The strategy of Google to unify its ecosystems seems to have reached a new turning point. While in Mountain View they are diligently working on Aluminium OS, the platform designed to fuse Android and Chrome OS into a single PC experience, a new piece of the puzzle has emerged directly from the Google Play Store.
Colleagues at AndroidAuthority, in fact, have identified a listing for an unreleased application named Desktop Camera, whose software package com.google.android.desktop.camera leaves no doubt about its provenance.
The leaked images offer a preview of how Google intends to bring the photography experience of its smartphones to the world of laptops and desktops.
Google Pixel Camera could arrive on desktop
Essential features and room for growth
As it stands, the application appears extremely minimal, almost skeletal compared to the wealth of features of the mobile counterpart.
The screenshots confirm the presence of a timer and basic support for photo and video capture, but not much else. It is reasonable to expect that Google will enrich the software before the public release, however there remains the fear that this first iteration may offer a very basic experience.
The hope is that the development team takes inspiration from the current Chrome OS camera app, which boasts advanced tools such as document scanning, GIF support, and pan-tilt-zoom controls for external webcams. It would be a pity to lose such versatility in the transition to the new unified architecture.
Clues about Aluminium OS
A notable technical detail emerges when looking at the backgrounds of the images, beyond the camera interface. The screenshots reveal portions of the desktop system interface on which the app is running, offering insights for more attentive observers.
Interestingly, the shown layout does not perfectly match the Aluminium OS materials previously leaked. The Start button still appears anchored to the left corner and the icons in the system tray lack the “Expressive” style seen in other recent leaks.
This discrepancy could indicate that the images come from a less recent development build or from a different test branch, suggesting that the final interface of the new hybrid operating system is still evolving.
This discovery nonetheless confirms that the fusion project between the operating systems is proceeding quickly.
