The Google Pixel smartphone series has a special application for taking photos which is one of its best features, the Google Camera . Until a few years ago, this was an application that could be downloaded from the Play Store for all Android smartphones, until Google decided to reserve it only for its phones.
The Google Camera app on Pixel 4 has many unique features that make it the absolute best for taking photos from an Android phone.
To begin with, it uses artificial intelligence to post-process a photo, giving better results. Another unique feature of this application is the HDR + Enhance Mode, which takes multiple shots and combines them using machine learning, with a better result than any other application. Astrophotography mode allows you to take photos of stars using your phone with clear images of the night sky. The Super Zoom also allows you to enlarge a shot without any loss of quality. Finally, it allows you to record high quality video in H.264 / HEVC video format, without taking up too much space.
Other functions are those of lens blur, Photosphere and other manual adjustments of Google Camera described in another article.
Anyone who wants to can try it on another smartphone with Android 9 (The Google Camera 7 version works from the Android version 9 and later) can download the Google Camera APK file from the APKmirror website and proceed with the manual installation of the app from the APK file, although it is not said that it will work because, almost certainly, the hardware is not compatible or the necessary Camera2 API is missing.
To see if an Android smartphone supports the Camera2 API, you can install the Camera2 API Probe app (free) from the Play Store. Once the app is installed and started, go to the Camera 2 API tab and check the Hardware Support Level line . If the following are all green, then the Google Camera app works, otherwise there may be limitations.
The meaning of the inscriptions is: LEGACY : API Camera1 support, LIMITED : support for some, but not all, API Camera2 features, FULL : full support for API Camera2, LEVEL_3, support for RAW image acquisition and other advanced features.
NOTE: If even with the support for the Camera2 API the app doesn't work, then you need to activate it. To do this, you need to root the phone (which may not be simple) and edit the build.prop file within the system through the Buildprop Editor application. Through this application you have to add, at the end of the build.prop file, the line: persist.camera.HAL3.enabled = 1 .
Once the Camera2 API is enabled on your phone, or if it was already compatible, you can download the right version of the Camera app thanks to some developers who have created modified Google Camera APK files, created specifically for some models. Unfortunately, this special and particular application does not have standard settings so on some phones it can work completely, in others not at all while still others may lack some of its features or it can crash from time to time.
On this page you can download the recommended versions to download depending on the Android version of the phone.
For Samsung S and Note smartphones you can download the Google Camera application from the following link
For OnePlus smartphones you can download Google Camera from this link
On Xiaomi devices there is a special version of Google Camera downloadable at this link
Other versions working on other smartphone models can instead be downloaded from this page.
If you cannot download and install the Google Camera app on your phone, in another article we have seen the best camera apps for Android
The Google Camera app on Pixel 4 has many unique features that make it the absolute best for taking photos from an Android phone.
To begin with, it uses artificial intelligence to post-process a photo, giving better results. Another unique feature of this application is the HDR + Enhance Mode, which takes multiple shots and combines them using machine learning, with a better result than any other application. Astrophotography mode allows you to take photos of stars using your phone with clear images of the night sky. The Super Zoom also allows you to enlarge a shot without any loss of quality. Finally, it allows you to record high quality video in H.264 / HEVC video format, without taking up too much space.
Other functions are those of lens blur, Photosphere and other manual adjustments of Google Camera described in another article.
Download Google Camera for other smartphones
The latest version of the official Google Camera application is pre-installed on Pixel smartphones and is not available for download from other phones. What can be found in the Google store, therefore, cannot be downloaded unless you have a Google phone.Anyone who wants to can try it on another smartphone with Android 9 (The Google Camera 7 version works from the Android version 9 and later) can download the Google Camera APK file from the APKmirror website and proceed with the manual installation of the app from the APK file, although it is not said that it will work because, almost certainly, the hardware is not compatible or the necessary Camera2 API is missing.
Check if the smartphone is compatible with API Camera2
The Camera2 API is a framework that allows developers to gain access to granular camera controls such as exposure, focus or ISO, which they can then insert into their apps in the form of advanced features. Google Camera uses some complex algorithms and artificial intelligence functions in its app to capture beautiful photos using the Camera2 API.To see if an Android smartphone supports the Camera2 API, you can install the Camera2 API Probe app (free) from the Play Store. Once the app is installed and started, go to the Camera 2 API tab and check the Hardware Support Level line . If the following are all green, then the Google Camera app works, otherwise there may be limitations.
The meaning of the inscriptions is: LEGACY : API Camera1 support, LIMITED : support for some, but not all, API Camera2 features, FULL : full support for API Camera2, LEVEL_3, support for RAW image acquisition and other advanced features.
NOTE: If even with the support for the Camera2 API the app doesn't work, then you need to activate it. To do this, you need to root the phone (which may not be simple) and edit the build.prop file within the system through the Buildprop Editor application. Through this application you have to add, at the end of the build.prop file, the line: persist.camera.HAL3.enabled = 1 .
Once the Camera2 API is enabled on your phone, or if it was already compatible, you can download the right version of the Camera app thanks to some developers who have created modified Google Camera APK files, created specifically for some models. Unfortunately, this special and particular application does not have standard settings so on some phones it can work completely, in others not at all while still others may lack some of its features or it can crash from time to time.
On this page you can download the recommended versions to download depending on the Android version of the phone.
For Samsung S and Note smartphones you can download the Google Camera application from the following link
For OnePlus smartphones you can download Google Camera from this link
On Xiaomi devices there is a special version of Google Camera downloadable at this link
Other versions working on other smartphone models can instead be downloaded from this page.
If you cannot download and install the Google Camera app on your phone, in another article we have seen the best camera apps for Android
