How to use a phone as a webcam in Google Meet on a Mac

To use an Android phone as a webcam in Google Meet on a Mac, first make the phone appear on the Mac as a camera, then pick it in Meet. On the screen before you join, click the dropdown arrow beside the camera at the bottom of your preview and select the phone. During a meeting, click the arrow next to the camera button and choose it from the pop-up. Meet runs in the browser and has no phone-as-webcam feature of its own. What it does have is a way to use a phone for audio, which is a different thing and is explained below.

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.

How does the phone become a camera that Meet can select?

Meet's menus list "peripheral devices", in Google's phrase: the cameras, microphones, and speakers available to the computer. The phone has to be one of them. The routes are set out in how to use an Android phone as a webcam for a Mac. In short:

• Android's USB webcam mode. Free, with a cable, if your phone offers it.
• A webcam app. Camo names Google Meet among the apps it works with and lists macOS 12.3 or later and Android 7.0 or later.
• The Relay. The phone's camera and microphone appear on the Mac, wirelessly, as devices that Google Meet can select.

Set this up before you open the meeting tab. If the tab is already open and the phone is not listed, reload the page.

How do I pick the phone before joining a meeting?

Google's help page Connect your video and audio describes the screen you see before joining, which it calls the green room.

1. On the Mac, go to Google Meet and select the meeting you want to join.
2. Look at the bottom of your preview tile. Google says "you'll find your peripheral devices, such as mic, speaker, and camera".
3. Click the dropdown arrow on the camera and select the phone. The name depends on the route you used.
4. If the phone also supplies a microphone, click the dropdown arrow on the mic and select it.
5. Check the result. Google's test: "If you see your video in the preview tile, your camera works." For sound, speak and watch the mic bar: "If the mic bar moves, your mic works."
6. Click Join now.

The first time, your browser may ask whether Meet is allowed to use the camera and microphone. Allow it, or nothing will be listed.

How do I switch to the phone during a meeting?

From the same Google page:

1. Next to the camera button, click the arrow. "A pop-up displays for your camera device."
2. In the pop-up, click the drop down arrow and choose the phone.
3. For sound, click the arrow next to the microphone icon and change the microphone the same way.

Google adds a warning worth heeding if you take the microphone from the phone and the sound from the Mac's speakers: "When you use mismatched microphone and external speaker devices, it might cause an echo." Headphones avoid that.

There is also a settings route. Google's page Improve your video and audio experience says to click Settings, then Video, where the Camera setting lets you "Select your camera device".

Which picture quality will Meet send from the phone?

A good phone camera does not mean Meet sends a sharp picture. On that same settings screen, Send resolution offers three choices: Standard definition (360p), High Definition (720p), and Full High Definition (1080p). Google says the 1080p option "is only available on computers with a 1080p camera and enough processing power", that only certain Google Workspace editions and some Google One subscribers can send it, and that "1080p isn't supported in Firefox and Safari".

So if the picture looks soft, look at Send resolution before blaming the phone. Unless your account is on Google's list, expect 720p at most.

Does Google Meet have its own way to use a phone?

Two features come up when people search for this. Neither turns the phone into a camera for the Mac.

The phone-audio feature is a fair answer to a different problem. Google's own example is a poor network connection: you keep the video on the computer and move the sound to a phone call. Because it is a phone call, it does not need the phone and the Mac on the same network. If your trouble is choppy sound and your meeting qualifies, try it first.

It does nothing for the picture. For that you need the phone as a camera.

Which route should I use for Meet?

The Relay costs $19.99, paid once, and needs Android 8.0 or later and macOS 13 Ventura or later. It works over your local network, so it will not help if the phone is somewhere else, and it has no USB mode. If the free USB route works on your phone, that is the one to use. We have not measured picture quality or delay for any of these, so open a meeting with only yourself in it and look at the preview before a call that matters.

Questions people ask

Why is my phone not in Google Meet's camera list?

Check that the phone shows as a camera in another Mac app first, such as FaceTime or Photo Booth. If it does, reload the Meet tab and confirm the browser has permission to use the camera. If it does not, the connection between the phone and the Mac is the problem, not Meet.

Can I use the phone's microphone in Meet as well?

If your route provides one. With The Relay the phone's microphone appears on the Mac as a microphone, and you choose it from the arrow beside Meet's microphone icon. Google's steps for the USB webcam mode describe the camera only.

Can I just join the meeting from the Meet app on my phone?

Yes, and for some calls that is the simplest answer. You lose the big screen and the keyboard, which is usually why people want the phone as a camera for the Mac in the first place.

Does this work in Safari?

Google's camera steps are not written per browser. Its settings page does say that 1080p video is not supported in Firefox and Safari. If the phone does not appear in one browser, try another, such as Chrome.