Google is fixing a major Android camera problem — as long as manufacturers get on board
Google is fixing a major Android camera problem — as long as manufacturers get on board
https://www.makeuseof.com/google-is-fixing-a-major-android-camera-problem/
Publish Date: 2026-03-30 12:18:00
Source Domain: www.makeuseof.com
Summary
- Android 17 adds Vendor-Defined Camera Extensions, allowing apps to use vendor camera features like HDR and Super Resolution.
- The standardized API lets developers tap phone-specific processing for consistent, higher-quality photos in third-party apps.
- However, manufacturers and apps must adopt it, so the implementation may take time.
Google released Android 17 Beta 3 on March 26, and the update brought Platform Stability and the activation of app bubbles (finally), along with other new features. Among these, casually tossed into the changelog, is one item that could have huge ramifications for one of Android’s oldest issues.
The feature is labeled Vendor-Defined Camera Extensions, and Google’s description doesn’t sound terribly exciting: “Hardware partners can now define custom camera extension modes (e.g., ‘Super Resolution’ or AI enhancements).” The implication, however, is massive.
Android’s old photography problem
This is not a new issue
It’s been a long-standing issue with Android that apps do not get full access to your phone’s camera capability. The problem is complex, but essentially, third-party apps don’t have a universal way to access a phone’s unique hardware and software features, like computational photography. In fact, for a long time, Instagram was notorious for not accessing the camera at all, and instead just taking a screenshot of the viewfinder (this is no longer the case).
The main reason is that there are thousands of Android phones, and building apps to access and leverage every phone’s camera hardware and software to its…
