Most of us will know that Google’s Pixel phones are considered to have the best smartphone camera. This is due to GCam which is exclusively available only on the devices of the American company. See how we can dramatically improve the quality of our mobile photography by getting GCam legally and for free.
What is Google Camera(GCam):
Google Camera, also known as Google Camera Mod or GCam, is an app that appeared in 2014 with the release of Google’s first Pixel phone.
While Pixels don’t have the most advanced camera hardware on other flagship smartphones, they’re known to produce some of the best mobile photos.
This is due to GCam’s advanced functions that noticeably improve the quality of the photo, both in the day and night shots.
The Best Features of GCam (Google Camera):
It’s my opinion you may disagree, for better results of any mobile camera, we must have Google camera app, it will not only enhance camera features but also add different features. Let’s have a look at GCam features.
- Night vision, in particular, is one of the most exciting features of the app, as it takes excellent shots even in very low-light environments. We can say that users generally prefer GCam for this feature.
- Another noticeable improvement we will see is in portrait shots and especially panoramic shots.
- Most smartphones have a panorama feature, but GCam is by far the best as it has no range limitation.
- We can take vertical, horizontal, and wide-angle panoramic shots in the full 360-degree range with Photosphere complementing the panorama function.
Of course, some smartphones already have some of these features, but GCam delivers unbeatable results in almost every area. It elevates even basic shots, thanks to automatic HDR performance even in low light.
In addition, the largest part of its menu is in English. Therefore, if we are really interested in raising the level of our mobile camera, we only need to have the appetite to practice so that we can learn it well.
Compatibility Check:
Before we can install GCam Mod on our mobile, we need to make sure that it supports Camera2 API. So, we just need to download the Camera2 API Probe free app from Play Store.
In addition, to avoid problems when viewing images from the GCam menu, we must have Google Photos installed.
The Camera2 API Probe application is very simple. Once we run it, the first screen we’ll see is our phone’s compatibility list for the Camera2API. The “Hardware Support Level” section is the critical one.
Hardware Support Level:
If we see “Level_3” or “Full” in green, then our mobile is fully compatible and GCam can be installed directly. If “Full” is green, then it supports all important features of the Camera2 API. If “Limited” is green it means very limited support of Camera2 API capabilities.
If we only see “Legacy” in green, then unfortunately our phone only supports the Camera1 API, which means we can’t take advantage of GCam. In this case, only rooting the device can give us absolute compatibility.
How do I install GCam Mod:
The latest version 8.4.6 of the app is in beta and is not included in the stable versions. However, in our tests on a Xiaomi phone, it performed very well. We download it from here.
So, if for some reason this version of GCam on mobile doesn’t work for us, then it’s easier to try the previous stable versions that are known to work on most smartphones. Also, we must remember that the latest APKs may not work on older Android versions.
Just click here, and try a suitable version.
Note: If this is the first time we download and install an APK file from a browser other than the Google play store, we must allow installation from unknown sources in the settings. If we have already installed APK from the browser on the mobile, it is most likely that we have already enabled the unknown sources.
Wrapping Up
Depending on our mobile, it is most likely that we will not need to resort to configuration files (XML) from the creators’ page on GCam Hub, where there are instructions for all mobile models. Of course, this is not the best scenario for novice users.
