With the recent release of iPhone 11, 11 Pro and Pro Max, we have seen that cameras have become a priority of smartphone these days. The brewing up Megapixel war between Chinese smartphone makers including Xiaomi, Oppo, and Realme is another aspect that shows how smartphones have become all about cameras these days.
Companies are trying to bridge the gap between DSLRs and smartphone cameras by including features that were almost unheard of a few years ago. Mobile photography has seen a boom with many photography enthusiasts opting for smartphones owing to feature-rich and highly capable cameras in smartphones these days.
However, the default camera app of smartphones isn’t featuring rich and often does not let you capitalize on the full potential of cameras. Worry not, there are several third-party camera apps that you can to enhance smartphone photography.
Out of a lot of camera apps for Android, it is a tedious task to pick the best as different apps offer a different set of features. Therefore, we have handpicked a list of best camera apps for Android that you can refer to. These apps are great for beginners as well as for professionals who are keenly interested in smartphone photography.
Best Android Camera Apps 2019
1. Google Camera – Best Android Camera App
Google Camera or popularly known as Gcam port is one of the best Android camera apps that you can install your smartphone. The app utilizes Google’s powerful AI algorithm to enhance your photographs.
If you have used a Pixel device before, the app’s interface would seem familiar to you as the Gcam app comes pre-installed in Google Pixel phones. This free third-party camera app for Android devices carries tonnes of interesting features that work wonders on photo clicked from any device.
Some of the worth mentioning features you will find in Gcam app is HDR+, video stabilization, smart burst, Panorama, AR stickers, Google lens, Photobooth and Night Mode. If your smartphone does not have a night mode for clicking photos in low light conditions, you can get the feature on your device by using Google Camera app.
The app has an intuitive interface and photos are stored in your internal storage after you have clicked them.
To get the right version of Gcam for your smartphone, you need to visit this link and find the version which is compatible with your smartphone. The reason why we consider Google Camera as the best Android camera app is the fact that it is developed by Google and ports some of the well-known features you find in Google Pixel devices which are considered as the best smartphone in the camera department. Moreover, it is a free camera app, therefore, you can get great camera features without paying a penny.
2. Camera MX
The runner up in our list of best Android camera apps is Camera MX. This is a simple camera app with highly intuitive features to make your photographs better. It is one of the oldest camera apps and is regularly updated by its developers owing to its popularity amongst smartphone photography enthusiasts.
The app supports all resolutions and ratios that your smartphone’s camera allows. You can customize JPEG image quality by tweaking the settings in the app and there is even an auto-optimization feature along with HDR for clicking noise-less and less grainy photos even in low light conditions.
Some of the features of Camera MX app are a timer for delayed shots, grid lines for sticking to frame while clicking photos, fast camera zoom with pinch finger gestures and optional GPS setting to save your preferred location to EXIF metadata.
Camera MX app also features a Live Shot function that clicks moving photos. Photos clicked by enabling ‘Live Shot’ feature come alive when touched. It is similar to Live Photos feature found in iOS devices. Besides camera features, this free Android camera app also bundles aplenty of effects and filters for further editing your selfies and photos.
Additionally, there are some great video-related features in the app like video trimmer, slow motion, and fast motion videos, scaling videos to reduce their size and the option to apply filters and effects in real-time while shooting a video.
3. Camera FV-5
Camera FV-5 is another one of the best camera apps for Android devices. This app is especially aimed at professional photographs who are aware of the common photography terms like exposure, white balance, focus and more.
There are several manual controls in the app that allows you to control shutter speed, focus, white balance, and exposure to click photographs as you desire. This is a paid Android camera app that brings DSLR-like controls to your smartphone’s camera. Camera FV-5 has a viewfinder display which displays exposure time and aperture and also stops display with EV and bracketing settings in real-time.
The app also offers full-fledged exposure bracketing from 3 to 7 frames which is great for shooting in outdoor locations. The Camera FV-5 app also allows you to assign major camera features to the volume keys of your smartphone.
You can control EV, ISO, color temperature and more using the volume keys of your Android device. The number of features this Android camera app has is simply mind-blowing. If you are a professional photographer looking forward to a DSLR like photography experience on your smartphone, Camera FV-5 is the go-to app for it.
The only downside of the app is that you will not find different scene modes which are found in other apps in this list of best camera apps. The app wants you to adjust different settings manually instead of using presets. The user interface of the app is available in 30 languages.
4. Cymera
Camera is a popular third-party camera app for Android devices. Cymera app has more than 100 million downloads on Google Play Store which stands testament to its popularity and feature-rich nature. It is an app specially developed for selfie lovers.
If you think that your Android phone’s stock camera does not offer enough features for clicking selfies worthy for posting on social media platforms, try using Cymera. This selfie camera app offers seven different types of camera lenses, an option to silent your smartphone’s shutter sound, timer, and camera stabilization.
Its Beauty Camera feature offers a variety of tools for skin makeup, slim or faces reshape, removing wrinkles, erasing pimples and dark circles on face amongst other makeup effects and beauty filters.
Cymera app comes with 150 free instant selfie filters that can be applied in real-time. Some of the other important cameras features you will come across in the Cymera app are anti-shake, touch shooting, out focussing options, silent mode and lens flare effects.
