Common problems
Click one to open it
The retouch is not showing up in Meet or Teams
Almost always a tab that was already open before the extension was installed.
Refresh the meeting tab. NixiCam attaches when the site first asks for the camera, so a tab loaded beforehand will not have it.
Check that the camera permission is allowed, in the padlock menu in Chrome's address bar.
In Meet, open the camera icon in the bottom tray, then Settings and Video, and confirm the right camera is selected.
If it is still missing, toggle the NixiCam icon off and on once.
Check that the camera permission is allowed, in the padlock menu in Chrome's address bar.
In Meet, open the camera icon in the bottom tray, then Settings and Video, and confirm the right camera is selected.
If it is still missing, toggle the NixiCam icon off and on once.
Black screen, or the effects do nothing
This means WebGL2 is unavailable, so the extension is passing your camera through untouched.
Open
Open
Updating the display driver fixes most of what is left.
chrome://settings/system, turn on "Use graphics acceleration when available", and restart Chrome.Open
chrome://gpu and look for WebGL2 listed as hardware accelerated. If it says software only, the graphics driver is usually the cause.Updating the display driver fixes most of what is left.
A licence key will not activate
Usually a stray space on the end of the key, or a purchase that has not synced yet.
Copy the key straight out of the Polar receipt email, and watch for a trailing space. That is the most common cause by a distance.
Activation needs a working connection the first time. After that it is checked locally.
If you bought within the last few minutes, give Polar a moment to sync and try again.
Still failing: send a message below with the email you purchased under and it can be checked directly.
Activation needs a working connection the first time. After that it is checked locally.
If you bought within the last few minutes, give Polar a moment to sync and try again.
Still failing: send a message below with the email you purchased under and it can be checked directly.
Managed or locked-down work laptop
No admin rights needed, but a blanket extension policy will still stop it.
NixiCam installs nothing at system level and needs no administrator rights, unlike Camo, OBS and ManyCam, which install a virtual camera driver.
What it cannot get around is an organisation that blocks the Chrome Web Store outright. In that case, ask IT to allowlist the extension ID
What it cannot get around is an organisation that blocks the Chrome Web Store outright. In that case, ask IT to allowlist the extension ID
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Using your phone as the camera
Worth doing. A phone camera beats a laptop one by a wide margin, and NixiCam retouches it exactly the same way.
NixiCam works on whatever camera your computer already recognises, so there is nothing to switch on at this end. Get the phone presenting itself as a webcam and it appears in the camera list in Meet, Zoom or Teams like any other camera.
iPhone with a Mac: nothing to install. Both devices signed into the same Apple account, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on, phone locked and propped up with the rear camera facing you — iPhone Camera then appears in the camera menu. This is Continuity Camera, built into macOS 13 and iOS 16 and later.
Android 14 or later: connect by USB, pull down the USB notification and choose Webcam. The phone appears as a normal webcam, on Windows as well as Mac.
Anything else: DroidCam, Iriun and EpocCam cover the remaining combinations, but they install a virtual camera driver, which needs administrator rights and is often blocked on a managed work laptop.
If the phone does not show up in the meeting site's camera menu, refresh the tab — the list is usually read once when the page loads.
iPhone with a Mac: nothing to install. Both devices signed into the same Apple account, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on, phone locked and propped up with the rear camera facing you — iPhone Camera then appears in the camera menu. This is Continuity Camera, built into macOS 13 and iOS 16 and later.
Android 14 or later: connect by USB, pull down the USB notification and choose Webcam. The phone appears as a normal webcam, on Windows as well as Mac.
Anything else: DroidCam, Iriun and EpocCam cover the remaining combinations, but they install a virtual camera driver, which needs administrator rights and is often blocked on a managed work laptop.
If the phone does not show up in the meeting site's camera menu, refresh the tab — the list is usually read once when the page loads.
Send a message
This fills in an email in your own mail app. Nothing is sent until you press send there, so you can read or edit it first.