PhotonCamera
by Particles Devs · GPL-3.0-or-later · open source
An experimental camera that captures raw frames and stacks them for HDR, with manual controls.
Needs:ARM64 · beta
2113 Apps is independent, not affiliated with or endorsed by Particles Devs. Official sources: source code on GitHub.
- Version
- 0.88
- Size
- 11.9 MB
- Requires
- Android 8.0+
- Updated
- 2024-12-06
Screenshots
Introduction
PhotonCamera is an open-source camera app that captures raw frames and processes them itself, instead of taking the finished JPEG your phone’s camera pipeline produces. Its headline feature is HDRX: it stacks several deliberately underexposed shots into one image with more detail in highlights and shadows. That is the same idea behind the computational photography in flagship phones.
Features
- HDRX frame stacking for high dynamic range.
- Every lens: main, wide, macro, telephoto, and even infrared where the phone exposes it. The project says other open-source camera apps don’t offer this.
- Manual controls: focus, shutter speed and ISO on dials.
- Tuning: maximum frame count, sharpness, saturation, shadow strength.
- Viewfinder options (grid, rounded corners), and separate settings per lens.
Before you install
- It is beta software. The project says so, and results vary a lot between phones. It depends on how well your phone exposes raw capture through Android’s Camera2 API.
- The last release was December 6, 2024. Nearly two years have passed without a new build on IzzyOnDroid.
- IzzyOnDroid flags it ApplicationDebuggable. The release was built with the debuggable flag, which makes it easier to inspect and less locked down than a normal release. It isn’t malicious, but it is a sign of how experimental the build is.
What stands out in the APK
- No trackers.
- Camera, microphone and phone status are among the permissions that ask first, along with storage and notifications. It also requests all-files access, which it presumably uses to save images where you choose.
Who should try it
It suits people who enjoy experimenting with mobile photography and want to see what raw stacking can do on their phone, especially older or mid-range phones whose stock camera processing is weak. If you want a camera that just works, your phone’s own app is the safer choice.
What’s inside the APK
Trackers
No code matching the Exodus Privacy tracker signatures.
Native code
Needs a 64-bit ARM phone; 32-bit-only devices are not supported.
Android versions
Built for Android 13 (target API 33).
Permissions
6 of them need your approval first.
Flagged by IzzyOnDroid:
- ApplicationDebuggable: Shipped as a debuggable build, which is less locked down than a release build.
CPU types in this build: arm64-v8a (64-bit ARM, almost every phone since 2017).
Asks you first (6)
Android shows a prompt before the app can use these.
- Use the camera · CAMERA
- Show notifications (Android 13+) · POST_NOTIFICATIONS
- Read shared storage (Android 12 and older) · READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
- Read phone status and identity · READ_PHONE_STATE
- Record audio with the microphone · RECORD_AUDIO
- Write shared storage (Android 10 and older) · WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
You switch these on in Settings (1)
Special app access. Nothing is granted until you turn it on yourself.
- All files access · MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
Granted at install (5)
Low-risk permissions Android grants automatically, plus any we have not classified.
- HIGH_SAMPLING_RATE_SENSORS
- INTERNET
- REORDER_TASKS
- VIBRATE
- WAKE_LOCK
Defined by other apps (1)
Permissions that belong to another app or to this app itself.
- com.particlesdevs.photoncamera.DYNAMIC_RECEIVER_NOT_EXPORTED_PERMISSION
More Information
- Package name
- com.particlesdevs.photoncamera
- Version
- 0.88 (build 17884)
- File size
- 11.9 MB (11,920,759 bytes)
- Requires
- Android 8.0 or later
- Category
- Media
- License
- GPL-3.0-or-later
- Developer
- Particles Devs
- Source code
- github.com/eszdman/PhotonCamera
- Released
- Dec 6, 2024
- Signer SHA-256
- 255cb09eaddd26a9cc680786e4985372cf24d0e54bb120fc44d48f3273ff3956
- File SHA-256
- 0363bc184e45f82694469c6599c2ec7769f17431501d502662573b1fd51d2ac8
- Checked
- , against the IzzyOnDroid index · how we check · verify it yourself
Common questions
Is this APK the official PhotonCamera release?
Yes. It is the developer’s own release of PhotonCamera 0.88, byte for byte as IzzyOnDroid distributes it. Its SHA-256 matches IzzyOnDroid’s signed index, and it is signed with the certificate IzzyOnDroid records for the app (SHA-256 255cb09eaddd26a9cc680786e4985372cf24d0e54bb120fc44d48f3273ff3956).
What Android version does PhotonCamera need?
Android 8.0 or later (API level 26). Version 0.88 is built for Android 13 (target API 33). Needs a 64-bit ARM phone; 32-bit-only devices are not supported.
Can PhotonCamera access the internet?
Yes. The APK requests Android’s internet permission. In total it declares 13 permissions, and 6 of them need your approval first.
Does PhotonCamera contain trackers?
No known trackers: our scan of version 0.88 found no code matching the Exodus Privacy tracker signatures. The scan covers known tracker libraries; it doesn’t show what data the app itself sends.
Is PhotonCamera open source?
Yes. PhotonCamera is released under the GPL-3.0-or-later licence, and its source code is published at https://github.com/eszdman/PhotonCamera.
Recent releases
| Version | Released | Size | Requires |
|---|---|---|---|
| v0.88 · this download | Dec 6, 2024 | 11.9 MB | Android 8.0+ |
| v0.85 | Jan 29, 2023 | 17.0 MB | Android 7.0+ |
Versions currently kept in the IzzyOnDroid repository. We host and check only the newest one. Full changelog.