The Phone Link app should soon connect the Android camera and Windows PCs
The idea of using a smartphone as a computer camera has been around for a while, but the Microsoft Phone Link app could expand its importance and use. Apple already supports the use of iPhone phones as webcams on computers, and soon Phone Link should provide the option to connect your Android camera and Windows computers, that is, those that work with this operating system.
Android 14 also introduces official support for using Android devices as webcams on computers, and Microsoft itself is moving in that direction. As noted by the AndroidAuthority portal, the Phone Link application recently received an update that contains code that suggests the option of connecting the camera on Android phones to a computer running Windows OS.
Specifically, the Phone Link app should contain a notification that says, “Tap this notification to allow your computer to stream video from your camera.”
The update codes also mention pausing and playing videos, settings that indicate the phone is overheating too much for it to serve as a webcam, and video effects including: HDR, various filters, stabilization and more.
Screenshot APK MirrorHowever, there is no direct mention in the code of using the phone's camera as a webcam on the computer. Because of this, it is now not entirely clear whether this is really Microsoft's goal. Still, it's hard to imagine other use cases based on everything that appears in the code. The Auto-framing feature is also one of the options found alongside the filters, which really suggests that the Phone Link app should allow you to use the PC camera with a person in the frame.
There's still no word on exactly when the feature will be available, but based on the update code you can track via APK Mirror, it looks like it could happen early next year, which is a month from now.