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No way to save camera settings?

I want to be able to change the settings in tjmhe camera app and have them as I left them when I fire the camera up again butbit seems the settings are lost on exiting. Any way to make them stick between use?

xspyda said:
I want to be able to change the settings in tjmhe camera app and have them as I left them when I fire the camera up again butbit seems the settings are lost on exiting. Any way to make them stick between use?
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The only one that doesn't stick for me is the Exposure setting, everything else sticks (front/back, flash on/off, white balance).
Looks like another bug, feature request that needs to be reported (or starred if already reported) at: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/list
The camera software on the Nexus S is the biggest disappointment, software-wise, on the phone for me. Not nearly as nice as the Samsung or HTC camera software.

Thanks, haven't tried the other settings, exposure was the one I wanted to stick... sods law!

[Q] Any way to keep brightness down in camera?

Right, I've got a black One S with android 4.0.3 and sense 4, all like new (as it is). I don't fancy rooting it and don't really want to change from the HTC Rom, but the backlight in the camera annoys me. On the touch pro2 with the HTC stuff, I'm certain there was an option in settings to keep the screen backlight down when in the camera. On the Trophy that followed, I couldn't control it, because, let's face it, you can't control much in WP7. however, switching to the one S and android, I expected being able to keep the backlight down.
Why is this frustrating me? I don't like.being blinded by the viewfinder, and I don't want to kill the battery any more than I have to. So, is there a way to keep the phone's backlight down while in the HTC camera app?

Okay, now I know everyone has ignored this thread but I think I've discovered a way. So here's the setup:
HTC One S
System brightness set to lowest
A 4 digit screen-lock password
So I have the passcode set on the 15 minute max timeout, so, the phone locked itself, and I dragged the camera icon on the lockscreen into the ring. Naturally, despite being locked, it still allows use of the camera. Now, it may just be my eyes, but I'm certain I noticed a distance difference in brightness. That is, the screen seemed a lot dimmer when the camera app was being accessed from behind the lock rather than unlocked.

I think the brightness is ok lol
Sent from my HTC One S using xda premium

AMOLED displays as the one in One S doesnt have backlights. But there is a mod that lowers the values when using auto brightness since the defaults are a bit high, not especially made for in-camera though. Check for it in Tweak Machine thread in apps and themes forums.

k1llacanon said:
I think the brightness is ok lol
Sent from my HTC One S using xda premium
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I guess most people aren't that fussed about the brightness, but the battery did seem to last a lot longer when recording 1080p video with the lower brightness.
frdd said:
AMOLED displays as the one in One S doesnt have backlights. But there is a mod that lowers the values when using auto brightness since the defaults are a bit high, not especially made for in-camera though. Check for it in Tweak Machine thread in apps and themes forums.
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Click to collapse
Does that require root access? From what I can see it does, and I guess that too would be helpful for the majority, but my phone isn't rooted. Mainly because I like the HTC Sense camera interface so much

Yeah you must flash it from custom recovery so at least unlocked boot loader required. Why not try a sense based ROM? They all keep the awesome HTC camera and its snappiness

Unfortunately with the One S update I finally received last night bringing it up from Android 4.0.3 to 4.0.4 and Sense 4.1, HTC have now removed the incredibly helpful 'bug' of the brightness staying down in the camera if it is launched from the lockscreen with a password set. Thanks a lot HTC, you excell yourselves with stupidity once again.
Sent from my HTC One S using xda premium

Bump. Recording lectures is impossible due to HTC's stupidity. The 100% screen brightness not only kills the battery before lecture ends, but it's extremely distracting for people behind me (especially if room is dark during powerpoint presentations).
This has to be turned down. Ideally, once set up, the phone should be able to record video with the screen OFF. Or at least with brightness on min. Surely there's a mod or a hack for this?

