Google’s own camera app has been around for awhile now. Though never thought of as top of the line, the app was more than passable, even surpassing the stock camera app on some devices, and served as a nice showing of Google’s vision for a user-friendly and feature-rich camera app, boasting features like panoramas and 360 degree shots that were fairly mind-blowing for their time. Some users may notice an update to Google Camera waiting for them, or may have already gotten it, while some may still be waiting for this newest update’s roll out to head their way. The new update in question brings a few tweaks to the user interface of Google’s take on the smartphone camera app, as well as a few new features, including slow motion for a few certain phones with capable hardware.
The UI tweaks are a bit on the minimal side. A few icon changes are in place, such as the changing of the recording and camera mode indicators to a more rounded shape and the shutter button getting redressed in blue. Some new and refined animations are also on offer, adding to the cohesive material design feel of the app and making it feel a bit more at home in a modern Android device’s app drawer. Of particular note is the addition of an easier way for owners of compatible phones to get into the slow motion video recording controls. Users can now access a dedicated slow motion video mode, complete with a slider and selector for recording speed. Although many phones out there may be slow motion capable, only the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P were specifically mentioned, meaning they may be the only ones able to access the new dedicated mode. A few extra tweaks, such as quicker startup and fast switching between modes, are listed for the Nexus 5, 6, 9, 5X and 6P.
The update to the app is showing in the Play Store as of writing and should be rolling out to existing users in fairly short order. If you don’t happen to see the update on your device, a reboot may do the trick, as might simply installing from the desktop version of the Play Store, or accessing Google Camera on the Play Store through My Apps. Naturally, you can head through the source link to get a look at the Play Store listing for yourself, which should indicate that it was updated on April 25 of 2016.