Best Camera Apps For Android Of 2018

Since every camera-equipped Android phone comes with a camera app, most people will never look further. But some OEMs do a better job than others at creating great apps for photography, and there are also lots of interesting and possibly important features that can only be found by using a third-party camera app. Whether you’re actively looking for one, or are simply curious about what you might be missing, here’s our guide to some of your best options. We’ll start with some things to keep in mind when selecting a camera app (or apps). First, Android comes in myriad versions, and each OEM implements them differently, on unique hardware. So, an app that works great on one device might be buggy, have poor performance, or not work at all, on another. So you’ll need to test out any apps you’re considering for yourself. Second, while many are free, some cost a few dollars. If that bugs you, look for their Lite or Trial versions to get a feel before you spring for the full version. Finally, photography on smartphones is a moving target.

OEMs release firmware to upgrade their camera’s performance that can in turn affect add-on camera apps. Android also continues to evolve. Below are some of my go-to options for camera applications on Android. I’ve placed their user rating from the Google Play store in parenthesis after each, where it is available. The “stock” camera apps that come with your phone vary widely by OEM and by specific device. Typically they don’t offer a large number of features, so you may find them limiting. If you’re reading this article, presumably you’re interested in what else is possible. Google, and Monochrome on some Huawei models. So it is worth learning what your stock Camera app does particularly well, as you may want to switch back to it for specific situations. For the adventurous, Google’s Camera app (stock on its Pixel phones) has been ported to a variety of other high-end and even some midrange phones.

Typically, though, only some functionality works, and the ports are of varying quality. I’ve used several incarnations of it on my OnePlus 5, and it’s been a mixed bag. I got to use some previously Pixel-specific features, but they didn’t always work right, so I sometimes had to switch to another camera app. Not always fun if you’re trying to quickly capture a special moment. If you’re yearning for the controls on your DSLR, then FV-5 may be for you. It not only offers many of the same manual controls you get on a standalone camera, but even uses similar icons to represent features like exposure compensation. Some nice extras are a long exposure mode and an intervalometer. The data overlays, including an optional RGB Histogram, are also helpful if you want to get the most out of your camera. If you want to feel involved with your camera app, Open Camera is unique as a full-featured, open source camera app for Android. Like many open source projects, it includes a variety of funky features like being able to use your voice to capture images — think “Cheese!

” Because the app is a small donationware effort, it doesn’t get tested on every smartphone, so you’ll have to see if it works on yours. If you’re an Adobe Cloud or Lightroom user, the Lightroom app’s Camera is a great choice. ’re more sensitive to motion in the scene or of the camera. Images you shoot with the camera in Lightroom are also automatically synced to your desktop version of Lightroom, and to your other mobile devices that use Lightroom. I had good success pairing a Pixel 2 with a Pixelbook as a complete mobile workflow, for example. Note that in the Play Store the app is called Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC. This app’s name is a pretty good description of its capabilities. It comes with tons of features, and rafts of settings screens to customize its various modes. For a while it was my go-to camera app, but it seems to have fallen behind.