Google Camera app could soon gain support for Audio Zoom, Motion Blur, and more

A teardown of the Google Camera 7.5.105 APK has revealed some of the new camera features that Google is working on. Taking a cue from Samsung, iPhones, and other camera-centric smartphones, Google is also working on bringing an Audio Zoom feature to the Google Camera app. The feature will automatically boost the sound from the person or object that the user zooms in on while recording a video.

While a GCam developer was able to get the toggle to show up in a modded version of the Google Camera app, enabling it made no difference while recording videos.

Audio Zoom in GCam settings, but it doesn't work.

Thanks @Cstark_27 pic.twitter.com/x5icN6IyyH
— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) July 30, 2020

Another interesting new feature that Google is working on is the ability to control the intensity of the flash. On all smartphones right now, one can either turn the flash on or off. It looks like Google intends to make the flash intensity adjustable which could be useful when capturing photos in total darkness.

Strings in the APK teardown also reference a new mode "lasagna" which is how Google is referring to the new "Motion Blur" mode that it has been working on for quite some a while now. This new mode will likely appear alongside Night Sight, Time Lapse, and other modes in the Camera app. Google was working on the motion blur mode before the launch of the Pixel 4 series last year under the codename "Paneer" but never got around to releasing it for some reason.

The video sharing feature in the Google Camera app will also be improved to add support for more apps and social networking platforms. Right now, the feature only supports selected messaging apps and platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter. Google intends to expand the list to more apps including Discord, Hangouts, Help, Instagram, ShareChat, Slack, Snapchat, Telegram, VSCO, Viber, WeChat, and more.

While all of these features are in development, there's no guarantee that Google will bring them to existing Pixel devices. The company could very well be working on them for the upcoming Pixel 4a and Pixel 5 lineup of smartphones.

Source: 9to5Google