LensLink

Set up LensLink

Four questions, then the steps for your setup — and none of the ones that do not apply. Every answer is also in the address bar, so you can send someone a link to exactly this configuration.

Your computer
How the phone connects
What you want in OBS
How you'll install the app

Every step below is shown, each tagged with the setup it belongs to. Turn on JavaScript and the questions above will hide the ones that do not apply to you.

  1. Check your OBS version

    Help → About. LensLink needs OBS Studio 32 or newer — older versions won't load the plugin at all.

  2. Install the plugin Windows

    Download and run LensLink-installer-windows-x64.exe from the download page. It finds your OBS folder and clears out any pre-1.0 copy.

    Prefer it by hand? Unzip lenslink-windows-x64.zip into C:\Program Files\obs-studio\, merging the obs-plugins and data folders.

  3. Install the plugin macOS

    Download LensLink-installer-macos-universal.pkg from the download page and open it with right-click → Open — the package isn't notarized, so a double-click is refused the first time.

  4. Install the plugin Linux

    tar -xzf lenslink-linux-x86_64.tar.gz -C ~/.config/obs-studio/plugins/

  5. Restart OBS

    Sources → + should now list LensLink Camera and LensLink Screen. If it doesn't, see the sources don't appear.

  6. Install the app TestFlight

    Join the beta at testflight.apple.com/join/N7Rth6m3 and install from Apple's TestFlight app. Updates then arrive on their own.

  7. Install the app Sideload

    Download LensLink-unsigned.ipa from the latest release and install it with Sideloadly.

    Two Apple limits come with this route. A free Apple ID expires the app after 7 days — re-install to refresh, your settings are kept. Re-signing also breaks the Siri phrases; use lenslink://start in a Shortcut instead.

  8. Build the app Xcode

    brew install xcodegen
cd ios-app && xcodegen generate && open LensLink.xcodeproj

    Signing details are in ios-app/BUILDING.md.

  9. Install iTunes Windows USB

    Apple's device driver ships with iTunes, and the plugin needs it to see the phone over USB. There's no way around this on Windows. (Wi-Fi doesn't need it.)

  10. Check usbmuxd is installed Linux USB

    The plugin talks to the phone through the usbmuxd daemon at /var/run/usbmuxd. Most desktop distributions ship it for phone access already; if the source reports no device, install the usbmuxd package.

  11. Plug in and tap Trust USB

    Unlock the phone first, or the prompt never appears. It must be a data cable — nothing in the interface can tell you a charge-only one apart.

  12. Put both devices on the same network Wi-Fi

    It has to allow device-to-device traffic: guest networks and access points with client isolation block it. A phone hotspot with the computer joined to it works fine.

  13. Choose your lens, resolution, frame rate and codec. The pickers only offer combinations your camera really supports.

    You'll start the broadcast in a moment — leave the app open for now.

    The Setup screen shows the phone's Wi-Fi address next to the status dot. Tap it to copy.

  14. Allow the Local Network permission Wi-Fi

    iOS needs it for the phone to appear by name in OBS. Allow it when asked, or turn it on in Settings → Privacy & Security → Local Network → LensLink. Typing the IP address works either way.

  15. Add the source in OBS Camera

    Sources → + → LensLink Camera. One source per phone.

  16. Add the source in OBS Screen

    Sources → + → LensLink Screen. A Screen source only accepts a broadcast, and a Camera source only accepts the camera — each says so if it's fed the other.

  17. Point it at the phone USB

    Set Connection to USB cable. Leave USB device on Auto unless you're running more than one phone.

  18. Point it at the phone Wi-Fi

    Open the Phone dropdown and pick your device, or type the IP the app is showing.

  19. Start the camera Camera

    Tap Start camera stream on the phone — or don't: with Remote start from OBS on (the default), leaving the app open and idle is enough and OBS starts it for you. Video appears in a second or two.

  20. Start the broadcast Screen

    In the app, tap Start screen broadcast, choose LensLink Screen in the system picker, then Start Broadcast. You can leave the app afterwards — a broadcast keeps running across apps.

  21. Pin the source size Screen

    A mirror reports whatever resolution iOS is broadcasting, which changes between apps. Right-click the source → Transform → Edit Transform… and set Bounding Box Type to Scale to inner bounds, so switching apps can't resize your layout.

  22. Line up your microphone Camera

    Optional, and worth it if you use your own mic. In the source properties pick it under Lip-sync audio source, enable the delay and Auto-calibrate, then turn on Auto lip-sync reference in the app's Options and talk for fifteen seconds. Full detail: audio and lip sync.

  23. You're set

    Control the camera from the computer at localhost:9980, or read up on lenses, formats and image settings.

    More on broadcasts, audio and DRM: screen mirroring.

    If something's wrong, the source's Status line names the stage that's failing — what each message means.

This is the same material as the install and connect pages, narrowed to your answers. Those pages carry the parts a guide has to leave out.