Android cameras might get facial detection and RAW image support

sincity · November 18, 2013

A newly discovered code reveals Google could be working on a new slew of Android camera tools including face detection, burst fire and Raw image support.

Originally spotted by ArsTechnica, the new camera features are documented in a public Android source code, which appears to have been in the works since December 2012. The code would have been included with KitKat, but some time around October it appears the API was tagged as "not yet ready" and hidden away.

Android users almost had a camera with built-in facial recognition software - a feature that's been around for years on just about every camera in the world.

Another missed feature is burst mode which lets smartphone snappers take a quick succession of photographs, and is ideal for "action shots" or cameras without image stabilization.

The most standout miss, however, is Raw image support. Raw images are much larger compared to JPEG images that smartphone cameras usually take, but they also hold a lot more detail and are useful for recovering any photos that were shot over or under exposed.

Playing catch up

Other then a few standout smartphone cameras such as ultrapixels on the HTC One and LG G2's optically stabilized lens, Android cameras have been sorely lacking compared to the iPhone 5S and Nokia Lumia 1020.

Looking at the list of new camera features, it's easy to spot a few that are just ways Google is trying to keep up. After all, Apple also just introduced its own burst mode in iOS 7 earlier this year.

Raw image support meanwhile is still something you still don't see on most smartphones expect for a few photography focused models. If Google hopes to make Android a serious smartphone camera platform, the ability to shoot unprocessed and uncompressed photos could be the ticket shutterbugs are looking for.