You'll soon be able to use a Galaxy phone as a webcam for these Windows PCs
What you need to know
A Korean product page for Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Pro revealed new details about an upcoming feature from Samsung.
The company is planning to introduce a feature that will allow users to connect their Galaxy phone to a Windows PC for use as a webcam.
The feature will work with One UI 6.0 or higher and Windows 11 24H1, and the latter is expected to be released at the end of March.
Most people carry a better camera in their pocket than is built into their laptop. That's why smartphone manufacturers are creating features that will let you use your phone's camera as your laptop's webcam. Google, Apple, and Motorola have all shipped similar features, and Samsung has one coming soon.
We didn't know much about how Samsung's implementation of the webcam feature would work until u/FragmentedChicken on Reddit tipped off Android Police about a Korean product page for Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Pro. In the footnotes, Samsung explains a few things about its upcoming feature.
For starters, Samsung says that Galaxy phones running One UI 6 or newer will be able to use the feature. This clears up a point of confusion since Samsung originally said it would require One UI 1.0. The newer requirement makes much more sense than the older one and still covers a lot of active Samsung Galaxy phones.
Additionally, the company said that these phones would connect with the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 using the Microsoft Phone Link application. However, it was originally unclear if any other Windows PCs would be able to use a Galaxy phone for their webcam.
Now, the Korean product page provides more evidence that other Galaxy Book models will be compatible. Specifically, the notes say that any Galaxy Book laptop with Windows 11 24H1 installed can use a Galaxy phone as its webcam. This version of Windows isn't available yet, but we can expect it in the first half of the year, and it might be released in the next month or two.
That's because Samsung estimates that the phone webcam feature will be available at the end of March. This implies that Windows 11 24H1 will arrive before, or sometime around, that date range.
We now know the devices that will be supported for Samsung's upcoming Galaxy/Windows webcam solution. However, there are still plenty of unknowns surrounding this feature. For example, we haven't even seen the feature in action outside of mockup images.
The feature should be appreciated by users in the Samsung ecosystem, as there will be another great way to use Galaxy phones and Galaxy Book devices together. Only time will tell if it is good enough to rival Motorola's Ready For and Apple's Continuity Camera software.
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