Apple’s ecosystem features a deeply integrated tool called Continuity Camera, which allows your Mac to wirelessly hijack your iPhone’s camera and use it as a high-quality webcam. While the video quality is undoubtedly superior to the built-in Mac webcam, the aggressive nature of the feature can be incredibly frustrating. Whenever your iPhone is near your Mac and you open an app like FaceTime or Zoom, macOS will often automatically switch to your phone’s camera without asking, draining your iPhone battery and interrupting whatever you were doing on your mobile device.
If you prefer to keep your devices strictly separate and want your Mac to only ever use its own built-in webcam (or a dedicated USB webcam you have plugged in), you must completely disable Continuity Camera so that the two devices stop talking to each other regarding video feeds.
Disabling Continuity Camera on your iPhone
Unlike most macOS features, you cannot turn off Continuity Camera from your Mac’s system settings. The broadcast signal originates from your phone, so you must disable it within iOS.
- Unlock your iPhone (this must be the iPhone signed into the same Apple ID as your Mac).
- Open the Settings app.
- Scroll down and tap on General.
- Look for the section labelled AirPlay & Handoff and tap on it.
- Scroll down to the bottom of the list where you will see a setting labelled Continuity Camera. (The description will note that this allows your iPhone to be used as a webcam for your Mac or Apple TV).
- Tap the green toggle switch next to Continuity Camera to turn it Off (the switch will turn grey).
The change takes effect immediately. The next time you open a video conferencing application on your Mac, it will not detect your iPhone at all, completely eliminating the annoying automatic camera switches and constant notification pings.