Google’s been gradually pushing out the key front-facing features of its stock Android operating system as standalone apps on the Play Store, and this new release is just another step in making sure anyone with an Android-powered device can have the pure Google Experience: the new and improved Camera app, now called Google Camera, is now available for download.
The Google Camera app does away with a few things Jelly Bean users have come to either love or hate, namely the expanding half-circle touch menu and fine-tune white balance and exposure controls. Although we can’t say we’ll miss that clumsy menu interface, the omission of white balance and exposure sliders in the Google Camera app (in the name of simplifying things for the end user) makes us a little sad.
But just a little sad. with the new app, Google’s introduced Lens Blur mode, which basically interpolates several photos taken at slightly different angles into a bokeh-rich, shallow depth of field image more akin to what can be found in high-end DSLR cameras with expensive lenses. Here’s a quick comparison of a picture taken on a Nexus 4 without Lens Blur turned on:
… and another with the feature running:
It’s not going to make your not-so-great phone camera amazing (and the Nexus 4’s camera isn’t stellar at all), but it does add a nice touch of class to your images.
Google Camera also changed up the way panorama shots are taken; instead of panning from one side to the other in a continuous shot, panoramic shots are now more similar to PhotoSphere captures – take the first photo, then move the phone to line up with the guide dots til you’re done. Oh, and for non-Nexus users who haven’t used PhotoSphere yet, here’s your chance.
Apart from the new and reworked features and the cleaner interface, there isn’t much more to Google Camera right now. Of course, knowing Google, it’s only a matter of time until incremental updates start rolling out for the app. That’s pretty much what releasing a core app like this is for – you no longer have to wait for the next big Android OS rollout to get to the good stuff early.
Google Camera is available for download on Android 4.4+ (KitKat) devices on the Play Store now.
