Webcam on Pixel 5a

kyuweftea

I was hoping to use my old Pixel 5a as a usb webcam, but it doesn't appear as an option in the USB preferences menu when plugging it in to my PC.

The webcam option does work on my newer Pixel 7a.

Does Pixel 5a not have this feature? I thought it was scheduled to receive new android features until August 2024.

kyuweftea

I searched through AOSP and GrapheneOS source code and confirmed that the webcam feature is only available for Pixel 6 and up. All the supported devices have these lines in their makefile:

# Enable DeviceAsWebcam support
PRODUCT_VENDOR_PROPERTIES += \
    ro.usb.uvc.enabled=true

...and Pixel 5a does not have this: https://github.com/GrapheneOS/device_google_barbet/blob/14/device-barbet.mk

Strangely though, the system app "Webcam Service" (com.android.DeviceAsWebcam) is installed on Pixel 5a like the supported devices.

treequell

kyuweftea Thanks for looking into this, and reporting back!

freezet

Third party apps like droidcam should work

kyuweftea

treequell No problem!

freezet I'm open to third-party apps. The tricky part is that I'm using this on a macbook provided by my employer, so I'm looking for something that works on macos that ideally has no need to install additional software.

taivlam

@kyuweftea Thank you for investigating this. I looked at the corresponding makefile for the Pixel Tablet and also deduces that the "Use as Webcam" feature won't work on the Pixel Tablet.

Along with this thread, I only found out that Tensor-based Pixels can be used as a webcam, according to Google's support, after watching MKBHD's video on incoming features to Android 15.