How to download the Google Camera app on your phone

How to download the Google Camera app on your phone

Get the HDR capabilities of your Pixel phone without buying it.

One of the most significant developments in the Android world in recent years has been the release of the latest Google Camera app for Google Android phones.

The latest version of the Google Camera app is optimized to work only on Google Nexus and Pixel phones running Android 7.1.1 and later.

The reason the app is so exciting is that Google developers have integrated some of the most advanced image processing technologies. For this reason, many app developers have been working on porting a version of the Google Camera app that will also work on phones from other manufacturers.

The information below should apply no matter who made your Android phone: Samsung, Google, Huawei, Xiaomi, etc.

Why is the Google Camera app so great?

While the camera hardware on phones like the Google Pixel isn’t the best in the smartphone industry, the advanced features built into the Google Camera app allow Pixel and Nexus photos to take some of the best photos of any Android phone to date. 

The features of the Google Camera app include:

  • HDR+ . The software captures a series of photos with a short exposure time. It then takes the sharpest image, algorithmically processes each pixel, and adjusts the color to be closer to the average color for all photos in the series. This reduces blur and noise, and increases the overall dynamic range of the photo, even in low light.
  • movement. When motion is enabled, the Google Camera app captures a three-second video clip of the motion scene and combines it with the gyroscope and optical image stabilization (OIS) from the phone itself. Using both sets of data, the algorithm produces a sharp image without the typical motion distortion.
  • video stabilization. The Google Camera app uses a combination of optical and digital image stabilization (called Smooth Video Stabilization) to fix focus issues and shutter distortion. The result is an impressively smooth video, even when you’re filming while walking.
  • Intelligent Flash.If you hold down the shutter button, the Google Camera app will take approximately 10 shots per second. As soon as you release the button, the app will highlight the best picture in the batch. This is a great technique for group photos to avoid blinking while shooting.
  • Lens blur (portrait mode). ideal for close-up portrait shots. This feature blurs the background to improve the focus on the foreground of the subject or person you are photographing.
  • Popularized by Facebook posts made by Android users when it first came out, panorama mode lets you tilt and pan your camera to take multiple shots around you. The Google Camera app then creates impressive horizontal, vertical, wide-angle, or spherical panoramic images.
  • slow motion. Shoot video at 120 or 240 fps if your phone’s camera allows it.

How to install the Google Camera app

Installing one of the Google Camera ports on your phone is very easy. The hard part is finding a port for your phone.

XDA developers have organized a Google Port Port Hub where you can check if there is a port for your Android phone.

You will find downloads for:

  • Asus
  • significant
  • HTC
  • Lenovo
  • LG
  • Motorola
  • Nokia
  • OnePlus
  • Razer
  • Samsung galaxy
  • Xiaomi

Basically, only new models with Android 7.1.1 or later are available.

Once you find a port available for your phone, save it to your computer. Since you can’t download it from Google Play, you need to download the app on your phone.

This is how you download the Google Camera app on your phone:

  1. Connect your phone to your computer via USB and copy the file to your phone’s Download folder.

    Note : You don’t need to use USB to download the app. Any way to transfer the app from your computer to your phone will work. This may include using a Wi-Fi FTP app or transferring the APK file to Google Drive and then to the phone.

  1. On your phone, open the download folder using the file manager.

    Before installing the APK file, you must enable the installation of applications from unknown sources. You can do this by going to Settings > Security and enabling Unknown Sources.

  1. Finally, click the APK file to install the Google Camera app.

  1. Once the Google Camera app is installed, you can find it in your app list to open and try it out.

The performance of the Google Camera app on your phone

Please be aware that the Google Pixel Camera app was written with specific camera specifications in mind, so you may notice some slight differences from the Google Pixel Camera app as described above.

This is because in order to port the app to the version that runs on your particular Android phone, the developers have adapted the app to only use features that are compatible with your phone’s actual camera.

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