**Google Camera: A Fresh and Enjoyable Experience**
The Google Camera application is a solid addition to Android devices, bringing a range of innovative features and design elements that make it easy to use and enjoyable. From its sleek interface to its user-friendly modes, this camera app is designed to be intuitive and accessible to users of all skill levels.
**Modes and Features**
One of the standout features of Google Camera is its simplicity. The app offers a range of modes, including manual exposure control, lens blur mode, and photosphere mode, which allow for more creative control over your photography. However, this simplicity also means that some users may find the app lacking in certain areas. For example, there are no filters or additional editing features available, and image stabilization is not included.
**Design Choices**
The design of Google Camera is a major part of its appeal. The app's interface is clean and minimalist, with a focus on simplicity and ease of use. This approach makes it easy to navigate the various modes and features, and the app's overall feel is one of refreshing calmness. For example, when you zoom in or out using pinch-to-zoom, you'll see two little bars at the bottom that indicate how much you've zoomed in. This subtle feature adds a touch of elegance to an otherwise straightforward interface.
**Functionality**
In terms of functionality, Google Camera delivers. The app's modes are well-implemented and easy to use, with clear instructions and visual aids to help guide you through the process. For example, when you want to view any photos you've taken, simply slide your finger to the left and the most recently taken photo will be displayed. This approach may not be for everyone, but it's certainly efficient.
**Camera Features**
The camera features in Google Camera are impressive. The app supports a range of modes, including front-facing and rear-facing cameras, as well as manual exposure control and lens blur mode. When you're in video mode, the app will try to get you to shoot in landscape mode by using a spinning icon to prevent you from shooting in portrait mode. While this may seem like a limitation, it's actually a feature that encourages users to think more carefully about their composition.
**Quick Settings and Gallery**
One of the most convenient features of Google Camera is its quick settings panel. This panel offers easy access to a range of options, including flash, exposure control, and camera mode switching. The app also includes a gallery section, where you can view and manage your photos. However, there's one important caveat: if you have an external SD card, it won't be usable for storage.
**Bugs and Limitations**
While Google Camera is generally a solid app, it's not without its limitations and bugs. Some users have reported issues with the app crashing when trying to use certain features, such as lens blur mode. Additionally, the app lacks advanced settings, which may be a disappointment for power users or those looking for more control over their photography.
**Conclusion**
Overall, Google Camera is a solid addition to Android devices. Its design is breathtakingly fresh and enjoyable, and its user-friendly modes make it easy to use for users of all skill levels. While it's not without its limitations and bugs, this app is definitely worth downloading if you're looking for something a little different in a camera application.
**Future Updates**
It's possible that future updates may address some of the limitations and bugs reported by users. In fact, Android Authority has heard rumors of an advanced settings feature that could be included in future updates. If that happens, Google Camera could become even more competitive with other camera applications on the market.
**Download Link**
If you're interested in trying out Google Camera for yourself, the download link can be found in the video description below. As always, be sure to check out our written companion article for a full breakdown of the app's features and functionality.
**Social Media Links**
For more information about Android Authority or our YouTube channel, be sure to check out our social media links in the video description below. We'd love to hear your thoughts on Google Camera and other mobile applications – be sure to subscribe to our channel and join the conversation!
