Windows 11 will soon let you use your webcam in multiple apps simultaneously

This week, Microsoft made a massive drop of fresh Windows 11 preview builds, giving insiders in every channel a new update to try. As usual, shortly after the release, enthusiasts started discovering hidden and unannounced changes and new features. The latest Dev build, 26120.1542, contains two new options for webcams, including the ability to stream your video to multiple apps.

In its current form, Windows 11 only lets you use a webcam in one application, so launching the Camera app during a Zoom call results in the former showing a "Close other apps" message. With build 26120.1542, Microsoft is changing that. A hidden feature lets you toggle on the "Multi-app Camera" feature and stream to several applications at once.

Here is what Microsoft says in the description:

Designed for the hard-of-hearing community, to allow multiple video apps to stream from this camera at the same time. Once turned on, camera settings such as Brightness can only be changed from this page.

To toggle on the "Multi-app Camera" feature, head to Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Camera, then select the camera you want to use and click "Advanced Camera Settings." A new window will show up on the screen, allowing you to turn on multi-app camera streaming.

In addition to the ability to use your webcam in multiple apps simultaneously, Windows 11 build 26120.1542 features a so-called Basic Mode for camera troubleshooting:

Turns on basic camera streaming functionality. To be used to debug serious camera issues when all other methods have failed.

Microsoft has not mentioned those features in the official release notes, so the official details currently remain unknown. Expect to hear more about them in future Windows 11 preview builds. Until then, you can toggle on and test those two features using the vivetool app and the following IDs: 49575624, 50292326, and 48433719.

Source: @PhantomOfEarth on X.

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