Continuity Camera Not Working Unless Actual Webcam Is Connected To Mac Mini

[DavidBurbank]

Hi,

I've got a 2018 (Intel) Mac Mini running Ventura 13.4 and an iPhone 12 mini with iOS 16.5. Since the Mac mini obviously doesn't have a built-in camera, I figured using my iPhone with continuity camera would be a great solution to enable FaceTime calls on my Mac.

However, in FaceTime on the Mac, my iPhone does not show up as an available camera unless I first connect an actual external webcam to my Mac Mini via USB. Once I connect a webcam, my iPhone shows up as an available video source. Unplugging the webcam removes the iPhone as an available source.

Is this how continuity camera is supposed to work, or am I missing something? I don't want to have to connect my webcam (which is normally connected to my work computer) to the Mac just so that I can use my iPhone as a webcam.

For the record, before I connected my webcam, I tried the various fixes suggested online:

* Both devices are on the same Wifi, with bluetooth enabled
* Both devices are signed into my iCloud account
* Both devices were signed out, then back into my iCloud account
* Both devices had their network settings reset
* Both devices restarted

Thanks for any help.

 

[kirbyrun]

Hi,

I've got a 2018 (Intel) Mac Mini running Ventura 13.4 and an iPhone 12 mini with iOS 16.5. Since the Mac mini obviously doesn't have a built-in camera, I figured using my iPhone with continuity camera would be a great solution to enable FaceTime calls on my Mac.

However, in FaceTime on the Mac, my iPhone does not show up as an available camera unless I first connect an actual external webcam to my Mac Mini via USB. Once I connect a webcam, my iPhone shows up as an available video source. Unplugging the webcam removes the iPhone as an available source.

Is this how continuity camera is supposed to work, or am I missing something? I don't want to have to connect my webcam (which is normally connected to my work computer) to the Mac just so that I can use my iPhone as a webcam.

For the record, before I connected my webcam, I tried the various fixes suggested online:

* Both devices are on the same Wifi, with bluetooth enabled
* Both devices are signed into my iCloud account
* Both devices were signed out, then back into my iCloud account
* Both devices had their network settings reset
* Both devices restarted

Thanks for any help.

Yep, this is how mine "works," too. It's ridiculous. The whole point of Continuity Camera is be there when you don't have a camera. Requiring another camera plugged in is counterintuitive -- why wouldn't I just plug in a camera and be done with it?

I reported this to Apple, but it would be great if more people did so as well. Squeaky wheel, grease, etc.

 

[MacGizmo]

Same issue here, though I can get Continuity to work with a lot of fiddling around.

I absolutely MUST have the iPhone positioned above the computer/screen. I've found that it doesn't work unless I have the iPhone set in landscape with the external cameras in the upper right. And the camera must be completely stationary (it usually doesn't work just holding it above the screen for a few seconds to test). This is obviously not the way it's supposed to work, particularly having to have a USB camera plugged-in to avoid all the issues.

 

[kirbyrun]

Well, this seems to be working for me now! No webcam hooked up at all and I can get my phone to act as a camera. It does take quite a while to connect, so it's not like you can get a call in and decide on-the-fly to use Continuity Camera, but when initiating, it's great.

 

[iGeneo]

I just went through this, mine was intermittent... discovered that I was extending my screen (using iPad as a 3rd screen) and if you do that, it will not work wirelessly.

But... what happens is that if the camera is already working wirelessly and then you extend the screen it works. It will not work if you are extending the screen before trying to use the camera. Odd and I finally figured it out yesterday.

I just cut to the chase and ran a Lightning/USB-C cable to the top of my monitor and plug it in when using continuity. I am using the Edge Pro from Rolling Square to mount it (MagSafe) and provide a light. Works great! A little redundant at the moment since I am using Lightning to connect the phone.

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[watdafuq]

anyone found a solution for this ?
It works fine on my MBP but on Mac Mini it does not show up until I plug it in with lightning cable, and then it just works sometime and sometimes not and just show a black screen on FaceTime.

 

[TripleYoThreat]

Just ran into this today. Yeah it works super reliably with one plugged in

Not at all without one

Oddly, it seems it'll work one time after unplugging the webcam, then not again

I mean it looks amazing. It's such a well done feature. I see 60fps too, I believe. With portrait and stage light, it's just insane.
It's better than $300 webcams, and they managed to do it wirelessly!
But why this silly bug?

It's almost like it wasn't tested on Mac Minis, Mac Pros, or their new Mac Studios for that matter -- which all ship without a webcam.

Silly apple. Releasing half baked goods and touting them as the world's newest thing.
This was one of the biggest features of Ventura.

I'm not mad at it, it works great at home, but I just spent like 2 hours at a client's, troubleshooting this, pretty much pro bono, because I was hired to update to Ventura and the camera not working looked like Ventura was not working. Then finally this. But again, I'm not all pissed because of my man hours. Just cause of the half baked goods and Ventura has been out for a year now, we're on 13.5.2 for God's sake