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhello again ladies and gentlemen I'm Joe hindy the Android authority app guy so Google released Google camera to the Google Play store today and we're going to check it out right now okay so this is a camera app which means it does camera app things like taking videos and pictures the camera app comes with five modes including panorama mode photop sphere mode regular camera mode regular video mode and a new thing called lens blur mode the regular video and camera modes are pretty much self-explanatory Panorama and photos sphere mode are little wonky to use but once you get used to it you can take some really good photos with them it works by starting out with a single image and then you must follow the dots to create a complete Panorama or photos sphere depending on whether or not you have high quality or low quality enabled in the settings it can take a minute or two to process everything but the photos usually come out looking really good lens blur mode allows you to take a picture that keeps the subject of your photo in Focus while making the background blurry this is a popular depth of field effect that is enjoyed predominantly by people who have DSLR cameras if the blur is too much or too little you can adjust the level of blur after the photo is taken and that's really it folks there is a settings menu where you can adjust various resolutions and quality settings I wasn't able to find any options to change the storage location if you were wondering about that but essentially this is Google camera for a camera application it's fairly well-designed you can change your camera mode at any point by sliding to the right from anywhere and the modes will slide out from the left side if you want to view any photos you've taken you simply slide your finger to the left and it'll open the most recently taken photo it's worth noting that this doesn't come with a gallery application so you'll need to to supply your own or go get Google photos if you want the complete Google Experience the settings are set up in a way that is easy to understand they seem a little Bare Bones but you can adjust the front and rear facing camera resolution turn location on and off and turn on manual exposure if you need it there are other fun little design choices when you zoom in and out using pinch to zoom you see two little bars that will show you how zoomed in the camera is at the bottom are some quick setting icons for flash exposure changing from front-facing to rear-facing cameras and an icon to add a 3X3 grid panoram C mode lens blur mode and photos sphere mode are really fun and easy to use the camera guides you to taking some really good photos and although rendering and processing can take a while the results usually look quite nice the interface is really simple and easy to use you're never more than a swipe or a click away from pretty much anything inside of the application switching modes is as simple as sliding the options out and clicking on them the Quick Settings accessing the gallery and pretty much everything is right there just off screen for easy access it does what it says it does all of the features worked as intended I personally didn't experience any crashes or issues once you learn how the various modes work there shouldn't be any problems using them finally there are little design things that are just fun the Dual line Zoom meter bar thing is fun to use and when you're in video mode it'll try to get you to shoot in landscape mode by using a spinning icon to prevent you from shooting in portrait mode you can still shoot in portrait mode but let's face it no one likes it when people shoot in portrait mode and it appears as though Google is trying to remind people of that and here's what we didn't like so much its Simplicity is its greatest strength but it's also its greatest weakness if you're used to having more complicated settings of other camera applications then this is going to feel a bit lacking for some people you can't adjust ISO whitee balance there are no filters and there are no features like image stabilization it's really a pretty basic application some people have already begun experiencing some bugs there isn't a single bug that's affecting everyone but little things that are affecting a number of people one such experience that I've heard a few times is the app crashing when trying to use lens blur mode I haven't had any of these issues myself but apparently they do exist depending on your device and version of KitKat the last problem I want to talk about is the lack of options when it comes to storage if you have a device that has an external SD card like I do you cannot use it for storage in fact you can't change the storage location at all this is likely because of the KitKat SD card limitation problem that a lot of people don't like so I hope your internal memory card has enough space because that is where your photos are going to go overall this is a solid camera application it brings a lot of those Nifty Google camera only features like Photosphere to devices that don't normally have that feature available the design is breathtakingly fresh and enjoyable and nothing about Google camera is difficult to use the only issue seems to be a few bugs that people are experiencing that said I do hope more features get integrated eventually because it is very simple but almost a little too simple Rono from RS Technica did an app tear down and found code hinting to an advanced settings feature that I totally hope becomes a reality and a time-lapse feature that also sounds fairly cool here's hoping those get introduced in future updates until then Google camera is a great application as long as you keep things in perspective it doesn't give you the level of control of other applications but you really get that vibe that it's not supposed to if you're looking for something a little different in a camera application it's definitely worth downloading this one to give it a shot once again I'm Joe hendy the Android authority app guy don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel and if you want to check out Android authority myself or the rest of the video crew you can find our social media links in the video description below if you're hanging out for a minute we have a couple of Awesome videos for you to watch right over there including the best applications of March 2014 as well as jce bro's latest Android authority Q&A finally don't forget to check out the written companion in the video description below for the download link as always thank you for watching