Webcams are often purely functional objects at best. Few of us have lain awake at night wondering what webcam we'll buy next. The utility of a device is so great that for most it is just a camera connected to your PC that allows the people you work with to see your grinning face. Still, the need to buy a separate camera for your PC could soon be eliminated as Microsoft is testing an upcoming feature that will let you use a phone instead.
Microsoft first discussed the upcoming feature as part of its discussion Current update from March 2024but a current one blog entry from the Windows Insider team says it's gradually rolling out to all Insider channels, meaning it should also appear in release preview at some point (via PC World). If this is the case, it may not be far off for the feature to be released to all Windows 11 machines.
And before you worry about cable routing and awkward placements, the Windows Insider team says it lets you stream live video wirelessly from your phone directly to your PC, including the ability to switch between the front and back cameras to switch and use these video effects are already built into your phone.
This flexibility should provide some useful options for phone camera placement on a traditional desktop setup, while also allowing you to take your phone with you while still streaming video from your PC to your remote meeting.
Of course there are some caveats. The blog post details that you currently need an Android mobile device running Android 9.0+ and that your Link to Windows Phone application is updated to 1.24012 or later. After that, those running an activated Insider build simply need to allow their PCs to access their phone by enabling it in the Bluetooth & Device Settings menu in Windows and obtain a Cross Device Experience Host update from the Microsoft Store.
Even though this feature becomes standard across all release builds of Windows, there are still plenty of reasons why you might still want a standalone webcam. Phone cameras often struggle with low light conditions due to these tiny lenses, and someone who wants to deliver an extremely high-quality feed for something like a Twitch stream or a professional presentation may still want a good webcam to deliver the best possible image quality.
Regardless, this seems like a nice repurposing of technology that already exists, reducing the need for another device that you would likely have to add to a new setup. Phones and PCs seem to be slowly becoming firm friends after many years of cumbersome cables and third-party solutions to create a complete connection between the two.
Come on, you two, shake hands. We're all just one happy family here, and we'll all work better if we get along now, right?
