I don’t know if Android users in here understand how flawless this works on iOS+mac. All I need to activate this is have my phone nearby and turn my locked phone to landscape mode. No need to even unlock my phone or connect it to my laptop.
Thx. I tried. But I did’t find any good open source one. I mainly use the F-Droid store.
And for recommending it to other people it’s certainly easier to give them a USB cable than teach them to install an App, a companion program on the PC and set-up the connection. So I still like the new solution. But you’re 100% right. Doing things like this is typically the job of an app. And there certainly are multiple ones out there once you’re less strict than me with the free and open sofware.
DroidcamX is awesome software too. It works over USB or Wi-Fi with little latency. My Razer Blade laptop has a defect where it’s webcam stopped being detected so now I just use DroidcamX. Obviously using a smartphone camera also drastically increases the quality of the image as well.
I ran into Droidcam during the pandemic when I needed a webcam and you could not find a decent one anywhere (or it would cost an arm and a leg). It works over USB or network, and it can connect two ways (phone can connect to PC or PC can connect to phone) so you can connect it over Internet or over VPN (like Tailscale). The PC app can work without a GUI so you can install the app for example on an old phone, connect it to power and use it as a surveillance camera too.
Why would they plug the phone to a PC via USB AND set it to webcam mode AND record or broadcast in a program on the PC if they didn't want people to see?
Yeah, however I think this is one of those things that should be a stock feature. Most people who use webcams aren’t tech people and want a plug and play experience. It isn’t particularly hard to implement and helps Android stay competitive with Apple’s user experience.
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