[Discussion] Do you use a Google Camera port?

Google Camera used to be just another Google app used mainly by hard-core enthusiasts who wanted to “Google all the things.” Then the first Pixel phone launched in 2016 and the app became the difference between a passable photo and a great photo. Google showed that software can vault an otherwise ordinary 12MP shooter to the top of the DxOMark rankings and suddenly the development community looked for ways to port the Pixel-exclusive software features (especially HDR+) to other devices. With the subsequent launches of the Pixel 2 and Pixel 3, Google Camera ports only became more widely used.

In fact, Google Camera ports became so important they warranted their own top-level directory in our forums, and our developer community has ported the app’s most popular features to work on almost any device. I personally have used ports of the app on my phones. For example, even though I already have a Pixel 2, I use the Pixel 3 port found here so I can take advantage of the latter phone’s Super Res Zoom feature. You can see a sample photo I took using that Pixel 3 port here. Furthermore, I finally took the Android Pie plunge on my backup phone (OnePlus 5T) by flashing AOSiP, which comes with a preinstalled Google Camera port by XDA Senior Member Urnyx05 (which also happens to work on the OnePlus 6 and 6T).

Sample photo taken by the Pixel 3 Google Camera port on my Pixel 2. Tap on the image for link to full-res version in Google Photos.

If you’re not using a Pixel 3 which already has all of Google Camera’s Greatest Hits, do you use a Google Camera port? If so, we’d love to hear from you about your experience. In the comments section, we encourage you to mention which device you have, whether it’s running stock or a custom ROM, which Google Camera port you use and why (we know the sheer number of options can be overwhelming).