How to Use Your Phone as a Microphone on PC or Mac
Overview
How to Use Your Phone as a Microphone on PC or Mac. Use Your Phone as a Microphone shows you how to turn your phone into a genuine upgrade over your laptop's built-in mic: pick your iPhone or Android tab to find the built-in and third-party app options for your platform, then run the mic test or the two-microphone A/B comparison to hear your phone against your laptop mic back to back. That side-by-side comparison confirms the improvement instead of asking you to take our word for it. The online binaural beats generator is free to use, with no limit on how long you run it.
Your desk mic just died ten minutes before a call, or you never bought one. The good news: you can use your phone as a microphone on almost any computer, because every smartphone already carries a capable built-in mic. With a free app, a cable or a built-in system feature, that phone becomes a working computer mic, giving you clear audio without new hardware.
Why Use Your Phone as a Microphone
A modern phone records voice better than most laptop mics. Many flagship phones capture 24-bit audio, and most handsets sample at 44.1kHz or higher, so voice pickup stays clear at arm's length. Cheap USB mics often stop at lower bit depths, which is why a handset holds up well against them.
- Remote workers get a backup for voice calls when a headset fails.
- Streamers and players get a quick source for gaming chat.
- Content creators can record a podcast draft or voice-over on the go.
It won't replace a studio condenser mic, but the built-in microphone makes a solid PC microphone for speech.
What You Need Before Setting Up a Phone Microphone
Check these before you pick a method: The audio frequency range reference page is free to browse, with no account or sign-up needed.
- A phone running iOS or Android, with the right app installed.
- A computer on Windows 10, Windows 11, a Mac or Linux (some apps register a PipeWire source there).
- For wireless: both devices on the same Wi-Fi network.
- For USB: a USB data cable, not a charge-only lead.
- For the Apple route: an iPhone XR or newer, a Mac on macOS Ventura or later, and the same Apple ID on both.
Any of these turns the phone microphone into an input your computer sees like any other mic.
Method 1: Phone as a Mic Through a Wi-Fi App
A Wi-Fi app is the most flexible route and the one to try first. WO Mic is the most common choice: it's free, works on iPhone and Android, and sends audio to Windows or Mac over your network.
Install WO Mic From the App Store
Get WO Mic from the App Store or Google Play, then download the WO Mic desktop client and its virtual audio driver for your computer. That piece makes the system treat the phone as a real mic.
Connect Over Wi-Fi and Pick the Virtual Mic
- Open WO Mic on the phone and set the transport mode to Wi-Fi. Note the IP address it shows.
- Type that address into the desktop client and click Connect. Both devices must share the same Wi-Fi network, since the stream never leaves your local network.
- Set the WO Mic device as your default input, or pick the virtual mic inside Zoom, Teams or OBS.
- Speak and watch the app's input meter move. If it does, you've managed to use your phone as a mic.
Method 2: USB Cable PC Mic With the Lowest Latency
A wired link gives the lowest latency of the app-based methods, so it suits streaming and fast calls where audio delay is noticeable. USB removes network jitter, and delay usually drops to a few dozen milliseconds. WO Mic's USB mode works on Android only; iPhone users should stay on Wi-Fi or the Mac method.
Turn On Developer Options and USB Debugging
- Open Settings, go to About phone, and tap Build number seven times to unlock Developer options.
- In that menu, switch on USB debugging.
- Plug in a data cable, choose USB as the connection type in the app and the client, then allow the debugging prompt.
Then set WO Mic as the default input, exactly as in Method 1.
Method 3: Bluetooth Hands-Free Smartphone Mic
Bluetooth needs no cable and no app, but quality pays for it. The Bluetooth Hands-Free profile squeezes the mic into narrowband audio as low as 8kHz, roughly telephone-call quality.
- Finish pairing the phone with your computer.
- On Windows, open Settings, then Bluetooth and devices, then Sound settings and recording devices.
- Your phone shows up as a headset. Set it as the default input device.
Fine for a quick call, poor for anything you keep.
Method 4: Mac Continuity Microphone With an iPhone
Mac Continuity Microphone is the fastest setup if you own both Apple devices. It's built into the system, needs no third-party app, and finds the iPhone on its own.
Select the iPhone in macOS Sound Input
Keep the iPhone unlocked and near the Mac. On the Mac, open System Settings, then Sound, then Input, and choose iPhone Microphone. Every app that takes audio input (FaceTime, GarageBand, QuickTime Player, Zoom) then treats it as a normal mic. If macOS reverts to the internal mic later, re-select Continuity Microphone at the start of the session. This option doesn't work with Windows.
Phone-as-Mic Apps for Windows: AudioRelay and Micstream
Two dedicated apps turn a phone into an external PC mic on Windows, each with its own setup guide. Both add a device any app can select.
AudioRelay Server Tab and Player Tab
Start the app on the phone, open the server tab and tap the microphone source. On the PC, open the player tab, choose Mic as the output mode, and click your phone. Then right-click the sound icon on the taskbar, open Sounds, go to the Recording tab, right-click Virtual Mic, and choose Set as Default Device and Default Communication Device, so Skype and other apps pick it up.
Micstream Virtual Microphone Driver
Micstream installs a small driver that creates a virtual microphone, so Windows sees the phone as a standalone microphone next to your other devices. Choose Micstream in the microphone settings of Discord, Google Meet or any other app.
Micstream 32-Bit Audio and Noise Cancellation
Micstream passes audio as 32-bit floating point at 48 kHz in stereo, where many phone mic apps send 16-bit integers, some in mono. Its DeepFilterNet noise cancellation runs on the PC and strips keyboard clicks, fans and room noise.
Phone as Mic Methods Compared Side by Side
If you're wondering how to use my phone as a mic for a specific job, match the method to your hardware and how much delay you can live with:
| Method | Platforms | Setup | Delay | Audio quality |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WO Mic over Wi-Fi | iPhone, Android to Windows or Mac | App + client | Low to medium | Good |
| WO Mic over USB | Android to Windows | App + debugging | Lowest | Good |
| Bluetooth | Most phones and computers | Pairing only | High | Poor |
| Continuity Microphone | iPhone to Mac | None | Low | Very good |
| AudioRelay / Micstream | Phone to Windows | App + driver | Low | Good to very good |
Whichever you pick, the last step is the same: make the phone the default recording device once, so audio routing doesn't change every time you open a new app.
Better Sound From Phone Mics: Placement and Settings
Getting a connection is step one. Making your phone as a mic sound good for recording or streaming is step two.
Cut Background Noise and Room Echo
- Hold the phone 6 to 12 inches from your mouth, bottom edge toward you.
- Don't lay it flat on a desk: surface reflections and vibration travel straight into the mic.
- Work in a quiet room. Phone mics are omnidirectional, so they hear fan hum as well as you.
- Turn on noise suppression in the app to tame background noise.
Adjust Gain, Sample Rate and Audio Settings
- Set the sample rate to 44,100 Hz or 48,000 Hz in the app's audio settings.
- Control gain with the phone's volume level, and keep peaks out of the red.
- Move Wi-Fi to the 5GHz band; a busy 2.4GHz band causes audio dropouts.
- Expect limited dynamic range: speech sounds great, loud music won't.