on Windows 10 and 11. The microphone works through VB-Cable. The virtual camera is experimental: it uses the driver OBS Studio installs, so install OBS once, and the camera appears as “OBS Virtual Camera”.
Yes. Camera mode turns a phone into a room camera with a battery saver that drops to 5 frames a second when nothing moves, and a computer in Watch mode shows every camera on a wall and records them. Room camera guide.
On the computer that records, never in a cloud. Each one-minute piece is encrypted with AES-256-GCM by default, with the key in your operating system's keyring, and recordings are kept for 1 week unless you choose 1 day, 1 month or 1 year. Only video is recorded, never sound.
It depends on where you are and what the camera sees. Many places treat recording conversations more strictly than video, and filming beyond your own property brings in data protection rules. Camlane records video only and shows “Recording” on the recorded phone. Recording people has examples from the US, EU, UK and India; it isn't legal advice.
From another computer on your network, yes: it pairs once with the recording computer and sees the cameras live, with recordings and downloads. From outside your network, use your own VPN for now; remote viewing that is end-to-end encrypted with no sign-in is coming. Remote viewing.
It's in progress. Privacy mode closes the camera and releases the microphone at once, from the phone, a Quick Settings tile or the computer, for up to 30 minutes or until you turn it back on, and by default nobody can turn it back on from another device. Privacy mode.
Yes. Hold Talk on the computer and the camera phone plays your voice from its loudspeaker, with echo cancellation. The camera phone needs Android 10 or newer. Two-way audio.
Private AI recognises people you name in your recordings, suggests what they were doing and writes a short summary of each day, entirely on your computer. It's off by default, looks only at cameras you opt in, and uploads nothing; its only network use is downloading the models when you choose to. Private AI.
Camlane itself collects nothing: no telemetry, analytics, crash reports or account, and there is no Camlane server. The Android app's ads come from Google AdMob, which may collect your advertising ID, IP address and device information under Google's policies. Privacy policy.
Not yet. The live stream between phone and computer is unencrypted and meant for networks you trust, so don't use Camlane on public Wi-Fi; a hotspot between your own devices is fine. Pairing is protected (the PIN is never sent), and recordings are encrypted at rest. Security.
Email hello@camlane.live with your phone model, Android version, computer and the Camlane versions. The troubleshooting guide fixes the most common problems.
Didn't find your question? Email hello@camlane.live.