Posted by Fred Chung, Android Developer Relations
Snapchat is a visible messaging app that enhances Snapchatters’ relationships with pals, household, and the world. It opens to the digital camera and presents tens of millions of augmented actuality and AI-powered Lenses for self expression, studying, and play. Guaranteeing Snapchatters can simply seize and share their lives with shut family and friends is a precedence for Snapchat, they usually’re at all times exploring new methods to enhance the general app expertise.
As a part of this, the Snapchat workforce added new digital camera options into the app utilizing Android’s Camera2 Extensions API, which permits builders to entry numerous capabilities that OEMs have applied on numerous gadgets, like Night time Mode and Bokeh. Because of Android’s intuitive API, the Snapchat workforce applied new digital camera options 50% sooner than earlier than.
Camera2 Extensions API provides entry to superior options
The Snapchat workforce needed to optimize the applying for the increasing collection of Android gadgets, understanding many OEMs differentiate their gadgets with their respective digital camera applied sciences. As Snapchat is a primarily visible app that works with a tool’s digital camera, the workforce optimizes the app to take full benefit of every machine’s distinctive {hardware}.
“We needed to leverage every OEM’s software program to boost the Snapchat expertise on Android,” mentioned Ye Tian, a software program engineer at Snapchat. “This could assist the app obtain higher-quality Snaps which can be similar to what a tool’s native digital camera presents.”
What began as a purpose to enhance the app’s low-light capabilities led to rather more. The Snapchat workforce labored on discovering new methods to enhance the app’s digital camera capabilities by implementing options like night time mode, portrait mode, face retouch, tap-to-focus, zoom, and extra.
“Our collaboration with Google Pixel paved the way in which for collaboration with different OEMs to implement night time mode and super-night mode of their gadgets with very minimal code modifications,” mentioned Ye. “The Camera2 Extensions API is versatile and intensive. Snapchat can now use it to construct full-fledged purposes on demand with out negatively impacting efficiency and stability.”
The implementation through the Camera2 Extension API made it straightforward for Snapchat builders so as to add extra digital camera options into the app. And utilizing the extensions made obtainable with Android’s digital camera API, Snapchat built-in new digital camera options 50% sooner when in comparison with the everyday industry-standard approaches it used up to now.
Extra alternatives on extra gadgets
The Snapchat workforce was glad to offer its customers a extra cohesive expertise utilizing the Camera2 Extensions API. Because of the extensions supplied within the API, builders simply improved the app’s digital camera on a variety of producer gadgets utilizing the Android platform, and far sooner than earlier than.
“I benefit from the variety of the Android platform and using the distinctive benefits of every cell phone producers’ gadgets,” mentioned Ye. “It helps us carry their cutting-edge improvements into the Snapchat app, permitting Snapchatters to raised seize their life moments.”
Snapchat’s workforce seems ahead to working with extra OEMs to additional enhance the app’s processing capabilities throughout gadgets utilizing the Camera2 Extensions API. They’re additionally trying ahead to bettering the app’s backward compatibility utilizing the brand new API, which can enable much more customers to profit from the extensions.
“I’d suggest utilizing Camera2 Extension API. It supplies intensive functionalities and steady efficiency to enhance the speed that builders can ship options,” mentioned Ye.
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Discover ways to improve your app’s digital camera capabilities with the Camera2 Extensions API.
