Google’s GCam has a new competitor that I like much more for simple photos: Zerocam comes to Android

Each manufacturer includes its own camera app on the phone, often with cluttered options that can waste time when shooting. And that’s exactly where Zerocam is heading, a new Android app that seeks Unleash the photographic experience to the fullest. Just a button, no tricks. And a subscription to use it without limits.

On Android, there aren’t many examples when it comes to universal camera apps, most users We generally do not abandon the application that comes standard. And that makes sense, since each manufacturer usually includes enough options to get the most out of the sensors. Then there’s the GCam or modified Google Pixel camera, a great alternative. And on Google Play we now have Zerocam, but with a very different approach (wink, wink).

Zerocam is a minimal camera app. Throughout

With its name, it already suggests that its aspirations are to make the shooting experience as simple as possible. And it’s just like this: Zerocam does not include settings, camera switchers or configurations. Its interface is the viewer with a yellow button. And that’s it.

Zero artifice, that is the principle. In addition to having the interface reduced to a minimum, Zerocam tries to generate the image captured by the sensor without applying computer processes, such as HDR. We installed it on a Google Pixel 9 Pro and the results were pretty good: the shots look natural, with the minimal treatment favored by the application and with a fairly heavy JPG for an average mobile camera app. A sign that the promises seem to be kept.

Now, good. Is such an absence of everything positive? Here, it’s up to taste, it will depend on what each person values. In our experience, Zerocam can be a good secondary camera

for situations that do not require complications. Outdoor shots, with lots of light, without moving objects or people, no portrait is necessary. If what you are looking for is to take a photo and that’s it, the application is sufficient and more than sufficient.

We have already seen that the naturalness is perceptible, too bad it does not save the shot in RAW and unprocessed. It doesn’t do that on the iPhone either, but there yes it allows you to change lenses

something we haven’t seen on Android. They also share the cost: although Zerocam is free to download, it only allows five free photos per day. To take more photos, you have to pay 1.19 dollars per month, an absurd price for an application that doesn’t work miracles either (on the iPhone, the cost is 1.99 dollars per month). If there was only one cost forever, things would change.

As proof, it’s not bad, when it comes to replacing the stock application it doesn’t make much sense. It’s available on Android via Google Play and, as we said, it offers five daily shots for free.

Cover image | Ivan Linares

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