Intent to Prototype: HTML Media Capture on Desktop

[Helmut Januschka]

Contact emails

hjanu...@gmail.com

Explainer

No information provided

Specification

No information provided

Summary

Extend support for the HTML Media Capture "capture" attribute on <input type="file"> to desktop platforms (Windows, macOS, Linux). Currently this is only implemented on Android. On desktop, activating a file input with capture="user" or capture="environment" will open a native camera/microphone capture dialog supporting photo (JPEG), video (WebM VP8+Opus), and audio-only (WebM Opus) modes, based on the accept attribute. 

CL: https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/c/chromium/src/+/7594822 Design 

Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1p2QlRMDbHUc-GneEUuf-yHXRCqWqJijZSFD_KErqdnQ/edit?usp=sharing

Blink component

Blink>Forms

Web Feature ID

html-media-capture

Motivation

The HTML Media Capture specification defines a capture attribute on <input type="file"> that allows web pages to request media capture directly from the device's camera or microphone. While this has been supported on Android for years, desktop browsers have never implemented it. Web developers who want camera capture on desktop are forced to use the significantly more complex getUserMedia() + MediaRecorder APIs, build custom UI for camera preview and recording controls, and handle media encoding themselves. This is a high barrier for simple use cases like profile photo capture or document scanning. Implementing the existing W3C Recommendation on desktop gives developers a simple, declarative way to access camera and microphone input with a single HTML attribute.

Initial public proposal

https://www.w3.org/TR/html-media-capture

Requires code in //chrome?

False

Tracking bug

https://issues.chromium.org/issues/40291635

Estimated milestones

No milestones specified

Link to entry on the Chrome Platform Status

https://chromestatus.com/feature/5154771310870528?gate=5084104636891136

This intent message was generated by Chrome Platform Status.