GCam FAQs and Troubleshooting Tips

Looking to get the most out of your Google Camera (GCam) but don’t know where to start? Here, we have provided a comprehensive guide on GCam FAQs and Troubleshooting Tips. Read on to learn more about using the GCam and getting the best results out of it.

Which version should I use?

You need to go with the latest version of the GCam port to enjoy. But depending on your smartphone’s android version, you can go with the older version.

How to Install GCam?

There is fantastic and good google camera software on the internet, but if you are looking for a way to install the GCam, we suggest you check out the complete guide to install this apk file.

Can’t Install the App (App Not Installed)?

The app might not be compatible with your android phone replace it with the stable version in case the file is corrupted. But if you are already installed any GCam port first, remove it first to get a fresh one.

What are Package Names (multiple apps in one release)?

Usually, you will find different modders that launched the same version with various names. If you notice that the versions are the same, the package slightly differs since the developer fixed bugs and added new features to the apk.

A package name determined which smartphone the apk is designed for. For example, the org.codeaurora.snapcam is a whitelist for the OnePlus phone, so it’s recommended for the OnePlus device in the first place. If you find Samsung’s name in the package, the app will work pretty well with Samsung phones.

With the different versions, you can check out a wide range of features and compare the results side by side easily.

What Package Name should the User need to Pick?

There’s no thumb rule for choosing the package name, what matter is the GCam version. Generally, you should go with the first apk from the list since will be the latest version with fewer bugs and a better UI experience. However, if that apk doesn’t work in your case, you can switch to the next one.

As we have said before, if the package name has a snapcam or snap, it would work great with OnePlus, while the name Samsung, will smoothly work with Samsung phones effortlessly.

On the other hand, there are brands like Xiaomi or Asus, and many custom ROMs that don’t fall into the restriction category and allow the usage of any package name to access all of the cameras of the phone without many issues.

App crashing just after being opened?

The hardware incompatibility crashes the app, Camera2 API is not enabled on your phone, the version is made for a different phone, the android update doesn’t support GCam, and many more.

Let’s dive into each reason to overcome that problem.

• Compatibility with your Hardware:

There are numerous smartphones that don’t support the Google camera software due to hardware limitations. However, you can try out the GCam Go port that is designed for entry-level and older-generation phones.

• Don’t support Phone’s Settings:

If the GCam stop working after adding a config file or changing the settings, then you need to reset the app data and try to reinstall the app to avoid the crashing problem.

• Camera2 API is working or Limited:

The Camera2 API is one of the key factors of the GCam port crash. If those APIs are disabled in your phone are only have limited access, in that case, you can’t download the google camera software. However, you can try to enable those API by rooting guide.

• App version is Not Compatible:

It doesn’t matter whether you have the latest Android version. Still, some apk files won’t work in your case. So, we would recommend you choose the best version according to your smartphone model for a stable and convenient photography experience.

App Crashing after Taking Pictures?

There are multiple reasons for that happening on your device. But if you are facing the same problem most often, we suggest you should check out the following causes:

• Motion Photo: This feature is unstable in many smartphones, so disable it to easily use the app.
• Incompatible features: The phone hardware and processing power depending on whether the GCam will work or fail.

We recommend you go with a different google camera app so that you can enjoy those features easily. But if it doesn’t fix those errors, we recommend you ask those questions on the official forum.

Can’t view Photos/Videos from inside GCam?

In general, the Gcam will usually need a proper gallery app that will save all of your photos and videos. But sometimes those gallery apps don’t sync precisely with the GCam, and due to this, you won’t able to see your recent photos or videos. However, the best option would be that you download the Google Photo app to overcome this issue.

HDR Modes and How to Fix Overexposed Photos

There are HDR modes that you will find in the Google camera settings:

• HDR Off/Disable – You will get the standard camera quality.
• HDR On – This is an auto mode so you will receive good camera results and it works fast.
• HDR Enhanced – It’s a forced HDR feature that allows capturing better camera results, but it’s slightly slower.

There are a few versions that support HDRnet which replaced those three modes that are mentioned in the above section. Anyway, if you want faster results go with HDR On, but if you want to obtain the best quality results use HDR Enhanced with the slower image processing speed.

Stuck in HDR processing?

This problem arises because of the following reasons:

• Using an outdated Gcam over the latest Android version.
• The Gcam processing stopped/slowdown by some intervention.
• You are not using the original application.

