iPhone continuity camera not working

FWIW, my Continuity camera stopped working after a year or more of using this feature where the camera wasn't listed as an option at all. I tried all of the troubleshooting steps provided here, but what I think resolved my issue was ensuring I didn't have any other app on my phone open that was using the camera. In other words, the Camera app was open on my phone and as soon as I closed it, the phone showed up as an option in Zoom on my MCB

I disabled thunderbolt bridge - rebooted iphone by holding vol up and then vol down and then holding in side button and voila! Works fine!.

I tried rebooting in the past by telling Siri - REBOOT - maybe it was the thunderbridge thing, maybe it was the manual reboot using the buttons instead of Siri. Who knows but all the sudden I went into Whats App and bam the video appeared. NO USB CABLE CONNECTED. Flakey Stuff.

First - I would reboot your Mac AND your iphone. When I say reboot your iphone - I mean push volume up (then release) then volume down (then release) and hold the button down on the right side until you see the Apple Logo.

With both devices rebooted. Put your phone in landscape mode (on its side horizontally). Then open Facetime and see if the camera appears. You can click on Video menu at the top of Facetime and see if unchecking automatic camera select on/off does anything.

Otherwise I would:

I would plug your iphone into your Mac using a USB cable. It should then show up in Finder (the little blue/white smiley face). Your see something like "Your Name's Iphone" that way you can verify that it is connected and your mac see's it. Then open Facetime and see if the camera image appears.

Again for this to work your Mac and your iphone should be on the latest release of software. I am running Mac Sequoia 15.2 and my iphone is an Iphone 15 Pro running IOS 18.2. If your not sure your up to date, on your Mac, click Settings, Software update. On your iphone, Goto Settings, General, Software Update. the other thing is that you must be using the same Apple ID on BOTH devices. So if your apple ID is: johnjones@gmail.com you have to use that same account on BOTH your Mac and iphone. They cannot be different or it wont connect.

GoodLuck.

Here is a link that also might help you if you havent seen it yet:

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

To remove a profile from an iPhone, you can do the following: 

1. Open the Settings app
2. Tap General
3. Tap VPN & Device Management
4. Select the profile you want to remove
5. Tap Delete Profile
6. Enter your passcode if prompted
7. Tap Remove to confirm
8. Restart your device

I fixed this issue by entering firewall settings and allowing incoming connections.

YES! Thank you! Turning off my vpn worked.

Yeah, I had this wrong. The secret sauce was actually to just have my phone in a landscape orientation.

I tried all the solutions which in this post and it doesn't work, finally I upgraded the iphone OS and it worked.

This has also been my issue. It will work for a few minutes after I hard restart the iphone, but then will crash each and every time I use the camera - OR using an app that requires camera use.

I upgraded my iPhone last year BECAUSE i use it exclusively to take photos for work. Do we have an ETA on this so I can know how/if to pivot?

I installed Iriun webcam (software to use Android as your webcam) as an alternative to connecting a webcam since I do not have one. This kicked on the continuity feature for my iPhone 15 Plus with my 2019 Macbook Pro 15.4. I hope this helps and keeps you from having to buy a webcam or keep one connected.

I'm successfully using continuity camera with VPN.

I've notice CC breaking after installing the Zoom client. Anyone else observed the same?

It might just be coincidental. But after this occurring twice in a row, a system re-install and NOT installing Zoom client I've had no issues since.

Had same issue recently, today is 07/08/24, and DNICOB had it figured out, the VPN issue. I wasn't even using a VPN at the moment, but the xfinity vpn to connect to their public network was preventing me from using continuity camera. I removed the profile from my iphone and then the continuity cam starting working right away. thanks!

I had a 2017 MacBook Pro running Ventura and it worked fine even though it's on the black list of non airplay computers, used Streamlabs showed up fine, Now with 2023 M2 MacBook Pro Sonoma it will not work just seeing black screen no VPN, and all device restarted, no sidecar...Desk view not working either...even used the same wifi and still nothing... It seems like Sonoma is having the issues...I had seamless integration with Ventura now lagging and issues with Sonoma Version 14.5 (23F79)

I have had this issue for a long time. I only just found a solution for it today. The problem I had with it the iPhone not being detected by the Mac when starting Facetime stemmed from the "Privacy & Security" Settings. FaceTime was listed as an approved application under the bluetooth section. However I toggled it on and off and that seems to have resolved the issue. You may even want to try removing FaceTime and then adding it back in to see if that clears on the issue.

I hope this helps.

Thanks for the tip! Even if the VPN isn’t active, connecting and then disconnecting VPN (on the iPhone) seems to kickstart the iPhone Continuity Camera and resolve the issue. Much appreciated! But, it only worked with Usb-C cable Mac Mini M1 to iPhone 16 Pro.

However, If I unplug my Ethernet, and ONLY use WiFi (not both simultaneously) it works. I guess that also is not expected behavior.