Camera, lenses and image
The picture is decided on the phone, before encoding. The plugin decodes what it's sent and changes nothing.
Choosing lens, resolution, frame rate and codec#
Four pickers in the Setup screen's Camera section, each filtered to what the selected lens can do. A combination that isn't listed isn't supported by the hardware.
| Setting | Notes |
|---|---|
| Lens | Main, Ultra Wide, Telephoto or Front. Switchable mid-stream. |
| Resolution | Up to 3840×2160. Higher isn't automatically better — 1080p60 beats 4K30 for most talking-head work. |
| Frame rate | Usually 30 or 60. Match your OBS canvas. |
| Codec | HEVC looks the same as H.264 at roughly 40% less data. Use it unless your OBS build can't decode it. |
If the source says "Connected, but this OBS build can't decode the stream", that build has no HEVC decoder. Switch the app to H.264; nothing else changes.
Changing settings mid-stream#
Lens, resolution, frame rate and codec can all change while the stream is live, from the browser panel or the source properties. A lens change is instant; a format change pauses briefly while the camera restarts.
Live camera controls#
The same controls appear on the app's Live screen, in the browser panel, and (in part) in the source properties — same order everywhere, and touching one updates the others.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Zoom | 1× to the lens maximum. Pinch the Live screen or drag the slider. |
| Exposure | AE with a bias slider, or Manual with ISO and shutter. Manual is hidden on cameras that lack it. |
| Focus | AF, or Lock with a near-to-far slider. In AF, tapping the preview focuses and exposes there. |
| White balance | AWB, or Lock with a 2500–8000 K slider. |
| Flashlight | On or off. A hard fill at close range, and not much else. |
| Lens | The device's real lenses, active one checked. |
| Flip | Front to back and back again. |
Lock focus and white balance once the shot is set. Autofocus and auto white balance hunt when someone walks past or a light changes, and the hunt is visible on stream. This is the single biggest quality win on the page.
Color: HDR and Apple Log#
The Color row offers only what this phone can capture. Both options are HEVC-only and take effect when the camera next starts.
HDR (HLG)#
10-bit HLG capture. OBS tone-maps it for an SDR canvas; an HDR canvas gets the real thing. Off by default.
Apple Log#
On Pro iPhones (iOS 17+), a flat 10-bit image for grading: add an Apply LUT filter to the source and load an Apple Log LUT. The plugin applies nothing of its own.
Log looks washed out until it's graded. If you aren't adding a LUT, use Standard.
Virtual green screen#
Everything but you is painted solid green before the video leaves the phone; turning it on sets Color to Standard. The source then adds a tuned chroma-key filter in OBS — once only, so deleting or re-tuning it sticks.
- Depth assist sharpens the cutout with real depth: the front camera on Face ID phones, the rear Main lens on Pro (LiDAR) phones. Other lenses use shape detection alone, which keeps every person in frame. It also turns off Center Stage and the other system effects.
- Subject distance appears while depth assist runs: anything beyond the cutoff becomes background, which is how you drop someone walking past behind you. Drag for 0.5–5.0 m, or tap the readout for All.
Presets#
A preset saves the settings you re-dial every session — exposure, white balance, zoom, focus — and you pick which of them it carries. What it leaves out is never stored, so it can't be applied by accident.
- Give a preset a camera and it applies whenever that camera starts, including a live lens switch. Mark one default to cover any camera without its own.
- Adjusting a covered setting by hand pauses automatic presets, so one can never overwrite what you just did. A Presets paused pill appears; tapping it resumes and re-applies without stopping the stream.
- Presets live on the phone and move the same properties the Live screen does.
Edit them in Options → Presets.
Control Center video effects#
Portrait, Studio Light and the rest are iOS features, toggled in Control Center while an app uses the camera. iOS offers them only on certain cameras and formats — typically the front camera, nothing above 1920×1440 — and on many iPhones the rear cameras get none.
- Options → Camera diagnostics lists what your device offers, per camera and format.
- LensLink picks an effect-capable format whenever your settings allow one.
- A toggle that appears but greys out means the frame rate is too high: drop it, and turn on Options → Allow system video effects so iOS can vary it.
Apple's Camera-app filters and Photographic Styles aren't available to any third-party app. For looks, use OBS filters (right-click the source → Filters).
Holding the phone#
The interface follows the phone's rotation (unless rotation lock is on) and the live view stays upright in any orientation. What OBS receives is always sensor-native landscape, so rotating the phone never resizes the source in your scene.