curiousGeorge said:
Bump. Recording lectures is impossible due to HTC's stupidity. The 100% screen brightness not only kills the battery before lecture ends, but it's extremely distracting for people behind me (especially if room is dark during powerpoint presentations).
This has to be turned down. Ideally, once set up, the phone should be able to record video with the screen OFF. Or at least with brightness on min. Surely there's a mod or a hack for this?
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Click to collapse
hi,
Firstly, I'm glad that I'm not alone in this. As you said, it is extremely frustrating as not only is the bright screen distracting for others and makes you look foolish, the battery hardly lasts any time at all. I contacted HTC to see if they could add a brightness slider, their customer support rep said the technical team would get in touch with me - they haven't.
However, on the positive side, I have found two apps which don't allow you to record with lower brightness, they up the ante to your other suggestion, having the screen off. I'd always assumed that cameras on phones couldn't work with the screen off because I thought the phone went into proper sleep. Turns out that the camera can stay active. There are many poor apps on Play, but I found two which offer free (very limited functionality, but allows you to check that the app works with your phone) versions and rather expensive pro versions. I tried both the free versions and liked the second one I tried so much that I bought it.
The first one I found was (I don't know why they assume people are using their cameras solely for nefarious purposes - some of us do have legitimate reasons and battery life concerns) 'Hidden Camera Spy Camera', Play link (Lite version link is in their description). This one worked ok, but took a while to configure and doesn't have the nicest interface. So I continued hunting and came across an even better app:
Secret Video Recorder Pro (Lite version listed at the side in the More by this Developer panel): This app is even more elegant. I tried the lite version and found that it worked well, so I then decided to buy the full version (apparently it's currently 50% off, but still pretty expensive - well worth it though). After going through the settings, I set it to use the rear camera and force HD recording. I then tapped the icon on the homescreen, it notified me and then just ran in the notification area. I then turned the screen off, whirled the phone around my room, turned the phone back on and tapped on the notification to stop it. I then checked the video and to my amazement, it had worked! (on an unrooted, still carrier locked, black One S running the latest official updated OS (Android 4.0.4 and Sense 4.1))
When I dragged the app into the fixed Sense homescreen dock, originally it displayed nothing, even after rebooting the phone. However, after Sense crashed and showed me a message saying Sense had crashed, it even worked from the lockscreen. If you have the 'Show icon' enabled in the SVR Preferences, you can then tell from the lockscreen that it is actually recording as you can see the icon in the notification bar.
I'm sorry for rambling on and on, but I think SVR just got into my top 5 apps of all time list as it is unbelievably flawless (apart from the price )

biggles1000 said:
hi,
Firstly, I'm glad that I'm not alone in this. As you said, it is extremely frustrating as not only is the bright screen distracting for others and makes you look foolish, the battery hardly lasts any time at all. I contacted HTC to see if they could add a brightness slider, their customer support rep said the technical team would get in touch with me - they haven't.
However, on the positive side, I have found two apps which don't allow you to record with lower brightness, they up the ante to your other suggestion, having the screen off. I'd always assumed that cameras on phones couldn't work with the screen off because I thought the phone went into proper sleep. Turns out that the camera can stay active. There are many poor apps on Play, but I found two which offer free (very limited functionality, but allows you to check that the app works with your phone) versions and rather expensive pro versions. I tried both the free versions and liked the second one I tried so much that I bought it.
The first one I found was (I don't know why they assume people are using their cameras solely for nefarious purposes - some of us do have legitimate reasons and battery life concerns) 'Hidden Camera Spy Camera', Play link (Lite version link is in their description). This one worked ok, but took a while to configure and doesn't have the nicest interface. So I continued hunting and came across an even better app:
Secret Video Recorder Pro (Lite version listed at the side in the More by this Developer panel): This app is even more elegant. I tried the lite version and found that it worked well, so I then decided to buy the full version (apparently it's currently 50% off, but still pretty expensive - well worth it though). After going through the settings, I set it to use the rear camera and force HD recording. I then tapped the icon on the homescreen, it notified me and then just ran in the notification area. I then turned the screen off, whirled the phone around my room, turned the phone back on and tapped on the notification to stop it. I then checked the video and to my amazement, it had worked! (on an unrooted, still carrier locked, black One S running the latest official updated OS (Android 4.0.4 and Sense 4.1))
When I dragged the app into the fixed Sense homescreen dock, originally it displayed nothing, even after rebooting the phone. However, after Sense crashed and showed me a message saying Sense had crashed, it even worked from the lockscreen. If you have the 'Show icon' enabled in the SVR Preferences, you can then tell from the lockscreen that it is actually recording as you can see the icon in the notification bar.
I'm sorry for rambling on and on, but I think SVR just got into my top 5 apps of all time list as it is unbelievably flawless (apart from the price )
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Click to collapse
Doesn't using SVR defeat your original purpose? It's not using the Sense camera, it's using it's own implementation? At that rate, any aftermarket camera should work and allow you to use default screen brightness.

