Every new version of Android comes with innovative smartphone features that Apple designers usually developed and incorporated into their devices much later. However, this time, we seem to be experiencing the opposite. Android has its eye on a popular iOS 16 feature for an upcoming version of the operating system.
At WWDC 2022, Apple announced an iOS 16 and macOS Ventura 13 update called Continuity Camera. This update allowed you to take advantage of the phone’s more powerful cameras, microphone and video effects using one of the iPhones running the latest operating system, rather than relying on your Mac’s built-in webcam.
Third-party apps allow similar use of Android phones. But according to the Google Open Source Project change logs, it shows that a feature similar to Continuity Camera may become a built-in feature for a future version of Android.
Currently called “DeviceAsWebcam” (device as webcam), this feature will, as the name suggests, “turn an Android device into a webcam”. However, little is known about the feature at the moment.
It looks like the feature will prompt the use of a wired USB connection. This capability suggests that you won’t be limited to a single computer operating system as with Continuity Camera. But it’s unclear whether Continuity Camera features such as Table View, which lets you see your desk and face at the same time, or Main Stage and Studio Light, which keep you in the shot and appear brighter than the background, respectively, will appear on the Android derivative.
Also, it’s not certain that DeviceAsWebcam will be available anytime soon. While it’s certainly possible to launch with Android 14 depending on how far ahead the tool is in development, it could be delayed to Android 15 a year later and even Android 16 later in the year.
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