Camera App Settings

General

Save Location

If you choose to keep this setting on, other apps may be able to view photo & video location info.

Note: This has the potential to be a privacy/security concern.

Camera Sounds

When this is on you will here the shutter sound go off when you’re taking a photo or video.

Google Lens Suggestions

If you want to use the cool google lens feature you’ll want to keep this setting on. I would say it’s a privacy concern but it’s just way to cool.

Social Share

When this is on you can quickly share photos and videos from your camera straight to specific apps.

Gestures

With gestures you can assign actions to the volume keys and double-taps.

• Volume Key Action

  • You can choose the following actions for volume keys:
    • Shutter
    • Zoom
    • Volume
    • Off

• Double-Tap Action

  • You can choose the following actions for Double-Tap:
    • Zoom
    • Switch Camera
    • Off

Frequent Faces

When this is on your Camera will prioritize the faces of people you photograph the most when taking a photo. This will help with the editing of photos and best photo recommendations.

Note: This information is only saved on your device and can only be accessed by your camera app. When you turn this feature off all data is deleted.

Device Storage

At the top of this screen you’ll see how many photos and videos you have stored in your internal phone storage and how much storage is remaining.

Storage Saver

With the storage saver setting you can reduce the files sizes of your photos and videos if you’re running out of storage space or if you just want to conserve storage space in general.

Note: Using the storage saver feature will reduce the size of photos and videos but it may also reduce the quality of your photos and videos.

Settings That Will Change

The following is a list of settings that will change the size and possibly the quality of photos and videos you currently have stored in addition to future photos and videos if left on.

• RAW
  • Photos will be only be saved as JPEG format.
• Store Videos Efficiently
  • Videos will only be saved as H.265/HEVC format.
• Top Shot
  • Top shot photos will be saved as still images instead of the short contextual video feature that is applied.
• Camera Photo Resolution
  • Your current and future photos will only be saved as medium resolution.
• Social Media Depth Features
  • Depth data is a feature of the photo that allows you to upload and change the quality of an image on social media without modifying the original image. This data won’t be saved in order to decrease the size of the photo.
• Video Resolution
  • Videos you have saved or record in the future will be taken in Full HD (1080p) format instead of 4K and other quality enhancing formats.
• Video Frames A Second
  • Videos will only be recorded in 30 frames per second.

Turn Off When Storage Is Available

When you have this setting on you can keep the Storage Saver setting on only when you need to reduce the amount of storage you have on your phone. When this is on you will still be able to take and store photos and videos in higher quality formats as long as you have storage space.

Free Up Space

This will direct you to Googles Files App so you can clean up your storage.

Advanced

Show Dirty Lens Warning

When this setting is turned on you will receive a warning if your camera lens is dirty to the extent that it will get in the way of taking high quality photos and videos. If this happens try to clean off the camera lens with a soft cloth, preferably a microfiber cloth if you have one.

Raw + JPEG Control

This will show an option to turn on RAW + JPEG in the viewer (the viewer is you photo gallery). The RAW (DNG) file will be saved separately along with any other identifiable camera data in a device folder in Google Photos.

Note: This will use additional storage.

View RAW Folder

Tap on this link to view all of your RAW photos.

Store Videos Efficiently

When this is on your phone will store videos in H.265/HEVC format instead of storing videos in H.264/AVC format for smaller files sizes.

Note: HEVC format may not be supported on some platforms.

Social Media Depth Features

Depth data is a feature of the photo that allows you to upload and change the quality of an image on social media without modifying the original image. If you have this setting turned on, your depth data in photos will be saved and the depth data can be used by social media apps. However, Top Shot will be turned off and photos could take longer to process.

Enable Time Lapse For Astrophotography

This will export photo and time lapse and will use more storage space. For more on Time Lapse and Astrophotography, click on the links.

Timer Light

This setting will cause the camera light to flash while the photo/video timer is counting down.

Composition

Framing Hints

The Framing hints setting will give you on-screen tips for composing photos.

Auto Macro

As you move closer to an object to photograph it your camera will auto-focus to show more details of the object as you get closer.

Grid Type

The grid will help you structure a photo by placing a grid with lines on your camera screen while taking a photo or video. You will have the following grid options:

• No Grid
• 3×3
• 4×4
• Golden Ratio

Note: The grid will not show up in the actual photograph.

Manual Controls

These controls will pop up on the camera screen when you tap on the screen to focus the photo or video. You will see both White Balance, Brightness Exposure, and Shadow Exposure.

White Balance

White balance will allow you to adjust the color temperature of a photo or video.

Exposure

Exposure will allow you to adjust brightness and shadows.

Photo

Camera Photo Resolution

The photo resolution will determine both the quality and storage size of a photo. The better the quality of a photo, the more storage it will take up. You will see two options here:

• Full Resolution (better quality, more storage)

• Medium Resolution (reduced quality, reduced storage)

Save Selfie As Previewed

This will save selfie photos as they appear in the viewer. This means that if this is on, when you take a selfie it will save in your gallery the same way you took the selfie. If it is off, the selfie will be saved as a mirrored image.

Video

Video Stabilization

This will reduce the shakiness of your camera to make videos smoother and more stabilized. When this is on, videos will be taken with a more zoomed in view. For the average user this is a great setting to keep on. If you’re trying to take a more professional photo and you don’t want to use a zoomed in view, you can turn this off if you have another method to stabilize your phone such as a tripod. 

Audio Zoom

When this is on, zooming in on a subject that is speaking or making noise will focus the audio on that subject and cut out background noise.