Cymera app focuses more on beautifying your photos by applying filters and presets in real-time rather than offering you tools for clicking photos in different lighting conditions. You can combine different photos in a grid to create a collage on the app and the in-built photo editing tool also allows you to make yourself taller, lengthen your legs and slim your waist in a photo.
This a free Android camera app packing a large number of features especially for those who are fond of clicking selfies. The app also includes AR stickers and supports multiple languages in the interface.
5. Open Camera
The list of best Android camera apps would be incomplete without mentioning the Open Camera app. It is a lightweight camera app for Android devices that packs some highly interesting and useful features. Open Camera, as evident from the name, is an open-source camera app that does not display any advertisement.
You get the option to auto-stabilize photos, support for focus mode, scene modes, color effects, adjust white balance, ISO, exposure, anti banding and more. The app also allows you to take photos while recording videos. The remote controls offered by the app are handy, for example, the optional voice countdown and auto-repeat mode with configurable delay.
There are some really advanced features in this Android camera app like controlling shutter click remotely by making a noise like voice, whistle or by voice command. You can set the voice command as “cheese” for clicking a photo without pressing any physical button.
The open Camera app also offers the option to tag your photographs according to your GPS location. You can also apply date and timestamp, location coordinates and add custom text to your photographs.
Open Camera is a great app for those who record videos for their blogs as the app also supports some external microphones for recording audio. It is a free camera app that can be easily downloaded from the Google Play Store. However, one of the cons of this third-party camera app is that it lags sometimes while focusing on subjects.
6. Camera Zoom FX
Camera Zoom FX app is intended for those who want DSLR like features from their smartphone camera. This free Android camera app comes with manual DSLR like controls and also supports RAW format. You can adjust ISO, focus, distance, exposure and shutter speed of your phone’s camera using the app.
The app also has a feature that allows you to specify button order in the user interface so that you can shoot videos and click pictures as you would do on a DSLR. Other features that you will find in the Camera Zoom FX app are time-lapse, HDR mode pro, multiple flash modes, live effects, spy/incognito camera, effects like retro, bokeh, lomo, hipster, tap anywhere to shoot, and the option to disable the shutter sound to click photographs silently.
This Android camera app also has an in-built collage maker, grid overlays and multiple live effects. There is also an in-built night mode in the Camera Zoom FX app that helps you click excellent shots even in low light conditions.
It is one of the highly-rated apps on the Google Play Store and the free version of the app comes packed with a lot of features. If you want additional features, there is a premium version of Camera Zoom FX available that can be purchased for $3.99 per month.
7. A Better Camera
On number 7 of this list of best Android camera apps is “A Better Camera”. The stands in tandem to its name and makes your smartphone’s camera better with its features. The app helps you in clicking excellent quality photos with its advanced features like HDR, Panorama, Multishot and more.
A Better Camera is a combination of many highly ranked camera apps on the Google Play Store like HD Panorama+, HD Camera+ and Night Camera+. This all-purpose camera app for Android offers Panorama feature with up to 360 degrees to 100 MPix. The Pre Shot feature of the app takes pictures before you even press the shutter button for better processing.
There are multiple features in A Better Camera app that any professional photographer would love to have.
This Android camera app not only offers useful features for capturing great photos but there are plenty of features like video time-lapse available in the video recording department as well. It has an easy to use interface with buttons labeled properly.
You can switch between different modes in the app easily with just a swipe. A Better Camera app is free to use camera app for Android. However, there is also a premium version of ABC available and surprisingly the premium version costs less than one Dollar.
8. Moment Pro Camera
Moment Pro Camera app for Android has recently become hugely popular amongst smartphone photographers. The app was initially available only for iOS devices and tasted success there. As it is evident from the app’s name, it is a professional camera app designed especially for those who like to control different aspects of the camera manually.
As the app’s description on the Google Play Store reads, “it gives us the features of a DSLR but in a fast, easy to use camera app.”
You can control ISO, White Balance, Shutter speed, focus and much more manually in the app. Professional photographers would like features like real-time luminance, RGB histograms, the option to shoot in the RAW format ( even in the BURST mode), split focus/exposure). The app is perfect even for beginners as there are multiple easy to use tools and a simple user interface, to begin with.
However, like other Android camera apps in this list, Moment Pro Camera is not free to use but there is a free trial that you can opt for. Some of the highlighting features of the Moment Pro Camera app are anamorphic desqueezing, focus peaking, zebra stripes, RAW and JPG format and HDR+. The Moment Pro Camera has many photo and video enhancing features that made us include this app in the list.
Choosing The Best Camera App – Depends Upon Your Preference
While there are multiple options available out there, choosing the best camera app for Android device depends largely on your preference. If you want an app that allows you to experience DSLR-like photography on your smartphone, we would recommend using Camera FV-5 and Moment Pro Camera apps.
If you simply want to enhance your selfies, Camera MX and Cymera are the apps you should choose. These apps are intended to better your photography experience on your smartphone and improve your shots and videos. We hope that the third-party camera apps that we have enlisted here will help you in picking the best app according to your requirements.