Android phones will also be able to act as a webcam for PCs

Apparently, the main obstacle to Android phones being used as PC webcams is just Google’s refusal.

At least 10 years after videoconferencing services ceased to be considered a “revolutionary” innovation and requiring the processing power of a fully equipped PC, Google is considering opening up the Android ecosystem to allow PC users to use their front-facing camera-equipped smartphone beyond the vast majority of PC webcams in a makeshift webcam.

While the vast majority of Android phone owners will find it inconvenient to connect the phone to the PC using the USB cable, followed by checking the webcam emulation option in the Android menu and selecting the newly connected device in the Windows or Mac OS app for which you need the webcam, we can think of a few scenarios where this option would be preferable to using a dedicated mobile app for the service. For example, you might want to continue on video a conversation started in the messaging app installed on your PC, or connect a more powerful webcam to the video conferencing solution required by the company you work for. There would also be those users who need a high-performance webcam for various PC-based activities, such as gamers and stars of video streaming platforms.

Using an Android phone as a webcam became really popular during the pandemic, but you’ve typically had to install a third-party app to do so. You may not have to do this in the future, though, as Google is adding support for turning Android devices into USB webcams!

– Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) February 2, 2023

For all of these, even an older generation smartphone equipped with any OS version from Android 4.3 Jelly Bean onwards might suffice, with the missing element being a new PC driver capable of accessing the UVC connection standard already supported by Android devices and allowing the transmission of images and video using available capture modules. In practice, however, it seems that patches are needed for the firmware side, limiting this functionality to recent generation devices, plus the next generation of Android 14 phones.