iOS OnlyiOS Simulator only

This tool works with both Expo and React Native CLI, but it only runs on the iOS Simulator — there is no Android or physical-device equivalent.

Buoy Desktop supplies a camera feed to supported iOS Simulator apps on macOS. Sign in with a Buoy account before using the Desktop panel. Webcam, image, video, pattern and QR generation are available at Free limits; screen-region capture and non-QR generation require Pro access.

a camera for the simulator, in 64 seconds

Screenshot gallery. Camera runs in Buoy Desktop on macOS; these images do not connect to your Simulator.

Screen-region source

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Screenshot of the screen-region source. Select a region on your Mac to supply frames to a supported Simulator app. Pro access and screen-recording permission are required.

Use it

Buoy Desktop → Camera → click a source. Then start your app however you like. Sources: Mac camera, Screen region, Barcode, Image (PNG, JPG, HEIC, WebP, GIF, BMP, TIFF), Video (MP4, MOV, M4V) and Test pattern.

The app under test does not need the Buoy SDK. Its camera library and capture APIs must still support the simulated camera path.

The camera attaches at process start, so relaunch anything already running — Fast Refresh won't do it. Switching source afterwards is live. Grant the host camera or screen-recording permissions required by your source, and verify the app's own capture flow.

Screen region

A resizable box on your desktop is the camera. Put it over a QR code, a licence or a document to supply frames to your app. Verify its scanner callback and payload handling separately.

Drag to move, pull a handle to resize, Esc to put it away. Resizing snaps to 16:9 — the only shape the camera has, so anything else gets black bars; hold Shift to override. Click-through lets clicks land underneath, so you can scroll the page you're filming.

Needs Screen Recording permission — without it the feed is black. This source needs Buoy Pro.

Barcodes

QR, PDF417, Aztec, DataMatrix, EAN-8/13, UPC-E, Code 128/39/93, ITF. Decoding support depends on the app scanner and capture path. The Barcode source generates supported formats from text you type; generation and decoding are separate checks.

Generating QR is free. The rest — PDF417 (driving licences), Aztec, DataMatrix, Code 128 — need Buoy Pro.

Compatibility

Camera libraries can disable Simulator paths at compile time. Check the version you use and test preview, scanning, still capture and recording separately. A working preview or a video used as input does not establish recording-output compatibility.

Use buoycam patch to inspect known library guards before applying a patch. A native-source patch requires rebuilding the app. See the Camera setup page for the host workflow and diagnostics. No compatibility table on this page substitutes for testing your app and library version.

From an agent

Buoy's MCP server drives the whole tool, so a coding agent can run a camera test through the supported MCP actions: find a simulator and its apps (camera_devices) and the Mac's cameras and windows (camera_inputs), pick what to show (camera_source), attach it — to one app (camera_launch) or to everything the simulator launches (camera_zero_setup) — then check its own work (camera_status, camera_diagnose) and clean up (camera_stop).

These host tools do not require an SDK connection from the app under test. MCP process/account setup still applies. The camera actions need Buoy Pro; camera_diagnose works either way and will tell you which tier you are on.

Limits

macOS + Xcode + Buoy Desktop. Screen sources need macOS 12.3+.
Simulator only, not devices. Android emulators do webcams natively.
No recording through AVCaptureMovieFileOutput. Recording through other paths, such as the Flutter camera plugin, has separate support.
Front and back are the same feed.
No GS1 DataBar or Micro symbologies.
One injection owner at a time — quit other simulator-camera tools.