Also some software enables the connection, available through the App store and an endless list of compatible tablets and webcams. You can connect a webcam to your tablet using the standard camera HIDL interface and the Android Camera2 API. Generally, webcams support UVC (USB Video Class) drivers to control the cameras.
By supporting webcams, you can use your tablet for lightweight use cases such as photo kiosks and video chatting.
Fortunately, connecting an external webcam does not replace the internal camera HALs on Android tablets. However, these features are not designed to support complex, performance-intensive tasks that involve high-speed and high-resolution streaming, AR, and manual lens/ ISP/ sensor control. I hope to try this myself on the phone, and I think it will be interesting to capture images of the planets or moon with the webcam. If it doesn’t work with your device or it features any limitations, consider rooting the tablet to resolve this issue.
Tablets don’t feature built-in support for USB cameras, nor can it connect wirelessly over WIFI. An easy way to know this is by searching the Google Play store for the webcam manufacturer’s name.
For instance, typing a webcam name in the Play store displays several apps supporting wireless and wired video streaming. This typically involves entering your password and username before you log into the webcam to view its feed.
However, OTG cables are affordable ( I recently acquired one for MicroUSB on eBay for a couple bucks or so, plus shipping charges, so you should consider trying one). Although other Operating systems such as Mac or Windows, the Android Os doesn’t feature a generic USB camera controller, limiting you from accessing the convenience of “plug and play” functionality. Also, ensure to plug in the external USB camera in the specific device throughout the test run.
How do I make a USB camera work with my Android Tablet
I have read many comments on how external cameras do not work with Android.
External USB Cameras
With support for webcams, devices can be used in lightweight use cases such as video chatting and photo kiosks. This feature doesn’t replace typical internal camera HALs on Android phones and isn’t designed to support performance-intensive, complex tasks involving high-resolution and high-speed streaming, AR, and manual ISP/sensor/lens control. Third-party webcam apps that communicate directly with USB devices require the same camera permissions to access UVC devices as with any regular camera app.
The external camera device and session implementations are included in ExternalCameraDevice and ExternalCameraDeviceSession .
Add the external camera provider name to the device Treble HAL manifest. (Optional) If the device runs in Treble passthrough mode, update sepolicy so cameraserver can access the UVC camera.