Berlin Why this name? First of all, camera handover allows you to use an iPhone as a webcam for Mac computers. Apple has also announced a small bracket with which the iPhone can be attached to the top of the display.
It continues on the Mac
The handover comes into play when you consider one of the many possible applications: Facetime video chats started on the iPhone, for example, should be able to continue without interruption on a Mac computer.
The iPhone as a webcam should not only guarantee good quality for video conferences, but also brings interesting extras through the various cameras. With the help of the ultra-wide-angle lens, Apple wants to show the face of a chatterer and the desk from a bird’s eye view at about the same time.
Face and desk at the same time
This so-called desk view is practical if you want to show a sketch while talking, for example, and is suitable for recording DIY videos. Other extras that the iPhone should master as a webcam: a sequence and portrait mode as well as an effect called studio light, which illuminates the face and darkens the background.
And what about Android smartphones? There is no webcam mode stored in the mobile operating system yet, there are no plans in this direction yet, which of course is also due to the fact that there is no sister operating system for computers on Android.
There are also Android solutions
Of course, this does not stop developers from designing solutions. A successful one, which turns the camera of Android smartphones or tablets into webcams of Windows and Linux operating systems, is provided by “Dev47Apps” with Droidcam.
The three necessary technical requirements: That the Android mobile device, which is to become a webcam, must be connected to the same WLAN as the notebook or the desktop PC. In addition, the Droidcam app must be installed on the mobile device.
Installing Droidcam on both devices
And thirdly, a Droidcam program must be installed on the computer that provides the necessary drivers- and establishes the connection including image and sound, so that nothing stands in the way of the webcam use of the Android device with Zoom, Skype, Webex, Teams & Co.
The program for the computer is available for download on the developer’s site. There is also an extensive list of questions and answers for solving possible problems, but only in English.
