four Methods to Do Extra With Your Smartphone Digital camera
Even if you don’t have the latest and greatest smartphone, tools for your photography can go beyond the most commonly used ones like portrait and lowlight modes. With a reasonably up-to-date operating system, you can have voice-activated photo sessions, create widescreen images, record videos at various playback speeds, and visually browse the Internet.
The exact functions depend on the camera software used and the hardware of your phone. Here you will find a brief overview of the functions of standard apps such as Google Camera for Android and Apple’s camera app for the iOS system on the iPhones.
Get hands-free assistance
Your phone’s virtual assistant can do some of your camera work to quickly get a shot. For example, with the Google Assistant, just say “OK, Google, take a picture” or “OK, Google, take a selfie” – and Google Camera will pop up, countdown, and take a picture. You can also tell the wizard to share the photos, record a video, and do more. Google Assistant is available for Android and iOS.
Apple’s Siri assistant also responds to many requests. The software opens the iPhone’s camera app when you say, “Hey Siri, take a picture,” but the actual press of the shutter button is up to you. Phones running iOS 12 or later can use Apple’s free Shortcuts app to create routines that Siri can perform when directed – like opening the camera and automatically emailing the picture after it’s taken.
Bixby, the assistant software on many Samsung Galaxy phones, also takes photos and videos on command.
Go far with a panorama
Do you want to take a picture that is too wide to fit on the camera’s screen? You don’t need an additional app or a phone with a wide-angle lens. All you have to do is use the camera’s panorama mode where you take a series of photos and the software combines them into one large image.
Open Google Camera and swipe left on the horizontal menu at the bottom of the screen. Tap the Modes button, select Panorama and press the shutter button while slowly moving the phone to take the shot. On Apple’s camera app, swipe left, select Pano, and follow the on-screen instructions. You can also ask the Google Assistant or Siri to open the camera directly in panorama mode.
Google Camera’s Modes menu also includes a Photo Sphere option that lets you complete the circle and capture a scene in 360 degrees. On the Photo Sphere screen, tap the shutter button and let the software guide you. (While the iOS pano mode doesn’t reach the full 360 degrees, the Google Street View app brings Photo Sphere to the iPhone.)
Change the time with video
The Google and Apple camera software have modes for adding movie effects to your video. The time-lapse setting speeds up the playback of slow events such as sunsets or storms. The slow motion setting records normally and then slows down the speed of the action in the clip, making the video of sports scenes and animal antics more dramatic.
To get to the settings in Google Camera, swipe left to Video in the horizontal menu and select the recording mode – slow motion, normal or time lapse – along with the speed you want. smaller rates like 5x are usually better for shorter recordings. In Apple’s camera app, swipe right on the menu until you get to Time Lapse or Slow Motion. Tap the quick toggle button in the top corner to adjust the resolution and speed.
Keeping the phone steady will give you better time-lapse video. Therefore, consider a tripod if you do not have a fixed place to support the device. Slow motion usually works best outdoors, except for certain types of indoor lighting that can cause flickering in the video.
Tap the internet
Google Lens is an image recognition software with artificial intelligence. It may already be on your phone as it’s included in the Modes menu in Google Camera, Google Photos, and the Google Lens app for Android. Users with iOS devices can find it in Google Photos or the Google app. (Samsung has a similar Bixby Vision app for their phones.)
When you point your camera at something (or open a photo you have already taken) and tap the square Google Lens icon, the software analyzes the image and searches for related information over the internet connection. Google Lens can identify animals and plants, look up products, spot landmarks, and do more.
Google Lens can also translate text into an image and uses augmented reality to display the words in your preferred language. It’s not quite the “universal translator” of science fiction lore, but it does get there.