Nearo uses live video to help you and the other participant see each other clearly during a session, with simple controls available before and during a call.
How video works in Nearo
Nearo video is live and real time, meaning your camera feed is only shared while you are actively in a session.
Video is not recorded or stored.
Your camera can be turned on or off at any time, and you can switch cameras if more than one is available.
Adjusting your video before you enter a session
The preview shows what your camera sees before the other person can see you. Your own preview is mirrored, like looking in a mirror.
In a web browser or on an iPad
Open the room link the tutor sent. A card shows a live preview of your camera.
Click the round Camera button over the bottom right of the preview to turn your camera on or off. It turns red while the camera is off, and the preview shows the first letter of your name with "Camera is off."
Choose your camera from the Camera dropdown below the preview.
Below the camera preview, use the Video effects section to choose a Background, turn on the Adjust for low light switch, or move the Touch up my appearance slider. If the section is folded, tap its heading to open it.
Click Join Room when you are done to enter the Room.
In Safari and Firefox, the Camera dropdown may be grayed out and read "Default camera (turn the camera on to choose)." Turn your camera on, then choose your camera.
If your browser has not given Nearo access to your camera, the preview reads "Camera unavailable — you can still join," and you can still enter the session.
If you leave the page open for a while, the preview pauses and reads "Preview paused — tap to resume." Tap it to bring the preview back.
Nearo remembers your camera choice and whether it was on or off, and uses them the next time you join from the same browser.
In the Nearo desktop app
As a host, open the Nearo desktop app and click Open my room, the blue button at the bottom of the My room card on the home screen. While you wait for a guest, your own tile is on the left of the room window. Click the Camera button at the left of the controls bar along the bottom of that window to turn your camera on or off, or click the small arrow beside it to choose a camera. The new camera is used when the session starts.
As a host, with your camera on, use the Video effects card under the setup check in the room window to choose a Background, turn on Adjust for low light, or move the Touch up my appearance slider.
As a guest, open the Nearo desktop app and enter the room code. The card where you enter your name shows your camera in a tile below Join Room and Cancel, and the waiting screen shows it too. Both have the round Camera button on the tile and a full-width Camera: [device] button beneath it. Click the Camera button to turn your camera on or off, and click Camera: [device] to choose a camera. The new camera is used when the session starts.
Direct calls start with your camera and microphone on.
Adjusting video during a session
The Camera button is in the controls bar, the dark gray strip along the bottom of the call window, next to the Mic button. On the desktop apps the two sit at the left. On the guest web app they sit in the middle. While the tutor shares their screen with the video tiles on the left or right, the guest web app moves the controls into a panel under the video tiles, and Mic and Camera are the first two buttons there.
Click Stop Video to turn your camera off and Start Video to turn it back on. In a web browser, turning the camera off really stops it, so the camera light goes out.
If your camera cannot be turned back on, a message such as "Camera permission was denied — your camera stays off." appears. Allow Nearo to use your camera and click Start Video again.
If your camera stops during a session, Nearo reopens it on its own, or switches to your default camera, and a short message tells you what happened. It switches back when your chosen camera returns. In the Nearo desktop apps, the message appears at the top center of the window.
In the Nearo desktop apps, if the camera cannot be reopened, a message such as "Your camera stopped. Turn it off and on to try again." appears. If another app is using the camera, the message says so. Close that app, then turn your camera off and on.
Click the small arrow next to the camera icon and pick a camera under Select a camera. The current camera has a check mark on the guest web app and is highlighted in blue on the desktop apps. The switch happens right away.
A camera you plug in during a session appears in the list on its own.
Nearo remembers the last camera you chose, in the desktop app or in that browser, and uses it next time.
What the video tiles show
You and the other person appear side by side in two equal tiles, in the middle of the call window above the controls bar. On a phone held upright, the tiles stack.
Each person's name appears at the bottom left of their tile, with a red slashed microphone icon next to it while they are muted.
A small signal icon in the top left corner of a tile is faint when the connection is good and amber when it is unstable. The tutor sees it on both tiles. A student sees it only on their own tile.
A green border appears around a tile while that person is speaking.
When a camera is off, the tile shows a colored circle with the person's initials instead of video.
Hiding your self-view
Hosts and guests can hide their own video from themselves. This feature is called Hide Self-View.
Point at your own video tile. Small round buttons appear in its top right corner. Click the Hide self-view button. On a touch screen, the buttons are always visible on your tile.
Or click the three dots at the right end of the controls bar, next to the red End Call button, and select Hide Self-View. On the guest web app, while the controls bar is replaced by a panel under the video tiles, the three dots are in that panel, just before End Call.
To see your video again, click the three dots and select Show Self-View.
ℹ️ When Hide Self-View is turned on, you cannot see your own video, but the other person on the call can still see you.
Mirroring your video
By default, the video you see of yourself is mirrored. That looks natural for faces, but it reverses any text you hold up to the camera, so Un-mirror My Video turns that mirroring off in your own view.
Point at your own video tile and click the mirror button in its top right corner, or click the three dots and select Un-mirror My Video.
Letters now appear left to right, so you can read them normally.
To mirror your video again, select Mirror My Video.
These options appear only while your camera is on. This is useful when you are showing a flashcard, a worksheet, or a page from a book.
ℹ️ Un-mirror My Video changes only your view of yourself. The other person always sees your video the correct way around, so anything you hold up to the camera is readable to them either way.
In a web browser, a back camera, such as an iPad's back camera pointed at a page, starts un-mirrored. Nearo remembers your choice, in the desktop app or in that browser. In a browser it keeps one choice for front cameras and one for back cameras, and the preview before you join follows it.
