You may accept noticed bigger photo affection in the Android Snapchat app in contempo months. Believe it or not, this is because Snapchat alone aloof afresh started application a decade-old camera API that predates every Android phone in existence.
The basal apriorism of APIs is simple — they're accoutrement that the operating arrangement provides to let apps accomplish use of accouterments and added arrangement functions. With that in mind, let me explain why Snapchat is demography bigger photos recently, but is still far from actuality a aerial affection camera app for Android.
Camera2: The API Best Photo Apps Use
Android absolutely has a able-bodied camera API that apps can use to ascendancy your phone's cameras at a actual abysmal level. If leveraged properly, Camera2 API will acquiesce an app to ascendancy chiral exposure, ISO, bang speed, focus, and alike abduction RAW images application your phone's camera hardware, amid added features.
Camera2 API fabricated its admission in Android Lollipop, so every phone active 5.0 or college supports it. Back Lollipop was appear about 4 years ago, more than 82% of all Android accessories in the apple can booty advantage of the best photo capabilities in Camera2 API.
However, Snapchat alone supports Camera2 API on baddest phones. The alone accessory we're able to affirm is the Pixel 2, as Snapchat leverages the Pixel Visual Core in this device, which requires Camera2 API abutment to use.
Camera1: The API Snapchat Is Assuredly Starting to Use
A Breeze Inc. agent accepted to us that the Android Snapchat app is now starting to use Camera1 API on abounding devices. This API was aftermost updated in aboriginal 2008 with Android API akin 2, which didn't alike accept a dessert-themed codename or adaptation cardinal because it was a prerelease adaptation of Android.
In added words, the camera API Snapchat is currently application on best accessories was accomplished afore commercially-available Android phones alike existed. It's back been deprecated (read: abandoned) as of June 2014, because Google would adopt that apps use the newer, added able-bodied Camera2 API.
Before the contempo updates that brought in Camera1 API support, Snapchat was finer demography a awning grab from your camera's viewfinder as a workaround so that it didn't accept to use any Android camera APIs at all. This was an able adjustment for acknowledging as abounding Android accessories as possible, but the angel affection it produced was infamously bad.
To be clear, afterlight their app to use Camera1 API instead of this old workaround was a huge footfall in the appropriate direction. It's abundantly why so abounding users accept afresh appear a bang in angel quality. But still, that bang could've been bigger had Snapchat called to use the newer Camera2 API.
An absorbing aspect actuality is that, in application Camera1 API, Snapchat isn't accepting abounding allowances for the front-facing camera — the camera abounding Snapchatters use most. This is because Camera1 API was accounting before best phones had advanced cameras, so it doesn't accommodate tap-to-focus or added selfie cam enhancements.
There are some abstruse limitations to Camera2 API, which is apparently why Snapchat has autonomous to use the earlier API for now. Some lower-end phones active Lollipop or college don't accept abounding abutment for the newer camera API. In these cases, accomplishing simple things like requesting to about-face on the camera beam can account the app to crash. However, Snapchat could get about these issues by coding their app to admission Camera2's capricious levels: Legacy, Limited, Full, or Akin 3.
Snapchat's Affection Improved, but There's a Long Way to Go
Now that Snapchat is at atomic application Camera1 API, we absitively to analysis it adjoin itself. We installed an earlier adaptation (10.3) on our Galaxy S6, which as best as we can acquaint does not use Camera2 API on any Snapchat version. We took a account with v10.3, afresh adapted to the accepted Snapchat adaptation and took the aforementioned account afresh to see how abundant of a aberration the recently-added Camera1 API made.
Ignore the slight differences in acknowledgment akin (though that's a byproduct of not application the camera to its abounding potential) and focus added on the capacity and clarity. The newer adaptation provides a greater HDR-like antithesis as well.
However, we took that aforementioned account afresh application the Instagram app, which does booty advantage of Camera2 API on the Galaxy S6. If you attending closely, you'll see that Snapchat still has a means to go in adjustment to abutting the gap in account quality.
To put it addition way, there's a bright aberration amid Snapchat's old adjustment of avaricious a still angel from the camera augment back compared to the new adjustment of application Camera1 API. But they're still not abutting to analogous the angel affection of Instagram and added apps application Camera2 API.
We started investigating this affair afresh for two reasons. First, user letters surfaced that Snapchat was allurement for permissions application the diminutive Android 6.0+ model. This is a footfall in the appropriate direction, and addition archetype of Snapchat assuredly application Android accoutrement properly, but it's not an adumbration of Camera2 API support.
The additional acumen we started attractive into this affair was because Snapchat started a new ad attack business itself as A New Kind of Camera. We were acquisitive this meant their rumored revamped Android app was accessible and angel affection had bigger to Instagram levels, but Snapchat is still absolutely actually a decade behind.
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