The Portrait Mode on the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL is one of the hottest things that happened to smartphone photography in 2017 as it brought an immense level of perfection to background blur, without using a dual-camera setup. It was entirely dependant on machine learning and software processing to do the magic on photos shot using both rear and front cameras. Now, some developers are already working on bring HDR+ and some other features to other devices.
Now, on the XDA Developers, a new APK has now been released that lets users use the Portrait Mode on the first-gen Pixel and Nexus models including the original Pixel range, the Nexus 5X, and the Nexus 6P. Called as the Camera NX V7.3, this app claims to unlock all camera features of the Pixel 2 for non-Pixel devices.
As reported by Chromeloop, is a mod of Google Camera, which lets users use the Portrait Mode on their Nexus (2015) and Pixel (2016) smartphones. The mod is based on Google Camera 5.1.016. This particular APK enables Pixel Detector (PD) data in the camera.experiment2017 library, which is responsible for activating Portrait Mode in the Pixel 2 range. In older phones, it will also replace the Lens Blur mode.
Camera NX version 7.3 offers the face retouching feature for images clicked from both the front and the back camera and as of now, this trick won’t work if you try to click pictures of your dog, as it seems to work with human faces only.
When you click a picture, the app will provide two images- one with the portrait effect and a regular, HDR+ image. Charles Chow, who is a developer and porter, worked on this project said that some features including Help and Feedback in Settings and silent feedback service will be disabled because there is a black screen issue. Many people have tried it out, and shared positive feedback.
Charles Chow has also released features like AR stickers and AR Core app for Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P, though he’s still working to make it perfect and make everything right as an upside-down orientation of the videos seems to be an issue on the Nexus 5X that has an upside down mounted sensor. The app is in beta and Chow is working on a stable build for the future.
The Camera NX v7.3 APK can be downloaded here while a NOZSL version will arrive later. The update from the developer has been added below for reference:
Update 01/02/2018 V7.3.1
Bug fix version
1. Fix abort HDR+ process FC problem.
2. Fix viewfinder flickering issue.
3. Add ZSL version for Android 7.1+, the previous one should be ZSL-enhanced version.
PS: Portrait mode needs a test on Android 7.1, maybe not work.
ZSL-enhanced version includes Motion photos, diet smart-burst and all ZSL version features, require Android 8.0+,
ZSL version contains ZSL HDR+, hybrid burst, 240 FPS slow-motion, 60FPS video ready, and other OG Pixel features. it is for Nexus 2015 running Android 7.1+, if you don’t use motion photo, you can also use this one.
Bugs:
1. smart-burst always mark the first photo (ZSL-enhanced version).
2. Autofocus won’t work after manually focus, need lock then unlock the AF/AE lock.
