The Windows 11 24H2 update is expected to make a webcam change so that multiple apps can use the camera at the same time

With the 24H2 update, Windows 11 gets a new capability that allows more than one app to access the webcam without having to use a trick to get around it.

Yes, in case you didn’t know: Currently, Windows 11 (and other versions of Windows) only allows one app at a time to access the camera.

As Windows Latest reports, the only way to get around this currently is to use a virtual camera setup when a second app needs to access the webcam at the same time as a first app that has gained access to the hardware.

However, with a new option in the 24H2 update, Windows 11 should be able to natively handle multiple apps accessing the webcam at the same time, as leaker PhantomOfEarth pointed out in a post on X.

Windows 11’s camera settings page is getting an advanced camera configuration section with two new options: Multi-app camera and a basic mode for debugging. (disabled by default, Dev 26120.1542.) pic.twitter.com/XwIdByB2tG19 August 2024

As you can see, the feature is located in the camera settings, via an Advanced Camera Configuration window where the user can enable Multi-App Camera, which allows multiple apps to stream from the camera at the same time.

Note that this feature is currently being tested and is actually hidden in the latest Windows 11 preview in the Dev channel, but hopefully it will be available soon and can be tested and put through its paces before the full release.

Lenovo Legion 5i (Gen 9) with webcam on top of the screen

(Image credit: Future)

Analysis: Looking back at a limitation

While multiple apps using the webcam isn’t an everyday scenario for many Windows 11 users, it’s a useful feature that some people want, and as Microsoft notes in the feature’s text, it’s “designed for the hard of hearing community” – so this is another useful step forward in terms of accessibility, too. (We’re not sure what scenarios this could be used in, but if the feature is actually tested, hopefully Microsoft will explain more about what this does in the usual blog post announcing all the new details.)

You might be wondering why Windows 11 (or earlier versions of the operating system) doesn’t support multiple webcams anyway? After all, that doesn’t seem like too much of a challenge. Well, apparently this is a throwback to the days when hardware wasn’t as powerful as it is today and sharing the camera between multiple apps could cause system slowdown on weaker PCs.

As Windows Latest notes, Microsoft seems to have implemented a basic rule to prevent this from happening – one app at a time working with the webcam – and that hasn’t changed in ages. There’s no reason for the restriction now, so it’s (finally) being lifted – at least assuming this change makes it through Windows 11’s test channels and is released (and we see no reason why it shouldn’t).

There are other small complications when multiple apps share a webcam, such as when image settings like brightness have different parameters required by the different apps using the camera. To get around this, Microsoft lets you control brightness and so on from a central point in Windows 11’s settings, which overrides all app settings, and of course that makes perfect sense.

The Windows 11 24H2 update is expected to make a webcam change so that multiple apps can use the camera at the same time

ByJasper

By Jasper

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