For years, non-Pixel phones have been able to enjoy some of Google’s camera magic, thanks to Google Camera ports/mods. Because a good part of the Pixel camera experience comes down to software, developers have figured out ways to bring parts of that experience to other devices. Among the root-and-ROM crowd, it’s a popular practice that can let you enjoy Pixel camera features and enhanced processing on non-Pixel devices. Now a seemingly arbitrary restriction by OnePlus will keep Google Camera mods from accessing auxiliary cameras on the company’s phones.
If you aren’t familiar with the concept, a handful of popular developers (including folks like cstark27, BSG, and Arnova8G2) port and modify versions of the Pixel’s Google Camera app to third-party devices. It can take some research to track down a version that plays nice on your particular phone, and there are usually a couple broken features and some bugs, but you can often get much better photo results from these modified camera apps than you can on the app your phone shipped with, as well as enjoy some of those Pixel-specific camera features on your non-Pixel phone.
As of OxygenOS 12, the auxiliary cameras (read: the non-primary ultrawide, macro, or telephoto lens) are no longer accessible outside of OnePlus’ own camera app, as reported on the Google Camera Port Updates Telegram group. This means that if you were to install a Google Camera mod on your OnePlus phone running Android 12, you’d only be able to use the primary camera/sensor with it.
The OxygenOS 12 update that delivers this change has already been controversial among fans for other reasons. Not only is it essentially just Oppo’s ColorOS with a handful of OnePlus-specific tweaks, but it’s also absolutely loaded with bugs, something that eventually made OnePlus halt the update’s rollout.
Notably, this auxiliary camera restriction is also present in Oppo phones running ColorOS. While it’s unfortunate, that could mean the change is intentional, and we might not see this behavior revert back to a GCam-friendly practice if and when the update starts rolling out again.
If you have a OnePlus phone and want to keep using a Google Camera port or mod with all of your phone’s sensors, consider holding off on the OxygenOS 12 update when it starts rolling out again. And if OnePlus doesn’t bring the feature back, you can always try a ROM — they’re relatively easy to install on OnePlus phones.
Thanks: Kieron Quinn
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