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In a consumer app, I would say Snapchat's early camera hack on Android takes the cake. To be brief, their app ran the Android native camera app in the backgrou
by mi3law 9y ago
In a consumer app, I would say Snapchat's early camera hack on Android takes the cake.
To be brief, their app ran the Android native camera app in the background and took a screenshot of the resulting feed for the image, bypassing actual integration with Android's camera apps. Having worked on an Android smartphone from the ground up, I can understand their reluctance to commit dev time to having to support so many Android versions and other variations on all the devices out there, but still a lazy weird hack.
https://android.gadgethacks.com/how-to/fyi-why-androids-snapchat-app-takes-inferior-photos-0174597/ https://android.gadgethacks.com/how-to/fyi-why-androids-snap...
https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/64xqv0/snapchat_recording_quality/ https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/64xqv0/snapcha...
- blauditore 9y agoI thought it was also about delay, because the main camera API in some cases imposes a considerable delay (1 second or more), but screenshots are almost instant.
- pg_bot 9y agoThis is hilarious as Snap Inc. bills itself as a "Camera Company"
- jbob2000 9y agoThis isn't a comment about snap chat, moreso about how shitty the camera API is for Android. Yes, it is faster and more reliable to take a screenshot of the camera app.
- sphix0r 9y agoActually used the same "hack" years ago. Made an app for a friend where one could import photos and drag logos on top of the photo. Making a screenshot was way easier and since I didn't had to spend time to figure out how to use the bitmap API and its edge cases. Especially large pictures on low end devices caused crashes.
- taaem 9y agoAren't they still doing that? At least I have the impression.