Camera

[Zarhan]

Thanks again for the new version!

[spa]

The "camera sounds" setting that existed in v3 is no longer available in v4.
I will wish the "camera sounds" setting was still there.

[shuntcap]

The "camera sounds" setting that existed in v3 is no longer available in v4.
I will wish the "camera sounds" setting was still there.

Odd.  I see the sounds settings on mine (same v4 that I released), and if the ringer is enabled, I hear a shutter sound.

Does anyone else have the issue spa is seeing?

[Zarhan]

The "camera sounds" setting that existed in v3 is no longer available in v4.
I will wish the "camera sounds" setting was still there.

Does anyone else have the issue spa is seeing?

Nope - "Camera sounds" settings is visible (localized, even).

[spa]

I seem to be the only one who can't see it.
The v3 settings screen.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rJRgO7r5gAyS2QGzX6oZoF3Tx0LU8hVn/view?usp=sharing
The v4 settings screen.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bmS7glnIRYdrXLKp9KRDtXJESFeBRaP-/view?usp=sharing
It's strange.

[Daniel W]

Once again, thanks again, shuntcap.

Just to add to the statistics, I see the camera sound toggle in v4.

Once thing that breifly threw me for a loop, was that, on my Cosmo, v4 didn't replace v3, but was installed in parallel to v3. I guess this might depend on the "ported fresh from scratch" part. Launching directly after installation, started v4, but my shortcut on the home screen kept pointing to v3, which later made me start the wrong version, and getting confused a few times, until I noticed I had two identical icons in my app drawer. In a way, I appreciate the parallel install, as it allows me to compare things between the versions more easily, and after updating my shortcut, I can now conveniently launch v4 from my home screen. I'll probably uninstall v3 pretty soon and for those not interested in going back and forth between v3 and v4, I'd recommend uninstalling v3 before installing v4, just to lessen the risk of confusion.

[MarionNash]

I use a RAW viewer called LightRoom to open RAW files. You can also use Darktable if you want the free one on Windows.

[Rahab D]

Great job, shuntcap!
Thank you very much: now the camera does what it should!
I read you don't support Astro. How will we do it? Your optimization changes functionality substantially.
Should we petition for a device to be made available to you to work on?
Or a subscription to buy one for yourself?
I don't know ... I'm open to every possibility, but I would like to see the same result on Astro. 

[da9l]

How do you install this? I get a message saying "app cannot be installed" when i try to open the Apk file. I read that you have to uninstall the old gcam app first, but I've not installed that. Do i have to uninstall the included stock camera app too somehow?

[Colin The Dolphin]

I would check the instructions carefully.  I had a bit of difficulty as Android tries to stop you installing apps from files downloaded.  I think you need to have the file on an SD card not internal memory.

[da9l]

I figured it out. For some reason the app I was browsing my file system with was the cause. I used the one bundled with the Cosmo and it worked straight away.

And what a difference this app does to the device camera! It actually goes from being useless to becoming usable and quite okay actually!

[shuntcap]

I read you don't support Astro. How will we do it? Your optimization changes functionality substantially.
Should we petition for a device to be made available to you to work on?
Or a subscription to buy one for yourself?
I don't know ... I'm open to every possibility, but I would like to see the same result on Astro. 

Sorry for my long absence from the forum. I've pretty much shelved the Cosmo as I just haven't had much free time to hack on it.

I still won't be backing the Astro, but I've been watching the updates.  This time around they're paying close attention to the camera image quality.  They just might get the camera working right finally.  But if they don't, I have backed the Pro1 X which supposedly has the same camera sensor as the Astro.  I plan to port GCam to the Pro1 X once I receive my device, and that port might just work on the Astro, too.

[Onkel Otto]

Hello Everybody,

I was am using the "gcam_for_cosmo_v4.apk" published by shuntcap in post #123 since its release on my COSMO without any problems.

Today i realized, that the app does not start anymore. When I try to start it, a message is shown "camera was closed".
I can tap on "App-Information" or an "Close App", but this does not provide any solution.

I reinstalled the GCam app - no change.

The original COSMO camera app is working and takes pictures.

I did some web search and found the "solution" here:
https://github.com/lukaspieper/Gcam-Services-Provider

"This app "simulates" the Google Play Services that the Google Camera app (Gcam) requires, allowing the camera app to be used on devices without Google Play Services.

Comparison: microG
microG is a open source re-implementation of the Google Play Services (client side). Among other things, signature spoofing is used to achieve this goal. In comparison, this app only aims to get Gcam running without Play Services. Therefore this app does not need any security compromising hacks or permissions (no Internet access, no storage access and of course no root access)."

I have completely removed Google Play Services from my Cosmo and replaced it with microG.
But when I checked my Cosmo now after reading on the mentioned github page, I realized, that the "microG Services Core" app was missing. It was gone. I have no idea, why.

I reinstalled "microG Services Core" and shuntcap's GCam port was working again.


I did not know, that the GCam app requires Google Play Services.

[Daniel W]

I did not know, that the GCam app requires Google Play Services.

Me neither, though as G in GCam stands for Google, I expected them to depend on their own services, for certain features. Thank you for confirming. Good to know.

When shuntcap adapted a particular build of GCam, intended for another phone with the same sensor, to make it work on the Cosmo, there was probably no intention to remove Google dependencies, but rather to make features work, which probably explains why the dependencies are still there.

[shuntcap]

When shuntcap adapted a particular build of GCam, intended for another phone with the same sensor, to make it work on the Cosmo, there was probably no intention to remove Google dependencies, but rather to make features work, which probably explains why the dependencies are still there.

Versions v1-v3 were adapted from an existing mod of GCam intended for another phone with a different sensor, actually.  v4 was a clean port from scratch to bring in additional features that were knocked out of the other phone's version.  But Daniel is absolutely correct: my only goal was to improve the poor camera performance on the Cosmo by providing a good software alternative.