and have a wonderful dayhello again ladies and gentlemen I'm Joe hindy the Android authority app guy so Google released Google camera to the Google Play store today and we're going to check it out right now okay so this is a camera app which means it does camera app things like taking videos and pictures the camera app comes with five modes including panorama mode photop sphere mode regular camera mode regular video mode and a new thing called lens blur mode the regular video and camera modes are pretty much self-explanatory Panorama and photos sphere mode are little wonky to use but once you get used to it you can take some really good photos with them it works by starting out with a single image and then you must follow the dots to create a complete Panorama or photos sphere depending on whether or not you have high quality or low quality enabled in the settings it can take a minute or two to process everything but the photos usually come out looking really good lens blur mode allows you to take a picture that keeps the subject of your photo in Focus while making the background blurry this is a popular depth of field effect that is enjoyed predominantly by people who have DSLR cameras if the blur is too much or too little you can adjust the level of blur after the photo is taken and that's really it folks there is a settings menu where you can adjust various resolutions and quality settings I wasn't able to find any options to change the storage location if you were wondering about that but essentially this is Google camera for a camera application it's fairly well-designed you can change your camera mode at any point by sliding to the right from anywhere and the modes will slide out from the left side if you want to view any photos you've taken you simply slide your finger to the left and it'll open the most recently taken photo it's worth noting that this doesn't come with a gallery application so you'll need to to supply your own or go get Google photos if you want the complete Google Experience the settings are set up in a way that is easy to understand they seem a little Bare Bones but you can adjust the front and rear facing camera resolution turn location on and off and turn on manual exposure if you need it there are other fun little design choices when you zoom in and out using pinch to zoom you see two little bars that will show you how zoomed in the camera is at the bottom are some quick setting icons for flash exposure changing from front-facing to rear-facing cameras and an icon to add a 3X3 grid panoram C mode lens blur mode and photos sphere mode are really fun and easy to use the camera guides you to taking some really good photos and although rendering and processing can take a while the results usually look quite nice the interface is really simple and easy to use you're never more than a swipe or a click away from pretty much anything inside of the application switching modes is as simple as sliding the options out and clicking on them the Quick Settings accessing the gallery and pretty much everything is right there just off screen for easy access it does what it says it does all of the features worked as intended I personally didn't experience any crashes or issues once you learn how the various modes work there shouldn't be any problems using them finally there are little design things that are just fun the Dual line Zoom meter bar thing is fun to use and when you're in video mode it'll try to get you to shoot in landscape mode by using a spinning icon to prevent you from shooting in portrait mode you can still shoot in portrait mode but let's face it no one likes it when people shoot in portrait mode and it appears as though Google is trying to remind people of that and here's what we didn't like so much its Simplicity is its greatest strength but it's also its greatest weakness if you're used to having more complicated settings of other camera applications then this is going to feel a bit lacking for some people you can't adjust ISO whitee balance there are no filters and there are no features like image stabilization it's really a pretty basic application some people have already begun experiencing some bugs there isn't a single bug that's affecting everyone but little things that are affecting a number of people one such experience that I've heard a few times is the app crashing when trying to use lens blur mode I haven't had any of these issues myself but apparently they do exist depending on your device and version of KitKat the last problem I want to talk about is the lack of options when it comes to storage if you have a device that has an external SD card like I do you cannot use it for storage in fact you can't change the storage location at all this is likely because of the KitKat SD card limitation problem that a lot of people don't like so I hope your internal memory card has enough space because that is where your photos are going to go overall this is a solid camera application it brings a lot of those Nifty Google camera only features like Photosphere to devices that don't normally have that feature available the design is breathtakingly fresh and enjoyable and nothing about Google camera is difficult to use the only issue seems to be a few bugs that people are experiencing that said I do hope more features get integrated eventually because it is very simple but almost a little too simple Rono from RS Technica did an app tear down and found code hinting to an advanced settings feature that I totally hope becomes a reality and a time-lapse feature that also sounds fairly cool here's hoping those get introduced in future updates until then Google camera is a great application as long as you keep things in perspective it doesn't give you the level of control of other applications but you really get that vibe that it's not supposed to if you're looking for something a little different in a camera application it's definitely worth downloading this one to give it a shot once again I'm Joe hendy the Android authority app guy don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel and if you want to check out Android authority myself or the rest of the video crew you can find our social media links in the video description below if you're hanging out for a minute we have a couple of Awesome videos for you to watch right over there including the best applications of March 2014 as well as jce bro's latest Android authority Q&A finally don't forget to check out the written companion in the video description below for the download link as always thank you for watching and have a wonderful day\n"
