How to · 7 min read
How to video call between a phone and a computer
Call from a phone to a laptop, or the other way round, in the browser with no app on either side. The steps, which browser to use, and what trips calls up.
A call between a phone and a computer used to mean both sides installing the same app and signing in to the same service. With a browser-based call, the only thing the two devices need in common is a web browser, and every phone and computer already has one.
It works the same whichever way round you do it: phone to laptop, desktop to iPhone, Android to Mac. Here's how, and the handful of things that go wrong specifically when one end is a phone.
Video calling is built into every current browser through WebRTC. A browser on an iPhone and a browser on a Windows laptop speak exactly the same protocol, agree on a video format between themselves, and connect directly. There's no “iPhone version” and “PC version” to keep in step.
That also means there's no account on either side. The invite link is the whole invitation, which is covered in more detail in how to make a video call without an app or an account.
Making the call with ClearChat
- Open ClearChat on either device and tap Start a call. Allow the camera and microphone.
- Send the link. On a phone, the share option opens the usual share sheet, so you can send it by message, WhatsApp or email. On a computer, copy it into whatever you'd normally use.
- On the other device, open the link and tap Join the call. Allow the camera and microphone there too.
- The two devices connect directly. Video, audio and messages go straight from one to the other.
Both of you need to be there at the same time. Nothing rings on the other device, so send the link when you're both ready, or agree a time first.
On a phone with front and back cameras, a switch-camera button appears during the call, handy for showing something rather than someone.
Which browser to use on each device
- iPhone and iPad: Safari is the safest choice. Chrome and other browsers on iOS work too, because they all use the same engine underneath, but Safari is the one to try first if something misbehaves.
- Android: Chrome. Samsung Internet, Firefox and Edge also work in current versions.
- Windows, Mac, Linux, Chromebook: any up-to-date Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari.
Out-of-date browsers are the main thing to avoid. If a phone hasn't had a system update in years, its browser may be too old for reliable calls.
Open the link in a real browser, not inside an app
This one catches out phone users more than anything else. When you tap a link inside WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Telegram or similar apps, it often opens in the app's own built-in browser. Those in-app browsers frequently can't use the camera or microphone properly.
If the page opens but the camera never starts, use the app's menu (⋯ or ⋮) to choose Open in Safari, Open in Chrome or Open in browser. Or copy the link and paste it into the browser. More fixes are in camera or microphone not working in a browser call.
Keep the call on screen on the phone
Mobile browsers are strict about pages that aren't in front. If you switch to another app, go to the home screen, or let the phone lock, the browser may pause the camera, mute the microphone, or suspend the page altogether, and the call can drop.
- Keep the call tab visible for the length of the call.
- If the screen tends to lock quickly, touch it now and then, or lengthen the auto-lock time before a longer call.
- Plug in for anything long. A video call is one of the more battery-hungry things a phone does.
A computer is more forgiving: the call carries on in a background tab or behind other windows.
Sound: echo and feedback
Browsers cancel echo automatically, and usually well. Two situations defeat it:
- Loud laptop speakers next to the laptop's microphone. Turn the volume down or use headphones on the computer side. Any headphones help, even a basic wired pair.
- Testing with both devices in the same room. The phone's microphone picks up the laptop's speaker and the other way round, which can build into a loud screech. If you're trying it out with two of your own devices, mute one, use headphones, or go to separate rooms.
Wi-Fi or mobile data
A phone on mobile data calling a computer on home broadband usually connects fine. What doesn't work reliably is two devices both on mobile data: mobile networks typically put phones behind a kind of address translation that can't accept a direct connection, and when both ends are like that, there's no route to find.
ClearChat doesn't run a relay server to fall back on, so in that case the call won't connect at all. The fix is to put at least one side on Wi-Fi. Note that a laptop tethered to a phone's hotspot is, as far as the network is concerned, also on mobile data. The full explanation is in why a video call won't connect.
What you can't do from a phone
Screen sharing is the main gap. Phone browsers generally don't let web pages capture the screen, so the screen-share button only appears on the computer side. If one of you needs to show a screen, make it the person on the computer; see screen sharing in a browser for how that works.
And as with any ClearChat call, it's one-to-one. A phone and a computer, or any two devices, but not a third.