How to use an Android phone as a microphone for a Mac

To use an Android phone as a microphone for a Mac, you need an app that presents the phone's mic to macOS as a sound input device. Once it does, you select it under System Settings, Sound, Input, or in the microphone menu of your meeting app. The choice of tools on a Mac is narrower than on Windows. The Relay provides the phone's microphone alongside its camera, and Camo says its Android app can act as an audio source. Some well-known phone-microphone apps publish Windows clients only, and Android's free USB webcam mode is documented as a camera with no sound.

Publisher note: The Relay publishes this guide and is one of the products discussed. Details about other products come from each maker's own pages, checked on 1 October 2026. Prices and features change, so confirm before you buy.

Which tools give a Mac the phone's microphone?

This table reports what each maker's own page says. Where a page is silent, we say so.

So two options have a maker's own statement behind them on a Mac: Camo and The Relay. Camo has a free version, and it can connect by cable. Try it first if the microphone is all you need.

How does The Relay handle the microphone?

With The Relay, the phone's camera and microphone appear on the Mac as a camera and a microphone that apps such as Zoom, Google Meet, and FaceTime can select. The microphone is its own device, separate from the camera, so an app chooses each one on its own.

The connection is wireless, over your own Wi-Fi network with Bluetooth as a fallback. The app is installed on both devices and paired by scanning a QR code shown on the Mac. It needs Android 8.0 or later, costs $19.99 paid once, and comes from the download page. The same app also syncs the clipboard, moves files, and shows the phone's notifications, texts, and calls on the Mac.

When it is the wrong tool:

• You need a wired microphone. The Relay has no USB mode.
• You want free. It is paid, with no free tier. Camo has a free version.
• You are recording music or a podcast and care about sound quality above all. We have not measured its audio quality or delay. A dedicated USB microphone is the conventional answer, and the trade-offs are in phone as a microphone for podcasting.
• The phone and the Mac are in different places. Both must be on the same local network or in Bluetooth range.

How do I select the phone as the Mac's microphone?

Apple's page Change the sound input settings on Mac gives the system-wide steps.

1. Choose Apple menu, then System Settings, then click Sound in the sidebar. Apple notes you may need to scroll down.
2. Click Input.
3. Select the phone's microphone in the list. Apple says: "All sound input devices available to your Mac are listed." If the phone is not there, the Mac does not see it as a microphone yet.
4. Speak, and adjust the input volume slider if needed. Apple's advice is to raise it for someone "speaking softly" and lower it when the source is loud enough to distort.

That sets the default. Many apps have their own choice on top:

What if an app cannot hear anything?

macOS asks each app for permission to use any microphone. Apple's page Control access to the microphone on Mac says to open System Settings, select Privacy & Security, click Microphone, and turn access on or off for each app in the list. If your meeting app is switched off there, no microphone will work in it, the phone's included.

How do I test the phone microphone in five minutes?

We have no measurements to give you, so run your own.

1. Select the phone's microphone under Sound, Input and watch the input level while you talk.
2. Open QuickTime Player and choose File, then New Audio Recording. Apple's QuickTime guide says the recording options there let you choose the microphone. Record twenty seconds of speech and play it back through headphones.
3. Record the same twenty seconds with the microphone you would otherwise use. Compare.
4. In a test call, clap once on camera. Check that the sound and the picture arrive together.
5. Leave the call running for ten minutes and listen for dropouts.

When is a phone microphone the wrong answer?

Often. A phone microphone is useful when the Mac has none, as on a Mac mini, or when the laptop's is far from your mouth. Other fixes are simpler in other cases:

• A wired headset. Apple's sound page says a Mac with one sound port "supports stereo output and mono input (such as a headset with a built-in microphone)".
• Join by phone for sound only. For Google Meet, Google's page Use a phone for audio describes having Meet call your phone so you "speak and listen on your phone while in a video meeting". Google says this is for meetings organized through a Google Workspace account.
• A USB microphone, if you record regularly.

Questions people ask

Can I use my Android phone as a Mac microphone over USB?

Not with Android's built-in USB webcam mode, which is documented as a camera only. Camo's support page describes connecting an Android phone to a Mac by USB cable and selecting Camo as an audio source. WO Mic lists a USB connection, but its site describes a Windows client. The Relay is wireless only.

Can I use my phone as a Bluetooth microphone for a Mac?

We found no Apple or Google page describing a way for a Bluetooth-paired Android phone to act as a Mac's microphone, so we cannot point you to one. WO Mic lists Bluetooth as a connection, with a Windows client. The Relay uses Bluetooth only as a fallback connection between the phone and the Mac.

Does DroidCam send audio to a Mac?

DroidCam's audio feature feeds a "Droidcam Audio" microphone in its desktop client, which is listed for Windows and Linux. On a Mac, DroidCam works inside OBS Studio. Its OBS usage page advises: "Do not enable audio, if you don't need it. This uses extra CPU." See DroidCam on a Mac.