Troubleshooting Camo

If you run into a problem with Camo, please make sure you're using the latest version: use Check for Updates in macOS, and check the App Store for updates on iOS.

“Reincubate Camo” doesn’t appear as a video source in my video conferencing app!

• Confirm your app appears on the compatibility list, and follow any instructions there
• The instructions are important — you might need to upgrade some apps
• Make sure you've restarted your video app since installing Camo
• Still doesn’t work? Please contact us

Zoom doesn’t show Camo or is slow

Make sure you're Zoom 5.0.5 or newer, and that Zoom has been restarted since installing Camo Studio.

If Camo still doesn't appear as a camera choice, it's caused by Zoom’s internals being broken: sometimes it gets itself in a state where it doesn’t support third-party cameras properly and leaves behind older Zoom components. Uninstalling and reinstalling Zoom solves this.

Still doesn’t work? Please contact us.

My device disconnects, is slow, or won't connect

Set up properly, Camo will never disconnect, and will run with less latency than a hardware webcam. If you see disconnects, there are generally 3 causes:

• There's a third-party USB hub in between the phone and Mac
• There's a problem with the USB cable
• The computer is overloaded

The first troubleshooting step is to ensure the phone is connected directly to your computer, and not through a hub. All hubs and adapters made by Apple work perfectly, but there are a number of third-party hubs that aren't powerful enough. We're yet to find a USB hub in a monitor that causes problems.

Once you've made it work by removing the hub or switching cables, it may be that you can reintroduce your hub with fewer devices connected to it. Seeing the charging indicator on the iPhone and iPad flicker on and off is a good indicator, but if the charging indicator is on solidly it does not necessarily mean a third-party hub will work.

If you suspect the issue may be caused by your Mac or PC being too slow, try lowering the resolution in Camo Studio to the lowest setting. If that works, it's a good indicator, and we'd love to hear from you. Please let us know, as even the slowest computer should run with 720p.

We've tested and recorded feedback with a number of USB and USB-C hubs below. If you share your experience with us, we can add to this table.

Product	Type	Feedback
Apple USB-C to lightning cable	USB-C	✅
Apple USB-C adapter	USB-C	✅
Apple Pro Display XDR screen	USB-C	✅
Samsung 49" RG90 screen	USB	✅
Dell 2515H screen	USB	✅
Philips 272B7QUPBEB screen	USB-C	✅
NOVOO USB-C Hub 5 in 1	USB-C	✅
CalDigit TS3 Plus Thunderbolt dock	USB-C	✅
Hub 9 in 1 Multiport Adapter	USB-C	Causes slowness, disconnects
Anker 4-Port USB 3.0 Ultra Slim Data Hub	USB	Causes disconnects

Simple adapters like these tend not to cause any problems.

AR modes don't appear or are unavailable

In some cases, Camo Studio may be unable to provide access to all of Camo's AR modes, and it will display a message saying "Some modes are unavailable" or "We couldn't load some modes".

There are two possible causes for this:

• The iOS or Android device you are using is offline or unable to access the Internet. It requires access in order to check for updates modes and to download them.
• The device you're using isn't compatible with the modes. See the compatibility section for more information.
• There may be a temporary connectivity issue with the Camo servers or Snap servers that provide access to the lenses. If this happens, Camo will automatically retry until it is able to access them.

Camo can't install AMDS on Windows

In order to communicate with Apple devices, Camo Studio for Windows needs to install Apple's Mobile Device Services (AMDS). Camo Studio can automatically install this, but it some situations it may be unable to.

Where that's the case the easiest solution for users is to install iTunes and run it once before closing it. iTunes can be downloaded here from Apple's site. We don't recommend installing the Microsoft Store version — use the direct download instead.

Camo crashes on iOS or Android when I connect to Camo Studio

Camo Studio keeps track of your settings on your Mac or PC, so if a setting breaks it, reconnecting the phone will break it again. The solution is to reset your Camo Studio preferences.

1. Close Camo Studio
2. Open a Terminal and run defaults delete com.reincubate.macos.cam
3. Start Camo Studio again

Still doesn’t work? Please contact us.

Uninstalling Camo

Camo Studio can fully remove itself and its components. On Windows, this is done the regular way. On macOS, an additional step is required:

• Click Camo Studio in the macOS menu bar and select Advanced → Uninstall Camo Studio. This is the menu on the upper-right of your Mac's screen, not the upper left.

• Close any apps that were using Camo's camera, and open them again (those apps won't see that the camera has been removed until they've been restarted)

The Camo app can be safely removed from a mobile device at any time.

Getting logs from Camo

In some cases, sending us logs can help us diagnose problems. Camo Studio doesn't record logs by default, so you'll need to turn on logging first.

You can enable logging with Advanced → Record Logs. Once that's done, restart Camo Studio and replicate the problem, before using the Advanced → Export Logs menu.

On iOS, you can turn logging on using your iPhone's settings menu: Settings → Camo → Troubleshooting Settings → Record Logs. Once logging is turned on, replicate the problem you've got, so that information about it gets written to the logs.

With that done, you can then get the logs by long-pressing on the question mark icon top-right of the screen. That’ll open a share dialog prompting you to share the app’s logs. You can choose to AirDrop them to your Mac from there.