Skip to content
All support guides

Sound, camera & Rooms

Keep Android camera, microphone and sound running in the background

Start hardware features, switch Android apps or lock the tablet, and learn how to stop them or recover from a camera interruption.

Loading

Start camera, microphone and Mac sound while Decky Display is visible on Android.

Step by step

  1. Open Decky Display on Android, connect to your paired Mac over Direct USB or Wi-Fi, and allow camera or microphone access for the features you want to use. Start the webcam, microphone or Mac sound while Decky Display is visible.
  2. In your Mac app, choose the tablet’s camera or microphone when needed. The entries use the device name followed by (Decky Cam) or (Decky Mic). For sound sent to the tablet, use Decky’s Mac audio controls or select its (Decky Audio) output.
  3. Press Android Home or open another app without dismissing Decky from Recents. The active features continue in the background. Reopen Decky to adjust them, or use Stop in Android’s ongoing Decky notification to end the active features.

What to know

Switching apps and closing the task are different actions. Home, another app and screen lock can leave active hardware running. Swiping Decky out of Recents, force-stopping it, disconnecting or stopping the active features ends their use. Capture does not restart automatically after a reboot or a new app process.

Start while Decky is open

A saved camera or microphone setting makes the feature available; it does not mean capture is running. Start the feature in Decky or select it in a Mac app while Decky Display is visible on Android. Confirm the active feature in the Android notification before switching apps.

Camera, microphone and Mac sound can run together. Leaving the Decky screen does not need to stop an active call. The tablet can show notes or a browser while the Mac continues using its hardware.

Locking the tablet

Active camera, microphone and sound can continue with the Android screen locked. Keep the Mac connection and the consuming Mac app active. Device power settings and Android behavior can affect long background use.

Sharing the Android screen has different rules. If Android stops screen capture when you lock, Decky pauses the shared picture. Unlock, return to Decky Display and approve screen capture again to resume it; restarting camera or microphone is not the same action.

When another app needs the camera

Android can give the camera to another app. Decky waits for the camera to become available and retries while your webcam remains enabled. The Mac call can temporarily lose video during that interval.

Return the camera by leaving or closing the app using it. If Decky was explicitly stopped, restart the webcam with Decky Display visible. Audio interruptions can also depend on Android’s audio focus and microphone policy.

Stop one feature or finish everything

Reopen Decky Display to stop a single feature while the others continue. Stop in the ongoing Decky notification ends the active features together. End control, when shown, ends Android control alone.

Dismissing Decky’s task from Recents or force-stopping the app is an instruction to stop, not a way to keep the webcam hidden. Use Home or switch apps when you want background operation.

If it does not work

If nothing starts, reopen Decky Display and check Android camera/microphone permission before trying again. If an active camera loses its picture, close the other app using that camera and allow Decky to retry. Check the USB cable or Wi-Fi connection and the tablet’s battery restrictions if background operation stops. After an explicit stop or force-stop, reopen Decky and start the features again.