Since last year it has been rumored that Microsoft and Google want to offer a Continuity Camera feature that turns the iPhone into a webcam on macOS devices but with Android phones and Windows devices. Then it was heard that this feature could later be used through One UI 6.0 devices with Phone Link. Today, the feature is available for testing by Windows Insider users.
Interestingly, both my Android devices Samsung Galaxy S24+ and Xiaomi 14 support it. I can test this feature because my laptop is running Windows 11 Home 24H2 version 26058.1400. Both of my devices are also connected with Phone Link which allows the device to be a web camera in addition to monitoring notifications and facilitating file transfer.
What is interesting about the Samsung Galaxy S24+ device is that the webcam mode allows users to use Blur, Auto-framing, Soft Focus and HDR (selfie camera only) effects. While Xiaomi 14 is limited to blur effect only. In my tests, Android devices can only turn into webcams in teleconferencing apps like Google Meet or Microsoft Teams. It doesn't support regular camera apps and on desktop WhatsApp it's not stable.
This is a much appreciated feature as most smartphones now have much better camera capabilities than built-in webcams. Users also no longer need to buy foreign webcams. Together we look forward to the presence of this feature to stable users in the future.