Android 14 may bring native webcam support to some phones: what it means
Android 14, Google’s upcoming major version of Android, may include native support for using an Android phone as a webcam on a computer. This would represent a significant change from the current method of relying on third-party applications for this functionality.
According to code changes spotted in AOSP
by Mishaal Rahman via 9to5Google , Google is working on a feature called “DeviceAsWebcam” that lets you connect an Android device and use it as a webcam on multiple devices, including Macs, PCs, and Google’s own Chromebooks. And unlike Apple, whose “Continuity Camera” feature only works between iOS and Mac devices, Google is opting for the universally compatible “USB Video Class” (UVC) standard.
Android is adding a new “DeviceAsWebcam” service that “turns an android device into awebcam.” Specifically, Android devices that support the standard UVC (USB video class) gadget mode will be able to send video data that hosts can read from /dev/video* nodes.
pic.twitter.com/oOgIqr1KkE — Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman)
February 2, 2023
Rahman notes that “Android has supported external plug-and-play USB webcams for some time, but support for using your phone as a UVC gadget is new” and “there are a lot of third-party apps that perform similar functions.”
He also states that it is important to keep in mind that with the new feature, a separate application or service is still needed to transfer video data from the camera to the host device.
Especially phones like the Motorola Edge 20 can already be turned into a webcam simply by changing the USB mode to a webcam and plugging it into a computer. The device will then be identified as “Motorola UVC Camera”.
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