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Use your Android phone as a camera in OBS Studio on Linux

By , who makes Linksy. Updated .

Linksy turns your Android phone into a camera source for OBS Studio on Linux. The phone's video reaches the computer over your Wi‑Fi and is offered to OBS through PipeWire, as a camera named after your phone, at up to 1080p and 60 frames per second. For OBS you don't need a kernel driver, and the zoom, focus, exposure and torch are controlled from the computer.

How do I add my phone as a camera in OBS?

  1. Install Linksy on the computer and the Android app on the phone, then pair them by scanning the QR code in Add Device.
  2. On the phone's page in Linksy, under "Use Pixel 9 as", choose Start Webcam. The phone asks once to use its camera. Leave Linksy's own camera preview closed: while it's open, OBS doesn't get the camera.
  3. In OBS, add a source with + under Sources and pick Video Capture Device (PipeWire).
  4. Choose Linksy Camera (your phone's name) as the device, and set the resolution and frame rate you want.

If Linksy also made its Linksy Camera device (see below), OBS lists it under Video Capture Device (V4L2) too. Either works; PipeWire is the one that needs nothing extra.

Why PipeWire?

PipeWire is how modern Linux desktops share audio, screens and cameras between apps. Linksy publishes the phone's camera there as a regular camera, and OBS's PipeWire source reads it like any webcam plugged into the computer. Nothing goes through a server: the video travels straight from the phone to your computer on your own network, encoded as H.264 on the phone and decoded on the computer.

What does it need on the computer?

A few pieces that most desktops already have, all of which Linksy checks for you:

  • PipeWire and its GStreamer plugin, to offer the camera to apps.
  • An H.264 decoder for GStreamer: OpenH264 or libav.
  • v4l2loopback, only if you also want the camera in browsers, Zoom or Discord, which don't read PipeWire cameras. See using the phone in video calls.

Normally the Linksy package installs these for you. If anything is still missing, Linksy's Finish Setup lists exactly what, with the packages for your distribution (Fedora, Ubuntu, Debian, Arch or openSUSE) and one button to install them, asking for your password once.

Tips for a better picture

  • Use the back camera. It's sharper than the front one on almost every phone; switch it from the computer.
  • Turn on 60 fps in the camera controls for smooth motion, when your phone supports it.
  • Lock the exposure once the light looks right, so it doesn't drift while you move.
  • Prefer 5 GHz Wi‑Fi, or keep the phone near the router, and keep it on its charger for long streams.

The phone isn't in OBS's list. What now?

  • Close the preview in Linksy. If the webcam's preview is open in the Linksy app, the camera doesn't show up in OBS. Leave the preview, keep the webcam running, then add or refresh the source.
  • Start the webcam first. The camera exists while Linksy's webcam runs; start it, then add or refresh the source in OBS.
  • Open Finish Setup in Linksy: if a GStreamer or PipeWire piece is missing, it says which.
  • The source showed a blank entry with Linksy 0.8.1 or older. Update Linksy; since 0.8.2 the phone appears by name.

Does it replace DroidCam for OBS?

For a Linux computer and an Android phone, yes: Linksy covers the camera, its controls and the phone's microphone, free and open source, and does much more in the same app. Here's how the two compare.