el_smurfo said:
Doesn't using SVR defeat your original purpose? It's not using the Sense camera, it's using it's own implementation? At that rate, any aftermarket camera should work and allow you to use default screen brightness.
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Unfortunately, yes, it does. SVR is sort of a compromise for me at the moment as I can save battery life but I do miss out on all the Sense camera features. It would be great if HTC do actually listen to my request and implement it, given how simple a request it is, but they appear to be constantly so far ahead with all their development process that I doubt they'd include it in the the Android 4.1 release scheduled for this month
SVR is on one end of the scale of what I'd like to do with the camera (save the battery) and the Sense camera is on the other end (use the camera). Where I'd like HTC to place us is in the middle of those two, with the ability to use the Sense camera but in a power-efficient manner (such as being able to record a video but take stills at the same time, with the battery outlasting the meager storage space).

Question(s) about the cm10 camera?

I've been a long time user of the android camera app, touchwiz camera was downright amazing.
I recently flashed a cm10 based ROM and have been playing around with the camera and have some questions.
1. Do you need to tap the screen to focus every time you want to take a picture? My past cameras had the constant block of auto focus so you could just wait for the green and snap. Or does the tap focus only pertain to the spot you want to focus on?
2. Is there a macro mode?..perhaps this is 'flower' mode?
Finally...anyway to turn off the shutter sound other than silent mode? This ones not anything major I just figured I would ask. Thanks guys!
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

No, you don't need to tap the screen to focus every time. If you move around to different points in camera mode you'll see the screen zooming in and out to focus on the point in the center of the screen. I think the tap is to focus on a point off the center of the screen (taking a photo of someone while their not centered in the screen)
There is a macro mode. When you open the camera there's a settings button right next to the negative zoom slider. After that there's a 3 button settings right where you just clicked, and in there you'll find macro/burst, and all the other extras.
I haven't seen a shutter sound off option yet.

Thanks! I am still unable to find macro..I did find the burst shot which ranges from 5-20 shots. However I don't see macro listed. Maybe I'm just missing it. If you are able could you upload a screenshot of it please? Thanks again!
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

You're welcome. I can't make a screenshot whenever I try it says that my storage is in use (assuming because camera is open) but if you go into the settings like I described before... the 4th one down gives you "focus mode" that's set to continuous.. click on that to the right and you'll find macro in there.

MyndMayze said:
You're welcome. I can't make a screenshot whenever I try it says that my storage is in use (assuming because camera is open) but if you go into the settings like I described before... the 4th one down gives you "focus mode" that's set to continuous.. click on that to the right and you'll find macro in there.
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The AOSP camera is definitely lacking compared to the TW one.
That being said here is an ongoing project to add more features to the AOSP camera in order to make it closer to TW:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1746611

I do miss the TW camera, but camera isn't a deal breaker for me to remain on TW... I see more benefits using aosp instead.
Thanks for the link, I'll be sure to bookmark it and check back periodically to see if there's improvements. I see in screenshots its able to store on extsdcard which is nice.

You can easily get rid of camera sounds renaming the sound files from CM -> media -> audio -> ui
just rename the camera files and video files with ending .bak and reboot your phone. After every update you have to do it again.

