Samsung is gearing up to make Galaxy phones and Galaxy Book PCs work better together with the One UI 7 update—and, sadly, it looks like making walled gardens is the new industry trend. Two features, Camera Share and Storage Share, can be seen on OneUI 7 beta and are intended to improve cross-device functionality within the Samsung ecosystem.
Camera Share, previously known as Camera Sharing in One UI 6.1, is being expanded to work with Galaxy Book PCs in addition to Galaxy tablets. This feature lets users use their Galaxy phone as a webcam for their Galaxy Book PC. For it to work, both devices need to have Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Camera Share enabled.
Samsung claims this feature is available on some devices with One UI 6.1; it appears to be fully functional and simplified in One UI 7, as reported by Android Authority. Users must enable Camera Share in the Samsung Settings app on their Galaxy Book PC under Connected devices.
Storage Share is a new feature that lets users browse pictures, music, and files on their Galaxy phone or tablet directly from their Galaxy Book PC without a USB connection. This feature can be found in Settings > Connected devices on the mobile device and Galaxy Book PC.
Both features can be accessed via the Phone Link app on Windows, at least to some extent. The news comes after Samsung discontinued the DeX App for Windows. It doesn't make sense that Samsung is revealing new functionality like Camera Share and Storage Share but making users rely on Phone Link now that DeX for Windows will be gone soon. It's clear that Samsung's native implementation aims to provide a more integrated experience for users within the Samsung ecosystem, though.
These features aren't fully available in the initial One UI 7 beta for the Galaxy S24 series. They are expected to be implemented with the official release of One UI 7, which could happen with the launch of the Galaxy S25 series.