Use custom avatar as your camera with HSAvatar (Beta)

What it is

HSAvatar is a free iPhone companion app for Highlight Studio. Open it on your iPhone, pick a face avatar, and your facial expressions drive it in real time. The avatar shows up as a camera source in Highlight Studio's recording sheet on your Mac, so you can record yourself as a face avatar instead of on camera.

The avatar is rendered with a transparent background, so you can place it over your screen recording or any background you choose without a green border around it.

What you need

An iPhone with Face ID. iPhone X or newer, or any iPad Pro with Face ID. (Older Touch ID phones can't do face tracking and won't work.)
iOS 16 or newer.
Highlight Studio running on your Mac, on the same Wi-Fi network as your iPhone.
An active Highlight Studio license. You sign into the iPhone app with the same account as the Mac.
Xcode 15+ on your Mac (free from the Mac App Store) to install the iPhone app — see Step 2.

Step 1 — Turn it on in Highlight Studio

HSAvatar is a beta feature, so it's hidden until you switch it on:

Open Highlight Studio on your Mac.
Open Settings (⌘ ,).
Click the Experimental tab.
Switch on iPhone Avatar Companion.

That's it for the Mac side — you can close Settings.

Step 2 — Install the iPhone app

HSAvatar isn't on the App Store, so you'll install it onto your iPhone yourself with Xcode. It's a one-time setup that takes about 5 minutes.

Get the app source from GitHub:

git clone https://github.com/NFxAI/HSAvatarApp.git
cd HSAvatarApp

Install xcodegen if you don't already have it (it generates the Xcode project):
```
brew install xcodegen
```
Generate the Xcode project and open it:
```
xcodegen
open HSAvatarApp.xcodeproj
```
In Xcode, click the HSAvatarApp target at the top of the file list, go to Signing & Capabilities, and pick your Team. A free Personal Team works for 7 days at a time; a paid Apple Developer account works for a year.
Plug your iPhone into your Mac with a cable. Pick the iPhone in Xcode's run-destination dropdown at the top of the window.
Click the ▶︎ (Play) button. Xcode builds the app and installs it on your iPhone.
The first time you launch on a fresh iPhone, you'll need to trust the developer profile: open iPhone Settings → General → VPN & Device Management, tap your Apple ID, and tap Trust.
When the app first runs, allow camera, microphone, and local-network access when prompted.

If you don't have access to the private repository, contact us at [email protected] from the email address on your Highlight Studio account and we'll add you.

Step 3 — Sign in

The first time you launch HSAvatar, it asks you to sign in. Tap Sign in with Highlight Studio. A secure browser window opens at highlightstudio.app; sign in with the same account you use on the Mac. The window closes automatically when you're signed in.

HSAvatar checks that your account has an active license. If it does, the avatar view appears. If it doesn't, you'll see a note explaining how to activate one.

Step 4 — Pick your avatar

You'll see a face avatar on screen, mirroring your expressions in real time. Three buttons at the bottom let you change it:

Library — opens the avatar editor inside the app. Build a custom avatar from scratch (skin, hair, eyes, glasses, outfit, etc.) or pick from ones you've already created. Avatars you save here stay across sessions.
Random — gives you a freshly generated avatar with random looks. Tap again for another one.
Stock — picks one from the stock library of ready-made character avatars: cat, robot, monkey, owl, alien, panda, and more.

Three pills above the buttons control the camera framing: Wide (default, recommended — leaves headroom), Head, and Face (tightest zoom).

Step 5 — Use it in a recording

Open Highlight Studio on your Mac, with HSAvatar already running on your iPhone.
Click New Recording.
Pick what you want to record on the left (a screen, a window, or your iPhone screen).
On the right, switch on Camera Overlay.
You'll see a new Source option with two choices: Built-in and iPhone Avatar. Pick iPhone Avatar. A green dot confirms your iPhone is connected.
Optional: change Background to a color or an image. Choose None to leave the avatar floating over your screen recording.
Click Start Recording. Your avatar is now live in the recording.

Tips

The iPhone stays awake automatically while it's streaming, then resumes its normal lock-screen behavior the second you stop. No battery drain when idle.
The next time you launch HSAvatar, your last-used avatar loads automatically.
You can keep moving naturally during the recording — head turns, blinks, eyebrow raises, mouth shapes are all tracked.

Troubleshooting

I don't see the iPhone Avatar option in the recording sheet. Make sure the experimental flag is on (Settings → Experimental → iPhone Avatar Companion) and that Camera Overlay is switched on.
The Mac can't find my iPhone. Both devices need to be on the same Wi-Fi network. Some routers block the kind of traffic the apps use to find each other — try switching off "AP isolation" or "Client isolation" in your router settings if it's enabled.
Signed in, but it says I don't have an active license. Your Highlight Studio account exists but doesn't have an active subscription or license. Activate one at highlightstudio.app and reopen HSAvatar.
The avatar doesn't move with my face. Your iPhone may not have Face ID. HSAvatar needs the front-facing TrueDepth camera that started with iPhone X. Older iPhones with the home button (Touch ID) can't do face tracking. Also check that you've allowed camera access in iPhone Settings → Privacy & Security → Camera.
Connected but the Mac shows nothing. Quit and reopen Highlight Studio so it re-advertises itself on the network, then reconnect from the iPhone.

Privacy

HSAvatar streams only the rendered avatar — never your real face or camera footage — over your local Wi-Fi network to your Mac. None of it is sent to a remote server during streaming. The only network calls outside your home are signing in to your Highlight Studio account and confirming your license; both go to highlightstudio.app.