- NewPinch to zoom, tap to focus. Zoom with two fingers and tap anywhere on the viewfinder to refocus — and the desktop app can drive zoom remotely too.
- NewAspect ratio output. Stream 16:9, 4:3, 1:1, or 9:16, picked from the desktop's panel.
- ImprovedSharper H.264, truer colors. Higher-quality encoding at every resolution, and color range is now tagged so shadows and highlights come through exactly as captured (best with ViewCam Studio 1.0.8).
- ImprovedLess battery, less lag. The encoder now idles when nothing is streaming, and a hidden frame of encode latency was removed.
Changelog
What's new in ViewCam
Every release, patch, and fix across the desktop and mobile apps. Newest first. The desktop app updates itself automatically.
- NewZoom from your desk. Hold Ctrl and scroll on the preview to zoom the phone's camera. A chip shows the current level — click it to snap back to 1×.
- NewAspect ratio presets. Output Full, 16:9, 4:3, 1:1, or 9:16 — perfect framing for meetings, streams, and vertical content.
- NewSnapshots. A capture button saves the current frame — exactly what your meeting app sees — as a PNG in Pictures/ViewCam.
- ImprovedTruer H.264 colors. Fixed crushed shadows and clipped highlights on the H.264 stream, plus smoother color edges — the picture now matches what your phone captures.
- ImprovedLower latency out of the box. Frame buffering now defaults to latest-wins and streaming defaults to 720p — and your chosen resolution sticks across reconnects instead of quietly dropping back to 480p.
- FixedNo more noise burst after switching resolution mid-stream — damaged frames are held back until the picture is clean again.
- ImprovedLighter on your CPU. Virtual-camera color conversion now runs as a single accelerated pass.
- ImprovedReady for Android 16. Updated to the latest Android target with compatibility fixes under the hood.
- NewH.264 hardware streaming. Your phone's hardware encoder now streams H.264 — a sharper image at a fraction of the bandwidth, making 1080p practical even on budget phones and congested Wi-Fi. Pairs with ViewCam Studio 1.0.7.
- ImprovedWorks with every desktop version. The codec is negotiated automatically — older desktop apps keep receiving MJPEG exactly as before.
- NewH.264 streaming. Hardware-encoded video from your phone (mobile app 1.2.0+), decoded on the desktop — sharper at far lower bitrates. Negotiated automatically; older phones keep working on MJPEG.
- NewSwitch codecs live. The stream protocol setting applies mid-connection, and the network panel shows which codec is actually streaming.
- FixedWindows: phones now appear on first run. Discovery is auto-approved through Windows Firewall instead of being silently blocked.
- FixedWindows: the watermark toggle now works on the virtual camera, and the version label shows the exact release number.
- FixedBlank preview after connecting. Some phones showed a "LIVE" connection with no video and empty stats — the camera now delivers frames reliably from the first connection.
- FixedPhantom duplicate phone. A second, flickering copy of your phone with a 10.x address no longer appears when USB tethering is on — discovery now stays on your Wi-Fi.
- NewViewCam Pro. Remove the watermark, unlock 4K, and go ad-free — monthly or a one-time lifetime unlock. Prices are shown in your local currency.
- ImprovedPurchases are seamless. Pro unlocks the instant you buy, restores automatically after a reinstall, and paying users never see an ad or a consent prompt.
- NewPro, end to end. When a ViewCam Pro phone connects, the desktop automatically drops the watermark and unlocks 4K output.
- Fixed4K & GPU no longer stay unlocked for free. The virtual-camera resolution ceiling and GPU processing now re-lock the moment a Pro phone disconnects, instead of persisting.
- ImprovedPreview and virtual camera match. "Mirror image" now applies to both, so what you see is exactly what Zoom, Meet, and OBS receive.
- FixedNo more phantom duplicate phone in the device list when the phone is USB-tethered.
- ImprovedSteadier auto-update and virtual camera. Updates retry on a slow network, and the virtual camera recovers cleanly after a resolution change.
- ImprovedUp to twice the frame rate. The heaviest image processing moved off your phone onto the desktop app, and streaming got a dedicated network lane — smoother video at the same quality, especially on budget phones. Works best with ViewCam Studio 1.0.5.
- ImprovedYour computer finds your phone more reliably — discovery now works on phones and routers that silently blocked it before.
- NewIP address & port in Options. On networks that block discovery (café or hotel Wi-Fi), type the phone's address into the desktop's connect-by-IP box and you're live.
- FixedYour settings (theme, mirror, resolution and more) no longer reset when you change the app language.
- FixedDeclining the microphone permission no longer blocks you from using the app — only the camera is required.
- FixedCompleted translations in all 9 languages, plus a batch of stability fixes from a full code audit.
- ImprovedSmoother video from your phone. The desktop now handles image rotation for the phone, roughly doubling mobile frame rates (pairs with mobile 1.0.4 — older phone versions keep working).
- ImprovedFaster, cleaner startup. The app window appears immediately instead of freezing behind the virtual-camera setup on first run.
- FixedA crash when closing the app while streaming, and a case where "Connecting…" could hang forever instead of retrying.
- FixedThe previous session's last frame no longer flashes into a new connection's preview.
- FixedVirtual camera output stays correct on drivers and apps that adjust the video format, and your phone no longer shows up twice in the sidebar after switching Wi-Fi.
- ImprovedMuch lower latency. Streaming now defaults to a smooth real-time resolution — higher resolutions were overloading the encoder and the network and making the camera laggy. You can still raise it from the resolution control.
- NewCamera flip is now free for everyone.
- FixedStreaming no longer freezes if the computer disconnects unexpectedly, and camera resources are released properly.
- FixedThe record button is now clearly inactive until a computer is connected.
- New1080p streaming is now a Pro feature — 480p and 720p stay free.
- ImprovedAuto-reconnect no longer gives up early after a brief connection drop.
- FixedLive image now appears. The packaged app was missing the JPEG decoder, so connected phones showed a blank preview. It's now bundled — video renders as soon as you connect.
- ImprovedHardened preview rendering against a rare blank-frame case on first connect.
- NewAuto-start streaming. Your camera goes live automatically the moment your computer connects — no need to tap record first.
- FixedPermissions setup recovers. If you'd previously declined a permission, the setup screen no longer gets stuck — it opens Settings and re-checks when you return.
- FixedLive battery and charging status now update on the desktop while connected.
- NewInitial release. Turn your phone into a wireless webcam over Wi-Fi — automatic discovery, live preview, and a virtual camera your apps can use.