Introduction

I am using my iPhone X and the EpocCam Pro ($8.00) App on the phone as the camera for video conferencing. It’s a matter of plugging my phone into the computer via USB and opening EpocCam.  This works very well.  I can get everything set up using the EpocCam View, on the computer, so I know the camera is connected to my computer and working ok.  There is, however, one issue.

The Issue

There is glitch in the process that prevents various systems (Zoom, MS Teams, etc.) from recognizing the camera. That is Apple’s signature system.  To make this all work, one may (I say ‘may’ because things change and the issue may be resolved at some point) need to remove the signatures associated with these apps before they will recognize my phone as the camera.  That is done via Apple’s Terminal Utility; normally in the Applications/Utilities folder.

The Solution

If you haven’t already installed Xcode on your computer, copy the following command, paste it into the command line of terminal and hit return.

xcode-select –install

If the above or following commands ask for a password,  it’s the password for your computer.

Once Xcode is installed, copy and paste each of the following commands, one at a time into the command line with a ‘Return’ after each one.  In the example, the signatures are removed from all the pieces associated with the MS Teams Application on your computer.

sudo codesign –remove-signature “/Applications/Microsoft Teams.app”
sudo codesign –remove-signature “/Applications/Microsoft Teams.app/Contents/Frameworks/Microsoft Teams Helper.app”
sudo codesign –remove-signature “/Applications/Microsoft Teams.app/Contents/Frameworks/Microsoft Teams Helper (GPU).app”
sudo codesign –remove-signature “/Applications/Microsoft Teams.app/Contents/Frameworks/Microsoft Teams Helper (Plugin).app”
sudo codesign –remove-signature “/Applications/Microsoft Teams.app/Contents/Frameworks/Microsoft Teams Helper (Renderer).app”

Conclusion

After this is done,  you should be able to open MS Teams and see what your camera sees from within the app.

There is a new issue.  As various parts of MS Teams load,  you will need to enter your computer’s password because you have broken the link to your keychain and these components can’t get the password by themselves. So,  dutifully enter your computer’s password numerous times until it stops asking and all should be well.