On the first day of WWDC 2022, Apple unveiled Continuity Camera, a feature that allows macOS Ventura users to place their iPhone on top of their Mac and use their smartphone camera to make video calls. The feature was highly appreciated, though it left many confused as to how it would work, so on the second day, Karen Xing, an engineer in Apple’s camera software team, explained the feature in detail.
To get started, in addition to your Mac with macOS Ventura, you need an iPhone that can run iOS 16, so those who still use an iPhone older than the iPhone 8 will not be able to use the continuity camera. In addition, both your Mac and iPhone must sign in to the same Apple ID using two-factor authentication.
According to Xing, simply “bring your iPhone closer to your Mac and it works wirelessly so you can quickly join a call. Your iPhone will appear on your Mac as an external camera and microphone.”
You can also use the continuity camera by connecting your iPhone to your Mac via USB.
Xing demonstrated the feature in Zoom and said that the app will initially start with the built-in camera on your Mac and ask you to switch to the iPhone’s camera, along with notes for users to know everything they can to do with Continuity. Camera, as seen in the following screenshot:
Xing explained that you can support your iPhone in landscape or portrait orientation, with the latter giving you a wider field of view. Xing said, “The Continuity Camera also lets you do things that were never possible before with a webcam, including several new video effects,” including the new Studio Light effect that illuminates the subject as it darkens the background.
Accessing video effects is as simple as pulling down the Control Center and selecting the desired video effect.
All video effects, including Center Stage (which keeps you focused), Portrait (blur the background), and Studio Light can be used together in combination.
The Control Center is also where users could access “Desktop View”, another new video effect introduced along with the continuity camera. Desk View allows your iPhone’s wide-angle camera to show your desktop, and you, as a top camera setting combined with a normal one. The feature will be very beneficial for remote teachers and can also be used by Twitch streamers to display a manual camera, as long as they play on a Mac.
The feature will support a maximum frame rate of 60 frames per second (FPS) with a resolution of 1920 x 1440 pixels. Resolution will remain the same in Desk View mode, although it will be limited to 30 frames per second.
Beta versions of macOS Ventura and iOS 16 developers are available for members of the Apple Developer Program at developer.apple.com from now on, with a major release later this fall.
For all the WWDC 2022 Apple news, follow this link.
Image Credit: Apple
Source: Apple