phonecam-bridge

Use an Android or iPhone camera over Wi-Fi from a laptop browser, then bridge it into Teams or Zoom with OBS Virtual Camera.

phonecam-bridge starts a local HTTPS server, prints a QR code for the phone, serves a clean laptop preview, and exposes an OBS-friendly browser scene.

Install

npm install -g phonecam-bridge

During install, phonecam-bridge detects Windows, macOS, or Linux and checks whether OBS Studio is already installed. The check is advisory and does not install OBS automatically. To skip it:

PHONECAM_BRIDGE_SKIP_OBS_CHECK=1 npm install -g phonecam-bridge

Local development:

npm install
npm start

Usage

Local checkout:

npm start
npm run obs:check
npm run obs:ensure

Global install:

phonecam start
phonecam obs check
phonecam obs ensure

Options:

• --host 0.0.0.0: HTTPS bind host.
• --port 8443: HTTPS server port.
• --obs-port 8444: localhost-only HTTP port for OBS Browser Source.
• --cert <path> and --key <path>: use a trusted certificate instead of the generated self-signed certificate.
• --no-open: do not open the laptop preview automatically.
• --no-qr: print URLs without rendering a QR code.
• --no-obs-http: do not start the localhost-only HTTP OBS helper.

The terminal prints:

• Phone URL: scan this QR/link from Android Chrome or iPhone Safari.
• Preview URL: open this on the laptop for the normal preview.
• OBS URL: add this to OBS as a Browser Source.
• OBS HTTPS: HTTPS fallback for OBS when OBS trusts your certificate.

Press Ctrl+C to stop the server.

HTTPS

All pages run over HTTPS because mobile browsers require a secure context for camera access over LAN.

By default, the CLI creates a self-signed certificate in the user config directory:

• Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\\phonecam-bridge
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/phonecam-bridge
• Linux: ${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-~/.config}/phonecam-bridge

Browsers and OBS may warn about the generated certificate. For a cleaner setup, provide your own trusted certificate:

phonecam start --cert ./localhost.pem --key ./localhost-key.pem

OBS Browser Source commonly cannot accept a generated self-signed HTTPS certificate interactively. For that reason, phonecam start also prints a localhost-only HTTP OBS URL by default. Use that URL in OBS. It is bound to 127.0.0.1 and cannot be opened from the phone or other devices.

OBS, Teams, and Zoom

Teams and Zoom cannot select a web page directly as a camera. Use OBS as the bridge:

Check whether OBS Studio is installed:

npm run obs:check

Try to install OBS Studio with the OS package manager:

npm run obs:install

Check first, then install only if missing:

npm run obs:ensure

After installing the package globally with npm install -g phonecam-bridge, the same commands are available as:

phonecam obs check
phonecam obs install
phonecam obs ensure

Installer behavior:

• Windows: uses winget when available, then Chocolatey.
• macOS: uses Homebrew Cask when available.
• Linux: uses Flatpak when available, then Snap, then APT.

Some installers may require admin rights or corporate approval.

After OBS is installed:

1. Run phonecam start.
2. Add a new OBS source: Browser.
3. Paste the OBS URL printed by the CLI. Prefer the http://127.0.0.1:.../obs URL unless you provided a trusted certificate.
4. Set the browser source size to 1920 x 1080.
5. Start OBS Virtual Camera.
6. In Teams or Zoom, select OBS Virtual Camera.

The phone camera continues to stream through the QR-paired browser page; OBS only receives the clean scene page.

Phone Workflow

1. Run phonecam start on the laptop.
2. Scan the QR code from Android Chrome or iPhone Safari.
3. Accept the local HTTPS warning if your browser shows one.
4. Allow camera access.
5. Tap Start camera.
6. Use Mirror off/on or Rotate 0/90/180/270 if you need to adjust the camera orientation.
7. Keep the phone page open and the screen awake.

Checks

npm run check
npm run pack:dry-run

Health endpoint:

curl -k https://localhost:8443/healthz

Limitations

• OBS install support depends on an available OS package manager and may require admin rights.
• Corporate Wi-Fi can block device-to-device traffic. Use another trusted network or hotspot if the phone cannot reach the laptop URL.
• Bluetooth is not used because it is not practical for real-time webcam-quality video into Teams or Zoom.