Google to bring RAW support to third-party camera apps in Android

Google seems to be bringing support for RAW to third-party camera apps in Android. In other words, a lot more photography and editing apps for Android smartphones would be able to capture and edit images in RAW format.

Why do mobile photographers need access to images in RAW format?

Mobile photography and imaging hardware have come a very long way. Smartphone cameras often rival dedicated professional cameras in terms of visual detail. However, the Android OS is still holding back some third-party camera apps.

There are many photo editor apps for Android. They are quite versatile. However, they can’t do much if camera apps offer them images in JPEG format. If users want to unlock their full potential, they need access to images in RAW format.

RAW photography essentially saves all of the image data that comes straight from the camera. There’s no compression, auto-editing, or processing. An image in RAW format offers full access to aspects like white balance, exposure, and sharpness. Google offers this freedom in the Pixel 8 and the Pixel 9 phones.

Mobile photographers usually do not need such fine control, especially when images are needed for social media platforms. However, with smartphone cameras becoming increasingly powerful, photographers should have access to the aforementioned aspects.

How will Google unlock support for RAW format in third-party camera apps?

There are a few camera apps that can access the RAW format. However, many third-party apps don’t. Apps that rely on the Jetpack CameraX library, instead of the Android Camera2 API, can save photos in the JPEG image format only. Needless to say, the Jetpack CameraX library is intended for apps optimized for social media.

The Camera2 API has had access to RAW format for quite some time. However, it is a complex API. Moreover, developers often avoid this API, primarily because their target audience doesn’t need advanced camera controls.

Google recently added support for Ultra HDR to the Jetpack CameraX library with the 1.4.0 update. Android Authority has reported that Google plans to add RAW capture support to the Jetpack API in the next update.

Specifically speaking, in version 1.5.0-alpha03 of CameraX, Google will add two new output formats: OUTPUT_FORMAT_RAW and OUTPUT_FORMAT_RAW_JPEG. As the names indicate, the former captures an image in RAW format, while the latter captures both a RAW and a JPEG image. The API will allow third-party camera apps on Android to save images in the Adobe DNG format, which is one of the most widely used file formats for RAW images.