Over the last few years, we’ve seen OEMs really put a lot of effort into improving the quality of the photos taken with smartphone cameras. Some companies have begun implementing AI into their algorithms, while others are using it to detect what is on the screen so it can adjust some settings before the photos are taken. The amount of work a camera does behind the scenes is one thing, but today we wanted to discuss what preferences you had when it comes to the number of options in the camera application itself.
When we take a look at the options that are available we notice that most companies tend to fall on one side of the spectrum or the other. We have some OEMs, such as Google and Essential, who keep their camera application software quite basic by only adding in features they feel are needed. So when we look at the camera application in the Google Pixel 2, we see options for using a timer, toggling the different HDR modes, adjusting the color temperature, and setting the type of flash you want to use (on, off, or auto).
There are some other things tucked away here, including panorama mode, creating a photosphere, portrait mode, and slow-motion mode but for the most part, Google has decided to offer the bare essentials. Then, we can look at companies like Samsung, LG, Huawei, and others to get a look at what the other side of the spectrum has to offer. Among the features already mentioned, these devices tend to also include specific shooting modes for things like food photography, sky, plants, and outdoor photography, beautification mode for selfies and much much more.
Some even take this a step further by offering tracking modes, gestures and voice commands for taking a photograph, and even the ability to toggle the video stabilization feature for those cases when you may actually want the added effect. This doesn’t even compare to the number of features that 3rd-party camera applications tend to offer either. It’s easy to tell that creating a balance between offering enough and offering too much can actually be quite difficult when you’re trying to satisfy as many people as possible.
So we wanted to reach out to the XDA community to find out what you like the most. Do you like it when camera applications offer every feature/toggle/setting possible or do you prefer it when a camera application has fewer options?