Rival company Apple first introduced this feature back into the OS last year with iOS 16, and Google is planning to integrate the continuity camera functionality into Android. With the first developer preview, a continuity camera-like feature is supposed to come to future Android smartphones, giving a seamless way to use the mobile camera like a webcam.
As many users complain about poor camera quality with their webcams, Android 14 appears to solve the problem by allowing users to use their mobile device camera as a webcam. This is really helpful, as it allows us to use our existing product and pair it with our machine using the software.
However, not every smartphone will come with this feature in the future, as it requires some dedicated hardware and additional software to function as a webcam. Currently, we don’t have any minimum requirements listed for it yet, but it looks like some devices might require connection via USB or via the same Wi-Fi network.
Users have to wait a while until this feature becomes available and usable. Until then, there are some apps like DroidCam, Camo, and Irium Webcam that you can use to do so. We have seen how well it works with the Apple Continuity Camera, which was introduced last year, which it uses the existing high-powered camera as a webcam. Let’s see if it comes to the final production of Android 14 and brings some useful features.
As of now, Google supports external USB cameras, and it seems to be reversed by the ro.usb.uvc.enable system property (USB Gadget HAL). This will appear in the notification after connecting your phone to a computer and then giving you a prompt to switch between PTP and MTP Storage Mode, USB Tethering, MIDI, and what is known as “webcam mode.”
We have seen when the world gets hit by a pandemic, and now a lot of people are working remotely. This feature, where Android 14 allows you to use your phone as a smartphone, looks quite promising. With the USB Video Class (UVC) standard, you can use it on your Mac, Windows, and Chromebooks.