Framing your shot
Frame My Shot crops your camera so the other person sees only part of the picture, for example to keep a messy room or another family member out of view. Only the area inside the frame is sent; everything outside it never leaves your device.
With your camera on, point at your own video tile and click the Frame my shot button in its top right corner, or click the three dots and select Frame My Shot.
Drag the Zoom slider to shrink the green frame, and drag the frame to move it over the part you want to show. Everything outside the frame is dimmed and hidden from the other person.
Click Reset to go back to the full picture, or Done when you are happy with the frame.
Nearo remembers the frame for each camera on your device. Frame My Shot is not available in the floating window.
Using video effects
Video effects can blur or replace your background, brighten your picture, and soften your skin. They change the picture the other person sees, and all of them are off until you turn them on.
Click the three dots at the right end of the controls bar, next to the red End Call button, and choose Video effects…. On the desktop apps, this is in the standard window while your camera is on. A Video effects window opens with a preview of what the other person sees. On a phone, it opens as a sheet from the bottom of the screen.
In the Background row at the top, choose Light blur to soften the room behind you, Blur to leave only shapes and colors, or one of the colors to replace the room with a plain background. Choose None to show your room again.
Turn on Adjust for low light to brighten your picture to suit the room. It lifts your face even when a bright window is behind you.
Move the Touch up my appearance slider from Off toward Full to soften your skin.
Click Done when you are finished.
You can also reach video effects in these places:
Click the small arrow on the right of the Camera button in the controls bar. Under the list of cameras, the Video effects section has the Adjust for low light switch and the Touch up my appearance slider. More video effects…, the last row, opens the Video effects window, where you can choose a background.
In the floating window, click the small arrow beside Camera. The Video effects section there lets you set Touch up my appearance to Off, Light, Medium or Full. More video effects… opens Settings, then Camera.
On the desktop apps, when you are signed in, you can also choose Settings, then Camera, for the Background row and the same controls with a preview. To open Settings, click your picture at the bottom of the narrow strip down the left side of the main window.
Your changes apply right away, with no interruption to the session.
ℹ️ The other person sees your finished picture in any Nearo app. While a background is on, your real room is never sent. Nearo remembers your choices on that device, in the app or in that browser.
ℹ️ On a slower computer, Nearo may turn down or pause Touch up my appearance or Adjust for low light to keep your video smooth, and shows a short message such as "Touch up is paused to keep your video smooth on this device." Your background stays on. Your saved choices do not change, and the effect comes back on its own when the computer can keep up again.
Moving your video while a screen is shared
While a screen is being shared, the video tiles move into a strip beside the shared screen, and the person watching the share can choose where the strip sits. The person sharing does not see this option.
Click the three dots at the right end of the controls bar, next to the red End Call button. On the guest web app, while the controls bar is replaced by a panel under the video tiles, the three dots are in that panel, just before End Call.
In the Video Position section, select Top, Bottom, Left, or Right.
Video Position also appears while a notebook is open. On a phone, the tiles float over the shared screen and can be hidden with the Hide button.
Using the floating window in the desktop app
In the Nearo desktop app, you can shrink the session into a small window that stays on top of your other windows and shows just the video tiles. This is not available in a web browser.
Click Switch to Floating View in the controls bar, right after the Chat button.
In the floating window, click the three dots (Options) at the right of the top row to choose Switch to Horizontal or Switch to Vertical, to hide or mirror your own video, to turn Data Saver on or off, or to go back with Switch to Standard View.
Switch to Floating View is unavailable while you are viewing the other person's shared screen or while a notebook is open. If the other person starts sharing their screen while you are in the floating window, Nearo switches back to the standard view and returns to the floating window when the share ends.
Using Data Saver on a slow connection
Data Saver lowers your camera quality and uses lighter audio, so Nearo uses less data. It is meant for a limited or slow connection.
During a session, click the three dots at the right end of the controls bar and select Data Saver. In the Nearo desktop app, it is under Calls and shows as selected while it is on. In a web browser, a check mark shows while it is on.
In the floating window, click the three dots (Options) at the right of the top row and select Data Saver.
In the Nearo desktop app, you can also change it in Settings. In the main window, click your picture at the bottom of the narrow strip down the left side, choose Settings, and use the Data Saver checkbox under Calls.
Data Saver is off by default. It takes effect during the session without reconnecting, and Nearo remembers your choice on that device, in the app or in that browser.
If the other person turns on Data Saver, the camera and microphone you send them are lowered too, so you may look less sharp to them.
Nearo also lowers camera quality on its own when the connection is weak, and while a screen is shared or a notebook is open. It raises the quality again when the connection recovers or the sharing or notebook ends.
Hiding the controls
In the desktop app
In the floating window, you can fold the controls away so the video tiles have the whole window.
Click the small down-pointing tab at the bottom center of the floating window. Point at it to see Hide controls. The window shrinks to fit the video tiles.
Click the up-pointing tab, which reads Show controls, to bring the controls back.
While a screen is being shared, the sharing banner and the drawing row stay visible; only the Mic, Camera, Participants, and end-call controls fold away. The controls bar in the standard window cannot be hidden.
On a phone
In a web browser on a phone held sideways, tap the small tab at the top edge of the controls bar to hide it, and tap the tab at the bottom of the screen to bring it back. You can also tap the video area to show or hide the controls when no shared screen or notebook is open. The controls come back when you turn the phone upright.
🔔 If your camera does not appear as an option, make sure Nearo has permission to access your camera in your computer's system settings.