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Samsung patents camera system that lets apps share camera feeds

Samsung has filed a patent for a method that allows different software apps on a device to access the same camera feed. The system checks if a specific app can use a standard camera tool and, if so, routes the live image data from that tool to the app using a different identifier.

Why it mattersThis technical update could help apps run more smoothly by sharing camera resources, but it is a low-level software improvement that most users will not notice directly.

In the filing’s own words

An electronic device includes: a camera; at least one processor; and memory storing instructions, a first camera application using a first application programming interface (API) and a second camera application using a second API, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to: request, based on a first camera identifier, initiating of an operation of the camera to acquire a first image stream from the second camera application; determine, based on first stream information related to the first image stream, whether to provide the first image stream using a camera function which is executed by invoking the first API; based on determining that the first image stream is provided using the camera function, initiate the operation of the camera using a second camera identifier; and provide the first image stream acquired using the camera function to the second camera application.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. An electronic device comprising: a camera; at least one processor; and memory storing instructions, a first camera application using a first application programming interface (API) and a second camera application using a second API, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to: request, based on a first camera identifier, initiating of an operation of the camera to acquire a first image stream from the second camera application; determine, based on first stream information related to the first image stream, whether to provide the first image stream using a camera function which is executed by invoking the first API; based on determining that the first image stream is provided using the camera function, initiate the operation of the camera using a second camera identifier; and provide the first image stream acquired using the camera function to the second camera application.

Facts

Company
Samsung (SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.)
Official title
ELECTRONIC DEVICE COMPRISING CAMERA, AND OPERATING METHOD THEREOF
Publication number
US20260281546A1
Application number
19671950
Filed
May 8, 2026
Published
Sep 17, 2026
Inventors
7
Claims
20

Classified under

H04N 23/661 Electricity & electronicsH04N 21/2187 Electricity & electronicsH04N 23/64 Electricity & electronics
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.