Apple faces a lawsuit in a New Jersey federal court over its Continuity Camera feature. Reincubate, the London-based company behind the Camo app, claims Apple copied its patented technology and built it into iOS to push users toward Apple’s own ecosystem.
What the lawsuit alleges
Reincubate released Camo in 2020. The app lets users turn iPhones and Android phones into webcams for desktop video calls. Two years later, Apple launched Continuity Camera in iOS 16. The feature allows iPhones to act as wireless webcams for nearby Macs signed into the same Apple Account.
According to the complaint, Apple did not just build a similar feature. Reincubate argues that Apple encouraged the company to develop and promote Camo for iOS, then used shared information to design Continuity Camera.
“Apple actively cultivated a relationship of trust with Reincubate, induced the company to share technical details, beta builds, and market data, and leveraged that privileged access to inform its own development of Continuity Camera.”
Reincubate describes Apple’s behavior as “Sherlocking,” a term developers use when Apple adds system features that replicate third-party apps and weaken their businesses.
“Rather than competing with us, Apple deployed a series of obstacles to tilt the playing field, infringed our IP, and did so in service of preventing competition from rival platforms,” said Reincubate CEO Aidan Fitzpatrick.
Apple’s response and antitrust claims
Apple rejected the allegations and said it developed the camera features internally.
“Apple competes fairly while respecting the intellectual property rights of others, and these camera features were developed internally by Apple engineers.”
Beyond patent infringement, the lawsuit includes antitrust claims. Reincubate argues that Apple locks users into its ecosystem and makes it harder for them to switch to competing platforms. The company seeks monetary damages and court orders to stop what it calls Apple’s anti-competitive conduct.
The case adds to ongoing scrutiny of how Apple integrates new features into iOS and macOS, especially when those features overlap with independent developer apps.
