NDI is making its iPhone webcam app free for everyone

By Stephen Warwick
published

Ndi Webcam
Ndi Webcam (Image credit: NDI)

What you need to know

  • NDI has just announced that its HX Camera and HX Capture apps are going free.
  • HX Camera allows you to use your iPhone as a 4k webcam.
  • HX Capture allows you to broadcast the content of your mobile screen for streaming.

NDI has announced that its HX Camera and HX Capture software are both now free on iOS! In a statement today, April 2 it said:

Bergen, Norway and San Antonio, Texas—2nd April 2020—Keeping in touch with friends, family and workmates remotely just got a whole lot better with specialized video software from NDI®, part of the Vizrt Group. With many countries in lockdown, never has demand for live video streaming been higher. However, this requires certain essential tools, one being a high-quality webcam.Now, in a move that typifies the 'we're all in this together, and we will beat this virus' mindset, NDI has today announced that it will immediately make available its new NDI®|HX Capture for iOS and its existing NDI®|HX Camera for iOS applications free of charge for the next 60 days. Both apps are available for download from the Apple iOS App Store and normally retail at $10 and $20 respectively.

As noted, NDI HX Camera turns your iPhone into a 4K webcam for use in conference calls and webinars. It works with MS Teams, Skype, Zoom and more. Vizrt CEO Michael Hallén stated:

"In the short term, we can't socialize with friends and colleagues in the office or in our favorite restaurants, but with our software-defined visual storytelling tools, we can maintain face time and help each other through the challenges that life is currently throwing our way," commented Michael Hallén, CEO of the Vizrt Group. "By making NDI®|HX Camera available to all iPhone users, we are greatly improving the flexibility and quality of video meetings, enhancing the ability of anyone to work more efficiently while working remotely during these trying times. Our app makes that simpler by using the high-quality camera many people already have in their pocket"

NDI is also making its HX Capture software free for iOS too. capture lets you broadcast the contents of your mobile screen via your favorite platform live.

Both apps are free of charge until June 1, and also requires an updated version of the free NDI Tools on the users Mac.

NdiFree for a limited time

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NDI HX Camera

For a limited time only, get a free app to turn your iPhone into a 4K webcam.

NDI HX Camera turns your iPhone into a low latency camera for conference calls and webinars.

Stephen Warwick
Stephen Warwick
News Editor

Stephen Warwick has written about Apple for five years at iMore and previously elsewhere. He covers all of iMore's latest breaking news regarding all of Apple's products and services, both hardware and software. Stephen has interviewed industry experts in a range of fields including finance, litigation, security, and more. He also specializes in curating and reviewing audio hardware and has experience beyond journalism in sound engineering, production, and design.

Before becoming a writer Stephen studied Ancient History at University and also worked at Apple for more than two years. Stephen is also a host on the iMore show, a weekly podcast recorded live that discusses the latest in breaking Apple news, as well as featuring fun trivia about all things Apple. Follow him on Twitter @stephenwarwick9

3 Comments
  • Has anyone actually tried this? Which of the five Mac packages are required to let NDI HX Camera be used as an input source for Zoom? (I've tried them all)
  • Worth downloading if you might think you you'll need it at some point in the future, even if not this year. Once you download it, the App Store registers it as a purchase, even if the app is free, and once it's "purchased" it's yours, so once it's no longer free you don't have to buy it
  • So close and yet so far...
    As far as I can tell, there is a missing piece of software to get this to work on a Mac, namely the NDI Virtual Input, which looks to be available only for Windows. Here is the NDI page describing how to use the iPhone as a webcam:
    www (dot) newtek (dot) com/software/ndi-camera/ Note in the video on that page, the final connector is the NDI Virtual Input tool.
    Is that functionality available for the Mac? I can see the video from my iPhone in the NDI Video Monitor but don't know how to make that video source available to other applications.