What is Google Camera?
Straight out of Google's cutting-edge research and development division, Google Camera is a camera app that first saw the light in 2014 with the launch of Google’s first Pixel phone. Although not having the most advanced camera hardware you would see in other flagship smartphones, the Pixel devices are known to produce some of the best mobile photos.
It demonstrates the need for software to harness every bit out of a phone’s camera. By supplanting your camera’s baked-in app, Google Camera allows you to tap into many advanced features, noticeably upgrading the quality of your phone’s image output.
Otherwise, known as Google Camera Mod or GCam, the app will put your smartphone’s camera to work like never before.
What Makes GCam So Good?
The following features make Google Camera so great to have:
- Slow Motion: Record video at either 120 or 240 frames per second (fps), depending on your phone’s capability. An ideal solution to create videos showing off the detail of motion, filling them with the potential to go viral.
- Motion Photos: Combining the motion of a three-second video with the phone’s optical image stabilization (OIS) and gyroscope, you can create blur-free video snapshots.
- Lens Blur: Mainly designed for portrait shots, this feature blurs the background, emphasizing and enhancing the object front and centre.
- HDR+: By cleverly employing short exposure times when taking a burst of photos, HDR+ reduces blurring, image noise, and increases dynamic range. Effectively, out of a photo set, the app takes the sharpest image, enhances it algorithmically by processing every single pixel, and picks the colour that matches the average across the photo set. Among many benefits, HDR+ enhances photos under low-light conditions the most.
- Smart Burst: With the Google Camera installed, your phone will be able to capture about ten photos per second by holding the shutter button. Upon releasing the button, the app will automatically pick the best photo out of the set. This is a great feature to have when you want to eliminate photos of people with their eyes closed!
- Video Stabilization: By using both OIS and digital video stabilization, the app processes video clips to remove shutter distortion artefacts, and corrects for focus. As a result, you can create pleasingly smooth videos that will not annoy people as you share them across social media.
- Panorama: Most cameras have a panorama feature, but GCam is better than most. Moreover, the Google Camera is not limited by degrees or angles. With it, you can take panoramic shots vertically, horizontally, and wide-angled across the entire 360 degrees span.
Some phones already have some of these features, but Google Camera delivers unrivalled results in almost every area. It upgrades even basic shots, thanks to its HDR and low light performance.
What's the best version for you?
This is not the typical app you can find on the Play Store. For example, to install, you need to download the .apk file (file format used by Android apps) and then open it with a file manager. Don't worry, it's very easy to do.
You can start by trying the Suggested Versions. These are apks/versions known to work on many devices.
Another good way to find a good version for your phone is to check forum (eg: XDA) threads or groups for your phone. I keep a list of Useful Links that you can use. These threads or groups usually talk about the best versions, limitations, fixes, etc.
You can also check the Developers page. Under each username, you'll find the phone they own. If they own the same device as you, then probably their versions will work on your phone.
After finding a working version, keep an eye on future updates from the same Modder as they are likely to be compatible with your device.
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