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Risk of installing Gcam on other Android phones?

Started 3 months ago | Discussions
I2K4
I2K4 Senior Member • Posts: 1,441
Re: Risk of installing Gcam on other Android phones?

DWMurf wrote:

...

It claims 5 ways to enable Camera2 API, for anyone who dares risk their phone, or security, or both.

I looked into this stuff years ago after buying my Android 5 ZTE, before learning that Camera2 was being intentionally disabled by most manufacturers except on premium devices - never willing to risk my regular phone.

The OP seems to have reasonable functionality on the (reportedly pretty good) Samsung app.  To get DNG I got third-party apps - Bacon Camera and Snap Camera HDR - that did a good job generating non-standard DNGs - Snap also has very configurable enhanced HDR.  Free to try for device compatibility, but pay to get the current version.

DWMurf
OP DWMurf Senior Member • Posts: 1,301
Re: Risk of installing Gcam on other Android phones?

I2K4 wrote:

DWMurf wrote:

...

It claims 5 ways to enable Camera2 API, for anyone who dares risk their phone, or security, or both.

I looked into this stuff years ago after buying my Android 5 ZTE, before learning that Camera2 was being intentionally disabled by most manufacturers except on premium devices - never willing to risk my regular phone.

The OP seems to have reasonable functionality on the (reportedly pretty good) Samsung app. To get DNG I got third-party apps - Bacon Camera and Snap Camera HDR - that did a good job generating non-standard DNGs - Snap also has very configurable enhanced HDR. Free to try for device compatibility, but pay to get the current version.

Thanks again for all your help. My budget Samsung-galaxy-a32-5g suits my needs just fine but I got interested in the mobile phones and Gcam from this website.

I'll give Bacon Camera and Snap Camera HDR a try.

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David

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ak_aka_ka
ak_aka_ka Junior Member • Posts: 25
Re: Risk of installing Gcam on other Android phones?

The risk is and always will be unresolved bugs including those which involve RCE (remote code execution). APKs can be built with in a number of ways, with varying dependency chain versions and SDKs and manifests which do not necessarity follow the rules. Secure Camera from GrapheneOS (available on Play Store) is a stripped down camera app which seeks to improve privacy and security (e.g. high targetSDK exposes additional APIs for additional securification) and is the only mobile camera app we fully trust on Android. Does not have the software processing GCam has, nor its additional modes (until CameraX extensions are released for Pixel devices), but post fixes what needs to be fixed. Else, I would stick with GCam from Play Store as the most secure (but not necessarily private) option.

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DWMurf
OP DWMurf Senior Member • Posts: 1,301
Re: Risk of installing Gcam on other Android phones?

ak_aka_ka wrote:

The risk is and always will be unresolved bugs including those which involve RCE (remote code execution). APKs can be built with in a number of ways, with varying dependency chain versions and SDKs and manifests which do not necessarity follow the rules. Secure Camera from GrapheneOS (available on Play Store) is a stripped down camera app which seeks to improve privacy and security (e.g. high targetSDK exposes additional APIs for additional securification) and is the only mobile camera app we fully trust on Android. Does not have the software processing GCam has, nor its additional modes (until CameraX extensions are released for Pixel devices), but post fixes what needs to be fixed. Else, I would stick with GCam from Play Store as the most secure (but not necessarily private) option.

Thanks for all that info, a lot to digest for me. I found GCamatic on Play Store which links numerous gcam versions, even GO versions for devices without support for camera2api like my phone. It looks like a trial and error process with questionable results. 🤔

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David

 DWMurf's gear list:DWMurf's gear list
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