To be updated independently of Android, gaining custom filter support
The Android camera app will soon be split off into the Google Play Store and is looking to get an update with a refreshed UI and new effects. Manufacturers have put a lot of effort into expanding the capabilities of their camera apps in recent years — just see the Duo Camera and its crazy effects in the HTC One M8 — and Google understandably wants to make sure that their offering is able to keep up. According to Engadget, Google plans to do just that by splitting the camera app itself out of Android and updating it through Google Play.
So you won’t have to wait for the next version of Android to get new effects like background blurring and improved panorama and photosphere modes. Additionally, it’s reported that the app update will bring a new viewfinder that offers a full view of the camera’s sensor instead of the cropped-to-fit-your-screen view that you currently get.
But wait, there’s more! Engadget also reports that Google intends to make the Android camera app extensible with the ability to add in custom third-party filters.
Extracting the camera app from Android itself isn’t all that surprising, though it’s been a long time coming. Google’s previously done this with Google Music, the Google Now Launcher, and the Android Calendar app, among others. Doing so allows Google to update the apps independently of the OS, taking the manufacturers and their slow customized updates and the carriers and their ponderous testing out of the equation.
We don’t have an ETA on when the updated camera app will hit. In the meantime, tell us, what would you most like to see improved in the Android camera app?
Source: Engadget