[Q] seeking specific camera (and other) functions

hello.
haven't been on this site for quite some time, but i am familiar with using custom roms.
i'm using an htc desire s with android 4.0.4, stock rom from htc site.
there are certain things i like about ICS, and other things that simply boggle me.
i've been considering using a custom rom again, but i was hoping someone could shed some light on specific features/functions.
in other words, i would be changing to a custom rom if one is available that has these features, otherwise i'll just leave it alone.
firstly: the camera.
when trying to take up-close photos (macro), the camera will attempt to focus, will succeed, then quickly snap back to being blurry. this happens less with "auto focus" turned off, but it's still frustrating (i can see the hardware moving the camera focus to where i want it, but i can't keep it there). turning on the Scene called "close up" will allow the hardware to stay in the focused range, where i want it, but it overrides the white balance, such that i can't adjust the white balance any more, and the colour is always -always- different from the colour settings in the "auto" Scene setting. very frustrating indeed.
that's problem one.
but the bigger problem (with the camera) is:
when taking a photo where a flash is required/desired (in low lighting), i have to take many -many- photos before i happen to roll the dice and get one in focus. basically, holding up the camera to the darkened scene, the screen is mostly dark. i can take a photo with the flash, but the camera uses the same moment of flash to implement the focus, which is essentially entirely useless. in other words: dark scene, dark screen, flash ready, click to take a photo, flashtrytofocustakepicture = blurry picture. the picture only turns out well if the focus happens to catch in just the right way at the right time.
in contrast, while the stock camera app behaves this way, when i use google goggles, the camera behaves differently. there is a simple button which turns the led light on and off BEFORE taking a picture, which means the focus can function normally on a fully lit scene and then a picture can be taken, in focus. funny thing about that: the photo result that shows as a preview (immediately after snapping a photo in google goggles) is the desired photo, however it is not the photo that the app recognises nor which is saved on the sd card. anyhow, that's a different issue.
the point is: it seems clear to me that the hardware is capable, and the software is capable, but they have not been married correctly in 4.0.4.
would anyone be able to confirm whether another rom or camera app has the macro and light-before-focus capabilities described above?
i have some other questions about the way text copy and paste is implimented, but i'll just stick with the camera question for now.
thanks in advance for any information.

Camera quick-launch method - WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING, HUAWEI?!

So I took delivery of my P20 Pro this afternoon. I'm reserving judgment on the camera but so far I'm pretty happy. There's one thing I'm completely flabbergasted by though
Huawei have replaced the stock 'double-tap power for camera' functionality with 'double-tap volume down'.
On the face of it this might not seem so bad, but it means a couple of things:
1 - you can't launch the camera quickly if you are actually using the phone. On other devices I would often be using an app when a photo opportunity arose, so with the Huawei I have to either go back to the home screen and click the camera app or press the power button and launch it from the lockscreen. This might not seem much but when a split second photo opportunity arises these couple of seconds can mean the difference between catching and missing a shot.
2 - you can't use the volume down method when you're playing anything. So if you're walking through the countryside playing your favourite album and suddenly a unicorn gallops past...again those couple of seconds mean you might miss the moment.
This might seem like nit picking but this is a *camera centric* phone. There's no advantage I can think of for the alternative camera shortcut method Huawei have adopted - the double-tapping power method serves no other conflicting purpose, and it's not even as if the volume down button is in a more convenient position.
I can't help but think this is a poorly conceived decision on Huawei's part - or worse still, change for change's sake.
I notice they've also turned the Oreo multimedia notifications into an exercise in excruciatingly unimaginative blandness - seemingly just to 'not be stock Androidy in any way'.
I'm not going to write off the phone as it seems like a nice bit of kit overall, but I really hope Huawei make some changes to the UI of this phone over its lifetime because I can't help but feel like some of their decisions (and they are very proactive decisions) are a little...shoddy.

You'll get used to it really quickly.
Also, it doesn't just open the camera, it takes a picture. Even tells you how quickly it has done it. I have found this really useful.. My kids sometimes do amusing things, but don't sit still for longer than a second,

It's impossible to get used to as I listen to podcasts and music on my phone all the time. How does it taking a picture make any difference anyway? Couldn't the same thing apply if they used the power button instead, or would that preclude this option?

Yeah there's literally no reason for them not to use the power button. It's just bad design all round.

It may be to keep functionality the same across all markets (IE too lazy) as it's a requirement in India that a triple press of the power button calls the emergency services. So they couldn't really leave in double press for camera in case of accidents.

