Posted by Fred Chung, Android Developer Relations

Snapchat is a visible messaging app that enhances Snapchatters’ relationships with associates, household, and the world. It opens to the digicam and provides thousands and thousands of augmented actuality and AI-powered Lenses for self expression, studying, and play. Making certain 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 group added new digicam 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. Due to Android’s intuitive API, the Snapchat group applied new digicam options 50% quicker than earlier than.

Camera2 Extensions API offers entry to superior options

The Snapchat group needed to optimize the applying for the increasing collection of Android gadgets, figuring out many OEMs differentiate their gadgets with their respective digicam applied sciences. As Snapchat is a primarily visible app that works with a tool’s digicam, the group optimizes the app to take full benefit of every system’s distinctive {hardware}.

“We needed to leverage every OEM’s software program to reinforce the Snapchat expertise on Android,” mentioned Ye Tian, a software program engineer at Snapchat. “This could assist the app obtain higher-quality Snaps which are similar to what a tool’s native digicam provides.”

What began as a aim to enhance the app’s low-light capabilities led to way more. The Snapchat group labored on discovering new methods to enhance the app’s digicam 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 adjustments,” mentioned Ye. “The Camera2 Extensions API is versatile and in depth. Snapchat can now use it to construct full-fledged functions on demand with out negatively impacting efficiency and stability.”

The implementation by way of the Camera2 Extension API made it straightforward for Snapchat builders so as to add extra digicam options into the app. And utilizing the extensions made obtainable with Android’s digicam API, Snapchat built-in new digicam options 50% quicker when in comparison with the standard industry-standard approaches it used previously.

Extra alternatives on extra gadgets

The Snapchat group was glad to present its customers a extra cohesive expertise utilizing the Camera2 Extensions API. Due to the extensions offered within the API, builders simply improved the app’s digicam on a variety of producer gadgets utilizing the Android platform, and far quicker than earlier than.

“I benefit from the range of the Android platform and using the distinctive benefits of every cell phone producers’ gadgets,” mentioned Ye. “It helps us convey their cutting-edge improvements into the Snapchat app, permitting Snapchatters to higher seize their life moments.”

Snapchat’s group appears 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 is able to permit much more customers to learn from the extensions.

“I might advocate utilizing Camera2 Extension API. It offers in depth functionalities and secure efficiency to enhance the speed that builders can ship options,” mentioned Ye.

Get began

Learn to improve your app’s digicam capabilities with the Camera2 Extensions API.