Google: Ends the choice of using alternative camera applications in Android 11

Android 11 is going to remove possibility to choose an alternative camera application for those who do not like the pre-installed application, or at least will limit this feature.

ΑThis is due to a recent change in the firmware of the version being developed Android 11. Although it is primarily a change on the part of the developer, aimed at making the system more secure, in fact, this change completely removes the camera picker function, which allows you to select the application that will manage the camera.

The change itself is simple but potentially difficult to analyze. At the moment, users can download or even set a default application other than the one that comes preinstalled on the phone. If a third-party application needs access to the camera, Android will present a limited list of usable camera applications.

In Android 11, when a user wants to access a third-party application, such as a photo editor, they will no longer be able to do so. Instead, the system will automatically select the pre-installed camera application. Users will still be able to select a different default application and use it as their preferred application. However, they will no longer be able to do the same in secondary applications that use camera applications.

How will the Android 11 webcam app change things for developers?

To be clear, most users will not even notice this change. But a bigger impact, and possibly more harmful, is that this will affect several third-party application developers. A photo editing application may not be required to run on its own exclusive camera application. The Android ecosystem allows it to use any applications already installed by the user.

The problem is that not all camera applications are equally good. Some manufacturers, especially low-end smartphones, do not have good cameras at all. Or they have great cameras, but the integration and editing of the software is awful. But there are much better options available from third party developers.

With this change, third-party applications will be defaulted by the system, without the user having a reason. This is bad news for application developers. The camera application, when called in other applications, most often appears in a user interface that is very basic. This makes it difficult to tell if it is a dedicated, built-in application or borrowed from another application.

Thus, if the change occurs in the background, without informing the users, they will most likely blame the application instead of the camera. This puts developers in a position to have to restrict who can access the camera-based application on Android 11. This will be based on known factors about camera quality.

Why is Google doing this?

Now, the reasons for this decision of Google are probably related to the large number of malicious camera applications that have appeared in recent months. Or years, to some extent. By removing these applications from accessing other third-party applications, Google prevents applications from stealing anything that may be found in those other applications. Thus, if a banking application requests a third-party camera, it will not be able to access it, for example.

This will not necessarily make users happy with this change. But at least Google does not seem to be pushing the boundaries for any real reason.

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