If you are using the older GCam, switch to the GCam 7 or GCam 8 for better results on your Android 10+ phone.

Sometimes smartphone brands trigger background usage limitations, which could problems with HDR processing. In that case, it’s recommended to turn off the battery optimization aka battery saver mode from the phone settings.

Lastly, you are not using the original version of the app, instead, you are using the cloned app, which might cause trouble in the camera processing. In that situation, the camera app screen will be stuck, but worry not, you can download the official apk version to avoid this trouble.

Slow motion issues?

This feature is often broken or doesn’t provide satisfactory results, and it only works with a handful of smartphones. In the older Gcam version, you will find the frame number, such as 120FPS, or 240FPS, in the settings menu so that you can change the speed according to your needs. In the new version, you will find the speed option in the viewfinder to adjust the slow motion.

However, if it doesn’t work in your case, then you should use the Open Camera app: Install it → Settings → Camera API → Choose Camera2 API. Now, go to the video mode and reduce the speed by 0.5 to 0.25 or 0.15.

Note: This feature is broken in the GCam 5, while it will be stable if you are using port GCam 6 or above.

How to use Astrophotography

Simply open the google camera app and go to the settings to enable Astrophotography. Now, this mode will be forcefully active when you are using the night sight.

In some versions, you won’t find this option in the setting menu, you can directly use it from the Night sight mode. Though, it will work only if the device is not moving.

How to use Motion Photos?

Motion Photos is a perk that allows users to create a small video before and after they have to take a picture. It is something like GIF, which usually can access through Google Photos.

Requirements

• Generally, you will need the Google Photo app to see those photos.
• GCam versions that support these features such as GCam 5.x or above.
• Make sure the device got an Android 8 or above update.
• This feature will work only when you have enabled HDR On.

Limitations

• The video will only work if you are using Google Photos, but you won’t be able to share it on WhatsApp or Telegram.
• Usually, the file size is quite big, so turn off the features if you want to save storage.

How to Use it

Open the google camera app, and click on the motion photo icon to record the picture easily to crop out the best results. In some versions, you will find this feature in the settings.

Crashes

In general, the google camera app and UI camera app are different and due to this, the GCam crashes while using Motion photos. Sometimes, it’s also not possible to record full resolution.

There is some version that comes with a pre-set resolution that can’t be changed, while it sometimes depends on the processing power of the phone. Perhaps you might not need to go through different versions to avoid experiencing the crashes.

If you still experiencing those crash problems, the last solution would be to turn off this feature for good.

How to Use Multiple Cameras?

There are a handful of the GCam version that comes with front and rear camera support, which also includes the secondary camera such as the wide angle, telephoto, depth, and macro lens. Though, the support depends on the smartphone and requires third-party app camera apps to access them precisely.

All you need to do is access the AUX features from the camera setting menu so that you can switch between different lenses without any problem.

What’s AUX, etc in the Google Camera?

The AUX, also known as the auxiliary camera, is a feature that configures Google camera to the usage of the multiple camera setup, in case the device offers. With this, you will obtain a wide range of photography perks under the hood as you can also use secondary lenses to capture your precious life moments.

If the AUX settings are enabled in your phone, you have to root and flash the AUX camera enabler module to enjoy all of the camera lens usage.

HDRnet / Instantaneous HDR: Quality and overheating

The new HDRnet algorithm is available in some of the GCam versions. It works the same as the HDR behind the scenes and provides better results.

With this feature, the app is allowed to constantly take a picture from the background and when you have captured a photo, it will add all of those previous frames to create the final product.

Though there are a few downsides to using this compared to the HDR+ Enhanced. It will reduce the quality of the dynamic range, will squish out more battery life, and overheating issues can be seen in older phones, while. But the worst part about this is that you will notice those older frames and it might give completely different results from what you have clicked.

It’s a not profitable trade-off since it might make the process faster, but the quality is slightly mid. It might even struggle to give the same results as the HDR+ ON or HDR+ Enhanced.

Test this feature over your phone, if the hardware support it completely, then it would not be a problem. But if you are not seeing any particular improvement, disable this feature for stable usage.

What are “Lib Patcher” and “Libs”

Both of them are developed to adjust the noise level and details in contrast to the colors, and smoothness, while at the same time removing/adding shadow brightness, and many more things. Some version completely supports both Lib Patcher and Libs, whereas some only support one or none. To use these features, exploring the Gcam settings menu would be recommended.

