The short version
A USB-C microphone plugs straight into an iPhone 15 or newer: Apple lists microphones among the devices its USB-C connector takes. Android has handled USB microphones since Android 5.0, by Android’s own documentation. An iPhone with a Lightning port needs one of Apple’s camera adapters. If the phone says the accessory uses too much power, give the microphone power of its own.
Plug the microphone in before you open the streaming app, then make a short private test and listen to it with headphones before you go live.
iPhone 15 and newer: USB-C
Connect the microphone with a USB-C to USB-C cable; if it came with a USB-A cable, use a USB-C one or Apple’s USB-C to USB adapter. Apple names microphones, USB to Ethernet adapters and external battery packs among what the connector takes, so the same port can instead give a phone stream a wired network connection.
The phone powers a bus-powered microphone itself. Apple gives 4.5 watts as what an iPhone 15 or newer supplies to charge another device; a microphone or interface that wants more needs its own power supply or a powered hub.
Older iPhones: Lightning
Apple’s USB camera adapters connect audio interfaces and other audio devices, hubs and Ethernet adapters to a Lightning iPhone or iPad. When the phone shows “attached accessory uses too much power”, Apple’s fixes are a powered USB hub, or the Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter: plug the phone’s own USB power adapter into the adapter’s Lightning port, and it powers both the phone and the microphone. The USB 3 adapter needs iOS 9.3 or later.
Android phones
Android supports microphones that follow the USB audio class standard from Android 5.0, with the phone acting as the USB host. Whether a phone powers the microphone well, and which apps use it, is up to the phone and app makers, so check the microphone maker’s list of supported phones, then test.
Microphones in our catalogue that their makers list for phones
Each maker’s own list of supported systems, as it appears on the microphone’s profile.
| Microphone | Systems its maker lists |
|---|---|
| Elgato Wave Neo | Windows 11+; macOS 14.2+; iPadOS 17+; Android 10+ |
| Shure MV6 | Most Windows and macOS computers; Most Android and iOS mobile devices |
| Shure MV7+ | Windows 10 and higher; macOS 12 and higher; iOS 16 and higher; Android 12 and higher |
| RØDE PodMic USB (Black) | Windows 10+; macOS 10.15+; iOS; Android |
| RØDE NT-USB+ | Windows 10+; macOS 11+; iOS; Android |
Note the Wave Neo: Elgato lists iPadOS, not iOS. All five have a 3.5 mm headphone output, so you can hear yourself even on a phone without a headphone jack.
Check it before you go live
Open the microphone test in the phone’s browser and speak at your normal level: the meter shows whether the sound is too quiet or clipping. Then go live privately, or record a short clip in the app you stream with, and listen back with headphones for the room, the level and any crackle.
Questions
Does the phone need a headphone jack? No. The microphone connects over USB, and these microphones have their own headphone output.
Can I use my phone as the microphone for a PC stream instead? Yes, that is the opposite setup: use your phone as a microphone.
Will a USB-A microphone work? With Apple’s USB-C to USB adapter on a USB-C iPhone, or a camera adapter on a Lightning one, if the phone can power it.