Every other OEM destroys stock functions in one way or the other..

Did you try a button remapper app ?

Wouldn't it be easier to just press home and hit camera? Just saying. I've never used a quick launch and i've never missed a shot

Jonathan-H said:
Wouldn't it be easier to just press home and hit camera? Just saying. I've never used a quick launch and i've never missed a shot
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How is that easier than double tapping the power button in literally any scenario - screen off, screen on, in an app, watching a video. If that scenario were just as easy then why would they (or anyone else) have a button shortcut at all?
The point is that no matter what I'm doing - whether the screen is off or not - I can double tap the power button and the phone vibrates and instantly opens the camera app, ready for a shot - so let's say I'm browsing Reddit sat on a park bench and a man dressed as Elvis runs past me pursued by a gaggle of geese - no problem - I won't miss that shot.
You might never have missed a shot and you might not use this feature but my point is not to force the feature on anyone - it's to ask why Huawei chose a worse methodology for quick launching the camera than the stock Android one - such as the one on my Nokia - and the one implemented by Samsung and LG (in their newest G7). The power button is not only separate from the volume buttons (and therefore easier to find 'blind') but has a ridge on it.

leoni1980 said:
So I took delivery of my P20 Pro this afternoon. I'm reserving judgment on the camera but so far I'm pretty happy. There's one thing I'm completely flabbergasted by though
Huawei have replaced the stock 'double-tap power for camera' functionality with 'double-tap volume down'.
On the face of it this might not seem so bad, but it means a couple of things:
1 - you can't launch the camera quickly if you are actually using the phone. On other devices I would often be using an app when a photo opportunity arose, so with the Huawei I have to either go back to the home screen and click the camera app or press the power button and launch it from the lockscreen. This might not seem much but when a split second photo opportunity arises these couple of seconds can mean the difference between catching and missing a shot.
2 - you can't use the volume down method when you're playing anything. So if you're walking through the countryside playing your favourite album and suddenly a unicorn gallops past...again those couple of seconds mean you might miss the moment.
This might seem like nit picking but this is a *camera centric* phone. There's no advantage I can think of for the alternative camera shortcut method Huawei have adopted - the double-tapping power method serves no other conflicting purpose, and it's not even as if the volume down button is in a more convenient position.
I can't help but think this is a poorly conceived decision on Huawei's part - or worse still, change for change's sake.
I notice they've also turned the Oreo multimedia notifications into an exercise in excruciatingly unimaginative blandness - seemingly just to 'not be stock Androidy in any way'.
I'm not going to write off the phone as it seems like a nice bit of kit overall, but I really hope Huawei make some changes to the UI of this phone over its lifetime because I can't help but feel like some of their decisions (and they are very proactive decisions) are a little...shoddy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My 2 cents: the Huawei P20 pro is not a "camera-centric" phone.
If it where, like the Nokia 808, the Lumia 1020, the Lumia 950, and some Sony, it would have a camera specific hardware button, period.
No way that anyone would think of a Camera with no shutter button.
Same for a "camera-centric" phone. 2 stages shutter button is part of the definition of it.

Look, The chinese know how to make great hardware because the western world outsource the product making to countries like china so after year s and years they learn from doing a copy. So now it comes down to software which is the other half of what makes a great phone and this is where i see many problems.

Huawei is poor in terms of software developping. Simply look at the launcher for exp and you ll see, gallery app, video player, video editor and more

As my previous device (LG V20) uses the same method (double-click volume down) to open camera, I has got no issue regarding the action. Only funny thing is that, at first, I didn't realize that the default mode take a picture when I double-click. I was so used to the way double-clicking while bringing up the camera. In that way, the camera is ready when the phone is in position and i can take photos. But later, I realized that there are so many blur pictures in my gallery. Only then I realized that it took picture by default. Quite easy to change the action in the camera setting though.

I'm on Resurrection Remix.
Double tap power key opens the camera from any screen no matter what.
If you're lucky enough to have unlocked your bootloader then give it a shot.
It is using the p20 pro camera too.
Wasnt this feature available under gestures in emui