How to talk to your squad while streaming a phone game from your PC

The setup feels finished: the game on your phone, your stream on your PC, the game and your squad in your PC headset. Then someone says "bro, we can't hear you." Here's why your headset's mic doesn't reach the game, and what works today.

Hearing is one direction. Talking is the other.

Apps that bring your phone to your PC carry the phone's picture and sound to the PC. With Casttit, that includes your teammates' voices: on Android, BGMI's voice chat plays in your PC headset with the game, and the phone goes quiet. We've tested that in BGMI team matches.

Talking goes the other way: your voice has to get into the game, which runs on the phone. And the game's voice chat only listens to a microphone the phone itself has:

• the phone's own mic;
• a mic plugged into the phone (the headphone jack or USB-C);
• a mic paired with the phone over Bluetooth.

Your PC headset is none of those. Its mic reaches OBS, so your stream hears you, but not the game, so your squad doesn't.

Why no app can fix it in software

You might expect an app to pass your PC mic through to the phone. Android and iPhone don't allow it: for privacy, no app may feed sound into another app's microphone. We tried this ourselves on both, and both block it. Any real fix has to give the phone a microphone it recognises.

What works today

1. The phone's own mic (simplest)

Keep the phone close and facing you. With Casttit, the phone's speaker stays muted while you stream, so the game doesn't echo back into the phone's mic: your squad hears your voice, not the game. Your PC headset's mic still records you for the stream.

2. A wired mic plugged into the phone

A mic plugged into the phone is a mic the game accepts. We've tested a wired headset plugged into a phone: teammates heard it in BGMI. To keep wearing your PC headset, use a clip-on mic made for phones instead of a second headset: clip it near your mouth and plug it into the phone's jack, or its USB-C port (or a USB-C adapter that supports mics). Check with your squad before you go live.

3. Bluetooth earbuds' mic (test first)

Earbuds paired with the phone give it a mic, but they come with a catch: many games then move voice chat to the earbuds, so your teammates can drop out of your PC headset. If you try it, check that you still hear your squad on the PC before you go live.

4. Move the squad's voice to the PC

If your squad talks on a voice app on the PC (Discord, for example) instead of the game's own voice chat, your PC headset handles both directions: you hear them and they hear you. Turn the game's voice chat off so you don't hear everyone twice, and ask your squad before their voices go on stream.

5. A small audio mixer

A mixer with a phone connection can send your headset's mic to the phone and the PC at the same time. It works with in-game voice chat, but it costs money, takes desk space and needs setting up.

Which one should you pick?

For most streamers: start with the phone's own mic, and get a clip-on mic for the phone if your squad says you sound far away.

Where Casttit stands

• Hearing: done. The game and your squad play in your PC headset, and your phone goes quiet (tested on Android in BGMI; on iPhone, the game's sound comes through, and teammates' voices aren't tested yet).
• Your stream: done. Your PC headset's mic goes to OBS as usual, next to the game's sound: Set up OBS.
• Talking through your PC headset: in development. Since software alone can't do it, we're developing Casttit Link, a small optional add-on that gives your phone your PC headset's mic. It isn't ready yet, and we'll say so here when it is.

Until then, any of the first four options above works with Casttit today. More on the hearing half: your phone's game sound in your PC headset.