TL;DR
- Samsung has announced a new feature that turns its excellent phone cameras into a high-quality webcam.
- This feature previously was seen in the One UI 6 Beta 3, but disappeared by the next release.
- The webcam feature lets you switch between the front and rear cameras and apply special effects like auto framing and background blur.
- It’s unclear what other devices this feature may come to in the future, but it’s guaranteed to arrive on the S24 series
The Galaxy S24 won’t be officially unveiled until Samsung’s Unpacked Event on January 17, but that didn’t stop it from mentioning the phone in all but name at its AI-focused CES 2024 event. Starting with its “next flagship,” Samsung is introducing a new feature that allows you to transform your phone into a high-quality webcam. You can switch between the front and rear cameras and can even apply AI camera features such as background blur and auto framing.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about this feature. The ability to use the camera as a webcam appeared in the ONE UI 6 Beta 3 Settings menu, even though there was no way to activate it. However, this feature was quickly removed in the subsequent beta release. It seems likely that Samsung was testing it before releasing it as a timed exclusive feature on the Galaxy S24.
It remains unclear when or if this new feature will be available on older devices or if it will remain exclusive to newer flagships. All we can say for certain is you can expect to learn more about how it works in the very near future.
