Google needs to steal this new macOS webcam feature for ChromeOS right away

We’ve been watching the latest news from Apple during the WWDC 2022 Keynote, and though much of what I’ve seen hasn’t been too exciting, there’s a new trick that works with Macbooks and iPhones that I think Google should immediately begin working on for Chromebooks and Android phones. Say what you want about Apple’s continuing decision to put middling webcams on their expensive laptops; Chromebooks will be rolling out with 1080p and 720p cameras on board for the foreseeable future based on their demographic and target price.

With that in mind, this new continuity feature Apple introduced will soon be allow users to leverage the iPhone camera in place of Macbook’s built-in webcam when desired, and I think it would be a HUGE win for Chromebooks to have this ability. With Apple’s version of this, it works without much fuss, leveraging the same continuity that lets you pair AirPods once and use them across devices. With this new feature, a Macbook can immediately connect with the iPhone connected to the same account and choose to use the cameras on that device instead.

While I agree with many that feel Apple most definitely should put a better camera in their pricey Macbooks, this feature could be very interesting for those buying far-less-expensive Chromebooks. As an extension of the growing Phone Hub, it would make a ton of sense for Google to enable a similar feature and let anyone with a Chromebook and Android phone make the same sort of connection, leveraging the far-superior camera that exists on most phones these days.

Even if it was a Pixel-only feature at first, this feature is something that I feel a ton of users would benefit from. We know phone message notification mirroring is coming to ChromeOS later this year, so I’d imagine it wouldn’t be a far cry to allow users to utilize their phone’s camera as well. I’m not saying it would be a simple task or something Google could do in a day, but I have a hard time believing they haven’t begun toying with this feature already.

Chromebooks already recognize a wide variety of external cameras, so the ability for the OS to understand a non-native camera wouldn’t be a hurdle. And with the work being done to bring real-time mirroring of messaging notifications to ChromeOS, I can’t imagine the pipelines aren’t already in place to do something like this in the future. While not a make-or-break feature, I truly hope Google considers making something like this work down the road. I know it would be greatly appreciated by many.