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Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, Google's mobile operating system, supports external USB cameras. This indicates that customers have had the option of making video calls for a while now by plugging a webcam into their phone or tablet. 

Users may connect their device to a computer and use it as a webcam thanks to third-party programmes, but Google is going one step further by making this feature an integral part of Android.

Android specialist Mishaal Rahman made a recent discovery regarding code modifications made to the AOSP Gerrit. These changes show that Google is attempting to make the smartphone function as a webcam for PCs, Macs, or Chromebooks.

The newly introduced 'DeviceAsWebcam' function would enable the phone or tablet to identify itself as a USB video device class, or UVC, which is the standard used by most USB webcams, making it compatible with most desktops and laptops. 

Similarly, Apple's Continuity Camera, which enables iPhones to function as webcams for Macs, does this.

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In one of his tweets, Rahman adds, 'Make note you'll still need an app/service to transmit video data from the camera to the /dev/video* node for the host device to read from.' 

Because this software must be a system app, OEMs must provide their own if Google does not produce a universal Android-ready app. Users may quickly use their iOS or Android mobile as a webcam on a Windows or Mac computer with the Camo app.

Rahman continues, 'UVC gadget capability on Android smartphones will be toggled via the system property 'ro.usb.uvc.enabled'. Only system apps can read it, and only the Settings app and the USB device HAL can do so.

It's conceivable that the system will let consumers immediately shift between PTP and MTP storage modes, USB tethering, MIDI, and eventually, this new webcam arrangement using the alert that appears when you attach your phone to a computer because this has a name that is similar to the property used for USB mass storage mode.