I use a pixel as my primary android phone. But as a mobile developer, I also keep an iPhone handy for those times I need to test how an app works on iOS (especially if it’s not available on Android1).
But my iPhone doesn’t sit in a drawer unused. It doubles up as my webcam when not being used as a phone. This is possible because I use macOS for my primary desktop needs, and this wonderful feature it enables called “Continuity Camera”. I’ve removed a webcam from my setup thanks to this, and the camera actually works much better than most webcams out there today.
But there’s one really annoying thing about this setup. It won’t be recognized in Google Meet when using a chromium browser. Searching on Reddit points out that this is a bizzarre known security requirement for chromium browsers alone.
Your iPhone needs:
- to be in landscape mode (so don’t have portrait lock on)
- have the screen turned off
- to be locked
- motionless (so won’t work if handheld)
- and have an unobstructed camera
wut 😵💫
But works like a charm. So if you run into this issue, fix those things and it’ll all work like a charm.