Camera update adds shutter sound toggle, zoom bar, exposure tweaks

BY GreenBot Staff

Published 22 Feb 2017

If you have a Nexus or xel phone, you probably use the Camera app that comes with it. It’s a decent enough picture-taking experience; the resulting photos can be remarkable, but the interface features are, shall we say, sparse.

If you were hoping for a “o” mode with precise controls over shutter speed ISO, you’re probably still going to be waiting for awhile. But the new 4.3 version of the app does add a few minor quality-of-life improvements.

Zoom slider – en you pinch-to-zoom, you get a zoom slider at the bottom of the camera view. You can drag along the bar to make fine adjustments to zoom, see a visual representation of just how far zoomed-in you are.

photos 43 zoom

en you zoom in, you’re presented with a zoom bar that give you more direct control.

Sticky exposure adjustment – It used to be that if you adjust the exposure control slider, the slider interface would disappear after a few seconds. Now, if you change the exposure at all, the slider sticks around until you take the shot. It’s a very small change, but welcome.

Shutter sounds toggle – st but not least, you finally have the ability to turn off camera sounds in the settings. If you’re sick of hearing the shutter click, but don’t want to mute all your phone sounds, you’ll appreciate this. No word on whether or not this function is available in pan, where phone shutter sounds are mated by law.

‘ll take it: The Camera app takes great photos on a Nexus 6or xel, but it’s simple fast. But it lacks in more advanced features that many other top-tier phones enjoy. These improvements don’t do much to rectify that problem, but these minor tweaks are all noticeable, everyday improvements that almost anyone can appreciate.