Using my OnePlus 8 as Web Camera

Stream your OnePlus 8 camera feed to macOS over ADB — use it as a high-quality (4K/30fps) webcam in Zoom, Teams, OBS, or any app.

How it works

Phone (USB) ──ADB──> scrcpy (camera mode) ──> window on Mac ──> OBS Virtual Camera ──> any app

scrcpy captures the phone's camera via --video-source=camera and displays it in a window. OBS or Camo can then pipe that window as a virtual webcam.

Prerequisites

On your OnePlus 8

1. Enable Developer Options: Settings → About Phone → tap "Build Number" 7 times.
2. Enable USB Debugging: Settings → Developer Options → USB Debugging → ON.
3. Connect the phone to your Mac via USB.

On your Mac

• Homebrew installed.

Setup from scratch

# 1. Clone the repo
git clone <repo-url> mac-scrcpy-env
cd mac-scrcpy-env

# 2. Install dependencies (scrcpy + adb)
make deps

# 3. Create your local config
cp .env.example .env

# 4. Adjust camera settings in .env (optional)
vim .env

Choose which camera to use

Your OnePlus 8 has multiple cameras. To list them:

adb shell dumpsys media.camera | grep -i "cameraid"

Then set CAMERA_ID in .env accordingly (e.g. 0 for main rear, 2 for ultra-wide).

Start / Stop

make up      # Start the camera stream
make down    # Stop the stream and ADB daemon

A window titled "OnePlus8_Cam" will appear showing your phone's camera feed.

Using as a webcam in apps

The scrcpy window itself is not a webcam device — you need an intermediate to expose it as a virtual camera:

Option A: OBS Studio (free)

1. Install OBS.
2. Start OBS, Tools → Start Virtual Camera (this creates a virtual camera device).
3. Add a Window Capture source, select the "OnePlus8_Cam" window.
4. Crop/resize the source to fill the canvas.
5. In Zoom/Teams/etc., select "OBS Virtual Camera" as your camera.

⚠️ You must start the scrcpy window (make up) before opening OBS, so the window exists for capture.

Option B: Camo Studio (paid, better latency)

1. Install Camo Studio.
2. Add the "OnePlus8_Cam" window as a source.
3. Select "Camo Camera" in your video-conferencing app.

Configuration

Edit .env — this is the starting example:

# Camera Parameters
CAMERA_ID=2
CAMERA_RES=3840x2160
CAMERA_FPS=30

# Transport Parameters
VIDEO_BITRATE=30M

Variable	Default	Description
CAMERA_ID	2	Android camera device ID
CAMERA_RES	3840x2160	Resolution (WxH)
CAMERA_FPS	30	Frame rate
VIDEO_BITRATE	30M	Video encoding bitrate

Troubleshooting

adb devices shows "unauthorized"

Unlock your phone and accept the "Allow USB debugging" prompt when connecting. If it doesn't appear, run adb kill-server && adb devices to retrigger it.

No camera listed / "adb: no devices/emulators found"

• Check the USB cable (data-capable, not charge-only).
• Try a different USB port.
• Run adb kill-server && adb start-server then reconnect.

Camera window is black

Make sure no other app is using the camera on your phone. Close the Camera app, Snapchat, etc.

"scrcpy: command not found"

Run make deps to install scrcpy via Homebrew.

Laggy video

• Lower VIDEO_BITRATE (e.g. 8M).
• Lower CAMERA_RES (e.g. 1920x1080).
• Lower CAMERA_FPS (e.g. 15).

Uninstall

make clean    # stops stream + uninstalls scrcpy and adb