• Libs: It modifies the image quality, details, contrast, etc, and is developed by the modder. Though, there can’t manually change those modification values.
• Lib Patcher: Like Libes, it’s also created by a third-party developer. In this feature, you are required to find the best value for the hardware of different camera sensors. Depending on your personal preferences, you can choose more detailed photos or smooth photos according to your needs.

Why can’t I load libs?

There are few GCam version that fully supports libs, while most often you will get default libs in the regular app. Generally, those files get updated without a problem and are stored locally. Click on Get updates to download the libs data. If nothing happens, it means the download is failed, click on get updates again.

There’s a high chance that you might not be connected to the internet, and the app might not have permission to the Internet. If everything is fine from your end again later after some time, open Github.com to get more information. On the other hand, if you want to use this feature, we suggest downloading the Parrot version of google camera.

How to use Playground / AR Stickers

If your device supports the ARCore, you can officially use the Playground features from the google camera app. Simply download Google Play Services for AR on your phone, and open the AR sticker or Playground to tweak those 3D models in your device.

On the other hand, if your device doesn’t support the ARcore, you have manually download those modules, which eventually leads to rooting the device. However, we won’t recommend it do it in the first place.

You can check out this guide for using AR sticker features.

How to Load and Export Google Camera Settings (xml/gca/config files)

We have covered all of the information in the main article, so do check out how to load and save .xml files for GCams.

Fix for Black and White Pictures

This problem can be fixed by a quick visit to the settings menu and applying the changes while restarting the application would be the best solution.

What’s “Sabre”?

The Sabre is a merge method built by Google that enhances the overall camera quality of some modes such as the Nigh sight by adding more detail and improving the sharpness of the photos. There are a few people who call it “super-resolution” as it allows you to enhance details in each shot, while it can also be used in HDR and reducing pixels in zoomed photos.

It is supported by the RAW10, but with other RAW formats, the google camera will crash after taking photos. Overall, these features don’t work with all of the camera sensors, so if you are facing any problems disable Sabre and restart the app for a smooth experience.

What’s “Shasta”?

This factor affects the image quality while taking lowlight photos. It can also help in precisely controlling the green noise that appears in the picture, and higher values will also give decent results with the astrophotography mode.

What’s “PseudoCT”?

It’s a toggle that generally manages the AWB and helps in enhancing the color temperature.

What’s “Google AWB”, “Pixel 3 AWB”, etc?

The Pixel 3 AWB is developed by BSG and Savitar so that the GCam can maintain the same auto white balance (AWB) as the Pixel phones color calibration instead of using the native camera app info provided by the smartphone.

There are some apps that come with Google AWB or Pixel 2 AWB in the settings menu. Although, it makes the photos look more realistic by adding natural colors with proper white balance. But, everyone has different tastes, so test this feature and see whether it’s worth using for you or not.

How to use GCam without GApps?

There are smartphone makers such as Huawei that don’t support google play services, which means that you can’t run the GCam over those phones. However, you can find a loop whole by using the microG or Gcam service provider apps so that you can run Google proprietary libraries and simulate the process that is necessary to run google camera.

What’s “Hot Pixel Correction”?

The Hot Pixels usually refer to the red or white dots on the pixel plate of the picture. With these features, the number of hot pixels on a picture can be reduced to some extent.

What’s “Lens Shading Correction”?

It helps in fixing the dark area that is present at the center of the picture, which is also known as vignetting.

What’s “Black Level”?

Generally, it is used to improve the lowlight photos results and the custom black level value can fix green or pink pictures easily. Plus, there is some version that offers custom values to further enhance each color channel such as Dark Green, Light Green, Blue, Crimson Red, Blue, etc.

What’s “Hexagon DSP”?

It’s an image processor for some of the SoCs (processors) and it improves processing power by utilizing less battery life. When you will leave it ON, it will increase the performance speed, but in some smartphones, it doesn’t work properly.

You will find various apps with the tag of NoHex, while some apps allow it to enable or disable Hexagon DSP according to the user’s wish.

What’s a “Buffer fix”?

The buffer fix is usually used to fix the viewfinder lags that might appear on some phones. But on the other hand, the primary downside of using this option would be that you have to double-click on the shutter to click a picture.

