Using your smartphone as a webcam has become increasingly popular over the last few years. While iPhone users can enjoy built-in features like Continuity Camera to turn their iPhone into a webcam for their Mac, Android users have had to rely on third-party apps so far. That might change in Android 14.
As detailed by Esper senior technical editor Mishaal Rahman on Twitter (via 9to5Google), a work-in-progress project called ‘DeviceAsWebcam’ aims to let users plug their Android phone into a device and use it as a webcam.
It appears Google will use the ‘USB Video Class’ (UVC) standard, which should enable the feature to work across a variety of devices, unlike Continuity Camera, which only works for Apple devices. However, it does look like users would need to plug in their Android phone, which is a fairly significant difference from Continuity Camera.
Moreover, Google’s work on the feature so far is only as a ‘service’ to provide video data through USB. There would also need to be a system app on your phone to put the camera video data into the right spot to transmit over USB. That means Google would have to make a generic, Android-ready app, or manufacturers would need to create their own.
Of course, we’re also still a ways out from Android 14, so it’s likely things could change before then. It’ll be interesting to track this feature through the Android 14 developer previews — if it makes it into the preview.
Source: Mishaal Rahman Via: 9to5Google