What are GCam Mods? Read more to know on How to install and use

Smartphone cameras have developed a long way now. If it was not 2021, you would not expect a good camera performance from a sub 15K phone. But with a smartphone camera and imaging technology getting more accessible and advanced, so have the imaging capabilities of a smartphone over the period of time. 

Google Camera as the name suggests is the camera app that is developed by Google. While you find a Simple Google camera to download from a Playstore right now, this is not what has gained popularity. 

Let’s look into a brief history of What is a GCam Mod and why it has become so popular. We will also guide you through the process of that should you if need one, how to install it and what will it deliver.

Back in 2016 when Google launched its first line of Pixel devices, the Google Pixel and Pixel XL, it drew everyone’s attention due to its camera capabilities and delivering stunning image quality for its hardware. The camera capabilities of Goggle Camera or GCam as the developer community calls it began back in 2011 and its prowess was already noticed in the previous Nexus 6P and Nexus 5. 

With the first Pixel devices, Google introduced something called the revamped HDR+ technology and Computational Photography. 

HDR+ used computational photography techniques to achieve a higher dynamic range than previous versions of High-dynamic-range (HDR) imaging. HDR+ shoots continuous bursts of short exposures. 

When the shutter is pressed, the last 5–15 frames are analysed to select the sharpest shots (via lucky imaging), which are then selectively aligned and combined with image averaging. HDR+ also employs Semantic Segmentation to detect faces in order to brighten them with a synthetic fill flash and darken and denoise the skies.

Google also introduced something called HDR+ enhanced' mode does not use Zero Shutter Lag something like Smart HDR from Apple. HDR+ enhanced delivered a more contrasty, dynamic real-life look. 

What was amazing about these features was that they were not totally dependent on the hardware and optics, but Google’s extensive use of machine learning, AI and on-device computation. In fact, the first pixel devices used the same camera hardware as the older generation, mainly the sensors with minor tweaks.

Some other standout features that Google camera offered over the period of time with each generation are as follows: 

Portrait mode (called Lens Blur previous to the release of the Pixel line) offers an easy way for users to take 'selfies' or portraits with a Bokeh effect with only a single camera lens with the use of dual pixel autofocus information. It was introduced on Pixel 2

Night Sight: Google’s Night mode used multiple exposures stacking to produce a crisp detailed and bright image during low light scenes.

Astrophotography: An addition to Night Sight that used a tripod to take a long exposure shot from 15 seconds to up to 4 minutes to provide a night sky image.

Other notable features that were added over time were Portrait Light, Dual Exposure Controls, Motion Photo( Similar to Apple’s Live Photo), Super Res Zoom, Computational Raw, Google Lens etc. You can refer to this page for more in-depth details.

GCam Mods

Gcam is a mod that brings the Google Camera app to a variety of smartphones and ensures that all features function properly. GCam comes in a variety of flavours. Some are designed to be used on multiple Android devices, while others are designed specifically for a single smartphone.

This is due to the fact that the app relied on a phone’s processor for computational photography and machine learning. Developers, notably BSG the one who kickstarted this took the official app, decompiled it, modified its code and forked it so that it could run on other non google devices with similar hardware. It was not without issues and bugs but fast forward to now, these builds have vastly developed and polished to deliver the same features as on Pixel devices. 

How To Use

So if you want to try out a GCam Mod you may follow these steps. It is to note that with many developers now building these mods, there are a plethora of versions for each and every device. In fact, there are different versions and builds of the App based on its release versions, the OS it supports, the Android version it supports and the features users want.

For example, if you are on Android 11 and using a OnePlus 7 device, the app you would be looking for is different from what a OnePlus 9 user is looking for running Android 12 beta. Similarly, there are different builds for different OEMs like Samsung, Xiaomi, OnePlus. Likely there are different recommended versions for Android 10 and 11. 

GCam Mods are mostly supported by Snapdragon devices but a few MediaTek, Exynos, Kirin based builds are also available to download with limitations

Many GCam also support additional cameras in addition to the main sensor like the wide, ultrawide and telephoto lenses. 

There are some recommended stable versions that almost run on almost all devices from developers like BSG, Urnyx and Arnova. GCam Mods above version 7.3 also support what is called config XML files which are pre-saved device settings that can be downloaded and used for different devices to provide the best results.

Installation

GCam HUB is a free file hosting site for GCam Mods from all the developers

I have an old OnePlus 3 device which I am going to use to demonstrate how to download and use a GCam Mod. 

First Go to this Link

You can search for your specific device from this list

Go to the choice of your version and select one 

Loof for the latest stable build and download it

If in case you don't  find one you can download the apk file (use one of the suggested versions or pick one of the developers)

Install GCam by sideloading the APK file

Set up the app using the "suggested settings", "configs", or settings provided on the "changelog" link (some apks don't need any configuration)

Restart the app and enjoy

Below you can see some samples for my OnePlus 3 of Camera(L) vs Gcam(R) 

The OnePlus 3 being an almost 5 years old device produces such dynamic results. You can see how the GCam picture enhances the highlights and underexposed places with a better dynamic range

Hope you enjoy the app  and its features