What’s “Pixel 3 Color Transform”?

It works for creating the DNG Images, which will eventually help in changing the colors slightly. The codes cameraAPI2 SENSOR_COLOR_TRANSFORM1 will be replaced with SENSOR_COLOR_TRANSFORM2 of Pixel 3.

What’s an “HDR+ underexposure Multiplier”?

This feature allows users to modify the exposure, while you can set the HDR+ underexposure multiplier between 0% to 50% and test which value gives great results on your smartphone.

What’s “Default GCam CaptureSession”?

This feature is enabled for Android 9+ phones, and it is used for captures images through the camera or reprocessed the previously captured image from the camera in the exact same session. Knows more details, visit the official site.

What are “HDR+ Parameters”?

The HDR works by merging different numbers of photos or frames to give the final results. With this feature, you can even select up to 36 frames parameter to capture the final picture via the Google camera app. The Higher value gives improved results. But it slows down the processing speed, we the best option would be between 7~12 frames be enough for usual photography.

“Autoexposure correction” and “Correction Night Sight”

Both of the terms mean that you can adjust and control the shutter speed while taking lowlight photos. With a long shutter speed, you will get better results in the exposure. But these perks only work on a handful of phones, and most often, it crashes the app.

Portrait Mode vs Lens Blur

The lens blur is an older technology that used to work to click bokeh effect photos, it works great with objects. But sometimes, the results are not satisfying as it worsens the edge detection, and a few times it even blurred the main object. After, the portrait mode launched with better edge detection. Some of the version offers both features for detailed results.

What’s “Recompute AWB”?

The Recompute Auto White Balance is pretty similar to other AWB settings, but there are limited devices that are compatible with the features. You can see the difference by enabling various AWB settings to see contrasting results. Depending on the GCam, you may need to disable other AWB settings to work with this feature.

What’s “Select iso Priority”?

Recently, google release this code that nobody has known what it performs. But it seems that it affects the viewfinder configuration, avoid this since it’s not that useful for photography.

What’s “Metering mode”?

This feature is designed to measure the light of the scenes on the viewfinder, while it doesn’t impact the final photos. But it will affect the viewfinder area which is brighter or darker.

Some of the variants offer multiple functions for the metering mode, while some might not work depending on the hardware and software configuration of your phone.

How to Change your Phone’s Fingerprint?

Install the MagiskHide Props Config module from the magisk manager and reboot the phone. Afterward, follow this guide. (Note: It’s a step-by-step video on how to change your phone’s fingerprint to google).

What’s Video Bitrate?

The video bitrate means the number of bits per second on a video. The higher the bitrate is, the bigger files and excellent video quality will appear. However, weak hardware will struggle to play higher bitrate videos. To know more about this top, read this Wikipedia page.

You will find some Google camera mods that offer the power to change the video bitrate. Generally, this setting is set on default or auto, which is more than enough for regular usage. But if the video quality is not decent, then you can change the value to get better results.

Is it Possible to Improve Processing Speed?

The google camera mods take multiple photos or frames to create the final results with the best quality, which is known as HDR. Depending on your smartphone processor, it will take roughly 5 to 15 seconds to remove that processing notification.

The higher processing speed processor will grant photos fasters, but an average chipset might definitely take some time to process images.

What’s “Face Warping”?

The Face Warping correction features on the Google camera render correct lens distortion when the face of the subject is distorted. You can enable or disable features according to your need.

What’s JPG Quality, JPG Compression, etc?

JPG is a lossy image format that detremine the image filze size. If the file is under 85%, it won’t consume much less than 2MB, but once you have crossed that limit, at 95%, the image file size would become 6MB.

If you are using the JPG quality feature, you will get a compressed image size with low resolution and fewer details. It will solve the storage space constraint.

But if you value the overall better camera quality with lots of details in each show, you should be the low JPG compression options (High JPG quality).

What’s “instant_aec”?

The instant_aec is the camera2 API code for the Qualcomm chipset device. Though there isn’t much information about this available. But in particular, it improves the image quality of some devices, but it does not apply to all smartphones as well as other versions. If you want to test it, you can freely do it whenever you want.

Usually, there are three settings present in the AEC backend of the Arnova8G52 version, which are denoted as follows:

0 – Disable

1 – Set aggressive AEC algo to the backend

2 – Set fast AEC algo to the backend

How to Fix Green/Pink Blurred Photos?

