se 2020 continuity camera... how?

Note that the Apple Support article

Use your iPhone as a webcam on your Mac - Apple Support

... has a list of what to check if you don’t see your iPhone as a camera or microphone option in an app such as FaceTime or Photo Booth. At the risk of being redundant, here is that list:

1. Connect it to your Mac with a USB cable and check again. (If it’s already connected with a cable, disconnect it and reconnect it.)
2. Check the following:

• • Your iPhone is an iPhone XR or later.
  • Your iPhone has the latest version of iOS 16.
  • Your Mac has the latest version of macOS Ventura.
  • Your iPhone has Continuity Camera Webcam turned on in Settings > General > AirPlay & Handoff.
  • Your iPhone recognizes the Mac as a trusted computer. See the Apple Support article About the ‘Trust This Computer’ alert on your iPhone or iPad.
  • Your iPhone and Mac have Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and two-factor authentication turned on.
  • Your iPhone and Mac are signed in with the same Apple ID. (This feature doesn’t work with Managed Apple IDs.)
  • Your iPhone and Mac are within 30 feet of each other.
  • Your iPhone isn’t sharing its cellular connection, and your Mac isn’t sharing its internet connection.

Yes, I've been able to get it to work. Although I don't like what I've had to do: to disable what IMHO is a more important MacOS feature as an undocumented workaround in order to get the Continuity Camera webcam feature to work.

Firstly, you need to make sure that you're all the documented necessary system requirements. The requirements not only for Continuity features in general, and the additional ordinary Continuity Camera features, but for the specific "Continuity Camera: Use iPhone as a webcam for Mac" features.

Fortunately, this Apple Support article lists all the necessary requirements:

Continuity Camera: Use iPhone as a webcam for Mac - Apple Support

Make sure you're meeting all of those requirements, and I also suggest testing to make sure that all other Continuity Camera features work.

Use Continuity Camera to scan or take a picture with your iPhone from within any of these supported apps on your Mac:

• Finder
• Keynote 8.2 or later
• Mail
• Messages
• Notes
• Numbers 5.2 or later
• Pages 7.2 or later
• TextEdit

For example, within Notes (on Mac) click on some spot within a note, then click on Notes -> File -> insert from iPhone or iPad. Making sure that whatever you choose actually works on your iPhone.

If if it works, then within Photo Booth or FaceBook (on your Mac) click on, say FaceBook -> Camera and (if your iPhone is locked and set down somewhere so that its rear camera would be taking a landscape photo or video of you) if you find that your iPhone's camera is selected but you NOT getting video from it on your Mac ... well, you've uncovered a bug in the form of an undocumented requirement!-)

What I've found: on my Mac, by turning off System Settings -> Network -> Firewall, followed by restarting my Mac, I could then actually use my iPhone as a Continuity Camera webcam for my Mac.

Turning off my Mac's firewall is *not* something I like to do. I regard having to do so as a MacOS bug that I'm in the process of reporting to Apple.

Correction: my iPhone SE is the 2022 model (3rd gen SE), bought in April 2022 (currently running iOS 16.2) And since I last posted, I've made a couple of calls with Apple Support about my iPhone not working as a webcam with my 2018 MacBook Pro 13" (currently running Ventura 13.1).

My specific issue is that -- with all the conditions applicable to an iPhone SE that are listed in:

Continuity Camera: Use iPhone as a webcam for Mac - Apple Support

... met, the iPhone is recognized and can be selected within apps (Apple's FaceTime & Photo Booth as well as Zoom), and a popup appears on the iPhone saying that the Mac is connected, but NO live video shows up in the app on the Mac. Only a blank, black app window.

During my most recent call, Apple Support suggested doing something which apparently hasn't been a documented pre-requisite condition for using an iPhone as a webcam ...

Close all iPhone apps before locking the iPhone and attempting to use it as a webcam. According to the Support person I talked to, any app on an iPhone using its camera will block a connection to the camera from a Mac. To insure that doesn't happen, Support now recommends closing all iPhone apps currently running by going to the App Switcher and swiping up on every app. Then lock the phone and mount it appropriately (landscape mode with back camera facing what you'd like a webcam to view).

This does seem to work for some people with this problem; Didn't resolve the problem for me, Unfortunately. Keeps looking like something else blocks the live video from my iPhone to my Mac. I'll call Apple Support again, later today to re-open my case.

Almost Same Problem for me

I can "Take Photo" or "Scan Documents" with Continuity Camera in supported apps (notes, mail ...) and It works perfect.

When I try to connect video stream apps like Face Time or Zoom:

I see connected status successful on phone screen.

I see little green light on devide camera is active.

I can set video effect on mac control center.

After 5 seconds I see "No Video" error message.

I tried almost everything all responses.

The solution for me

• Turn off Macbook Firewall in settings
• Restart Macbook

Check again its done !

Those listed apps are the ones that work with Continuity Camera's other, older features: using your iPhone or iPad to scan documents or taking a picture on your Mac. None of those apps use Continuity Camera's webcam feature.

Photo Booth and FaceTime are the only built-into-Mac apps that should be able to use the iPhone as a webcam. When you say "don't work" do you mean 1) they can't see your iPhone's camera as a camera source? Or 2) they show your iPhones camera as selected -- but no video is showing up in the Photo Booth (or FaceTime) Window? Those are two different problems being discussed around discussions.apple.com.

I can't think how running Bitdefender Virus Scanner on your Mac would interfere with the video signal from your iPhone or the necessary handshaking between your Mac and iPhone. So I doubt it's causing a problem.

And if you're not running Apple's (or some 3rd party) firewall it would seem that you have a different issue preventing your iPhone from being used as a webcam. Sorry that what apparently works for me, doesn't for you.

Sounds rather like the problem described and discussed in this discussion two weeks ago:

Continuity camera won't connect wirelessl… - Apple Community

Although it appears the problem wasn't solved; just referred to Apple Support:

Contact - Official Apple Support

It doesn't work with USB, at least not for me. Although at least one other discussion talks about how it may work with USB, but not wirelessly. I've spent a fair amount of time trying it with and without USB, restarting my Mac and/or my iPhone at various stages. This is in addition to my periodic use of a USB connection to back ump my iPhone to my Mac. Yes, I use an Apple USBC-Lighting cable.

And, yes, I'm occasionally asked whether I Trust one side or another; then I invariably say yes, since I'm not sure whether replying no might possibly block the video or a backup or anything else.

In short, I've fiddled with re-setting just about every possible setting which might be involved with using an iPhone with Continuity Camera as a webcam. On both my Mac and iPhone. Restarting both fairly often. Most of the other Continuity Camera features work -- except for those which specifically require an iPhone more capable than an iPhone SE. Those which I don't expect to work include Center Stage, Portrait mode, Studio Light, Desk View.

No, we shouldn't need any 3rd-party mount. Simply place the iPhone near the Mac with its back camera facing you (preferably using landscape mode).

I have the same issue with my iPhone SE 2021 (iOS 16.2) and my MacBook Pro (2018, Ventura 13.1). Using either FaceTime or Photo Booth on the Mac, both can be set to use the iPhone's camera, but no picture appears.