Microsoft Teams gets a great free update that iPad owners will love

If you're an iPad user then it's been a good week for you. Not only has iPadOS 18.2 arrived, bringing a host of new Apple Intelligence features like Image Playground and Genmoji, but the Microsoft Teams app has also been updated to add a new feature.

As spotted by 9to5Mac, those of you who use Microsoft Teams on your tablet will now be able to connect and use an external webcam for your video calls, rather than having to use your iPad's built-in camera.

Apple announced support for external webcams connected via USB-C back in 2023 when it revealed iPadOS 17. The feature was detailed at WWDC23 and Apple released an API back then too, allowing third party app developers to work on delivering support.

It might have taken over a year for Microsoft to then bring that to the table for Teams but good things come to those who wait and here we are. In a blog post, Microsoft said: "We’ve made connecting an external camera to your iPad a seamless experience.

"With support for iOS 17, Teams users can now easily leverage the capabilities of USB-C-connected cameras for higher-quality video conferencing."

Many of the more recent iPads offer decent built-in cameras, as well as features like Center Stage that will keep you in the frame even if you move around the room on a video call. An external webcam can be beneficial if you want a higher resolution however, as well as if you want a different position for example.

The Microsoft Teams app is available for iPhone, iPad and Vision Pro and it can be downloaded from the App Store.

It requires iOS 16 or iPadOS 16, but the support for external webcams needs an iPad with USB-C – like the iPad mini (A17 Pro), iPad Air (M2), iPad Pro (M4) or iPad (10th generation) – and that device needs to be running iPadOS 17. The latest software is iPadOS 18.2.