This problem occurs when the GCam model is not supported by your smartphone camera. It’s common that usually appears on the front camera.

The best way to overcome the green or pink blur on photos would be to change the model to Pixel(default) to Nexus 5 or something else, restart the app and try again.

Missing or Deleted Photos Bug

By default, the photos are stored in the /DCIM/Camera folder. Plus, some Gcam ports permit users to save them in the main share folder. This folder name changed from dev to dev.

But if the bug has deleted your photos, there are no changes to restoring them. So avoid using the shared folder and use the default option.

Sometimes, it’s the smartphone’s fault because android don’t able to scan storage for new files. If you’re using a third-party file manager, it might also delete those files. Remove the app that automatically deletes your photos or files in some way. If all of those factors are not responsible, then we recommend to you report this problem to the developer.

What’s DCI-P3?

The DCI-P3 technology is developed by Apple, which boosts the vibrant colors and renders amazing photos results. Some variations offer the DCI-P3 options in the settings menu for better colors and contrast to take the best images without any problem.

You can learn more bout those color spaces through this dedicated Wikipedia page regarding the DCI-P3.

Can GCam save Photos/Videos to the SD Card?

No, the google camera setup doesn’t give any superpower to save your photos or videos directly to the secondary storage, aka SD card. The reason for that is the camera app doesn’t provide such settings in the first place.

However, there’s no harm in using third-party apps to move the files according to your desire.

How do Mirror Selfies?

It’s not possible to mirror selfies in the older generation GCam mods. But with the launch of the Google Camera 7 and above variants, this option is available in the settings menu. With this, you can mirror your photos without using any 3rd party photo editing app.

How to Save Portrait Mode Photos in the Main Folder?

If you are using any modded GCam, you can check out About > Advanced settings too if there’s any option regarding saving your phone. It would be something like saved inside the main /DCIM/Camera directory. Though, this feature is not stable in all of the GCams, so there’s a high chance that you might lose your saved portrait photos. Therefore think twice before you enable this setting.

On the other hand, you can choose a third-party app from the XDA developer site and save your favorite portrait-mode photos.

Differences Between GCam 5, 6, 7, etc

In the old days, whenever google released a new smartphone the major google camera version was released at that time. However, with the yearly update policy, some of the features become accessible for non-Google phones since a significant amount of work will perform through software.

Though all features are not available to other brands of smartphone because everything depends on how the feature will work, the hardware, and does the OS(ROM) support it. For many people, new features are looking a good deal till they support the older version of the GCam mods. Besides this, there are factors like compatibility, quality, and stability that matter the most.

Plus, the latest version might not be the best deal for many smartphones. If you are curious to know all of the updates, you can visit sites like 9to5Google, XDA Developers, and many more to grasp more details since they frequently release articles regarding the changes and new features of the GCam. Lastly, not all versions will work with non-Google smartphones so choose the best version according to your needs.

Some Articles about each Version:

Google Camera 8.x:

• 8.1: link
• 8.2: link
• 8.3: link
• 8.4: link
• 8.5: link
• 8.6: link, link
• 8.6: link, link

Google Camera 7.x:

• 7.0: Post 1
• 7.1: Post 2
• 7.1: Post 3
• 7.0: Post 4
• 7.3: Post 5
• 7.5: Post 6

Google Camera 6.x:

• Post 1
• Post 2
• Post 3
• Post 4
• Post 5

Google Camera 5.x:

• Post 1

Forum threads, telegram help groups, etc

You can check out this page to get more information regarding telegram groups, and other useful links and tools for the port.

Moreover, the XDA developer forum would be the best place where you will find people who are using the same port or have a similar smartphone.

How to Save Error logs?

If you want to share error logs with the developer, you can save the error log through MatLog. Though, it will require root permission. You can check out this full guide to do so.

How create app clones?

You can follow the guide on how to clone app of Google Camera app. Or you simply download App cloner and use the duplicate app.

What’s Camera Go / GCam Go?

Camera Go is designed for entry-level smartphones in which you won’t find as many features as the original google camera app. But instead, you will obtain proper stability with improved camera quality on the regular basis with this app. Some brands feature this app as the stock camera application.

Plus, the positive point about the Camera Go is that it even runs without camera2 API< which is necessary for the GCam.

• Check out the list of working Gcam Go Ports: