Blog
Honest writing about cameras, calls and privacy
How VirtualCam works, how to get the most out of it, and where we draw lines on purpose. New posts as things ship.
- Product
Announcing VirtualCam: give any website a camera
VirtualCam is a free browser extension that answers the internet's favorite question — 'we can't find your camera' — with your phone or a clean generated feed. Here is what shipped, and what we refused to build.
Read post → - Product
Why so many good laptops have broken cameras
Your laptop is fast, new and expensive — and its camera still fails. The reasons are economic, not technical. And the fixes people reach for are mostly scams.
Read post → - Engineering
How pairing works — and why our server never sees your video
A QR code is not a magic trick. Here is exactly what happens between the scan and the live feed, what the pairing service does and does not carry, and why it physically cannot store your video.
Read post → - Product
Blank Screen: the feature nobody asked for, until they needed it
Some sites accept no answer but a camera. Blank Screen gives them a clean generated feed — color, image, loop, or text — and it matters more than it sounds.
Read post → - Privacy
Is using a virtual camera safe? An honest answer
Virtual cameras are mainstream — OBS ships to millions. The real safety questions are about the tool you pick, the server it uses, and what you use it for. All three, answered.
Read post → - Guides
Test your camera before the call: a 30-second checklist
The five checks that catch 95% of camera failures before the meeting — and the thirty-second routine to run all of them.
Read post → - Guides
Use your phone as a webcam for free (Meet, Zoom in the browser)
Your phone has a better camera than any webcam you'll buy in a hurry. Here's how to make every website in your browser see it as your webcam — free, in about two minutes.
Read post → - Guides
iPhone as a webcam for browser video calls — no app needed
Continuity Camera is Mac-only and requires a desktop app. iPhone users on Windows — or in the browser — have a simpler route: the phone page, Safari, and a 6-digit code.
Read post → - Engineering
Your video's route: a tour of WebRTC without the jargon
DTLS-SRTP, ICE, STUN, TURN, signaling — the jargon makes direct video sound arcane. Here's the whole pipeline told as a delivery story, and where VirtualCam's server is (and isn't) in it.
Read post → - Privacy
What VirtualCam will never do — and why we show a marker
Feature requests that would make the product 'better' and the world worse. The lines we've drawn in advance, so they hold under pressure.
Read post →
Ready when you are
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