Google’s new Camera app can now refocus images like a poor man’s Lytro

By Williams Pelegrin April 16, 2014

Google Nexus 5 review rear camera macro — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The HTC One M8 adds photo blur in the form of its Duo Camera, which, by adding depth to a picture, allows you to focus on a part of the picture while blurring the rest out, much like the Lytro. The Samsung Galaxy S5 does something similar, but using software instead of an extra camera. Google is jumping on the software train as well with its new stock Camera app, which brings Lens Blur and Photo Sphere to Android devices.

Lens Blur: As its name suggests, Lens Blur lets you blur out the surroundings in a picture while focusing on the subject, adding a depth of field effect to the picture. This is done through software algorithms that simulate the large camera and aperture that your Android device does not have.

Camera app — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Panorama improvements: Google also improved Panorama to allow for higher-resolution panoramas.

Photo Sphere improvements: Finally, while Photo Sphere is not necessarily a new feature, seeing as how it’s on Nexus devices, it is now available on non-Nexus devices. Photo Sphere lets you take 360-degree pictures at up to 50 megapixels, which can then be viewed in all their glory on Google+.

Google Camera, which now features a revamped user interface, is now available as a free download from the Google Play Store. So long as you have a KitKat-running Android device, you should be good to go.

Download Google Camera from Google Play.

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Williams Pelegrin

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Williams is an avid New York Yankees fan, speaks Spanish, resides in Colorado, and has an affinity for Frosted Flakes. Send…

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