Taking a Picture in Font

Generation ECC200 in Font Taking a Picture

A lot of this chapter is going to depend on which phone you use. Not only are there differences in physical hardware, but different versions of Android have different camera capabilities, and phone manufacturers are free to offer additional software. Android 1.5 offered very rudimentary camera functions and few options, but Android 2.2 offers more choices. To take a picture, either press the physical camera button on your phone or launch the Camera app from the app tray or your Home screen. Other software may also allow you to use your phone s camera, some of which I ll discuss later. Figure 9 1 shows the Camera app on a Nexus One running Android 2.1.

In this case, the phone is held on its side for a horizontally framed photo, but you can take photos vertically, too. Unlike with some apps, the position of the buttons on the screen will not change as you rotate the phone orientation. On the right side of the screen, you ll see a small preview of the last photo you took, a slider to slide from video to still-photography mode, and a shutter button to take the photo. On the left, you ll see visual indications about your camera settings. In Figure 9 1, the photo is set to allow geotagging, and the flash is set to be automatically triggered in

low lighting. In Android 2.2, these visual indications have been moved to the right and combined with the buttons that allow you to change settings. To take a photo, simply click the shutter button at the bottom-right corner of the screen. You ll notice a second or two delay before the picture snaps. While this is often frustrating when trying to get the perfect picture, it also gives the camera a chance to refocus after you ve pressed the button. On the Nexus One, there s no way to adjust focus by pressing on the desired focal point, as there is on the iPhone. You can only choose between letting Android do the focusing with autofocus, and setting the camera to infinity mode. You can use digital zoom on phones that support it by pressing on the screen until the + and buttons appear; or, in Android 2.2, by pressing the zoom slide adjuster at the lower-right corner of the screen, as shown in Figure 9 2.

Once you snap a photo in Android 2.1, it will appear as a preview on the corner of the screen. If you tap the preview, you ll see the full photo for review, as shown in Figure 9 3. If you tap the center of the screen, the + or magnification buttons will appear. Press on the + side to zoom in, and drag the photo around with your finger to examine parts of it. The pinch-to-zoom action does not work in Android 2.1 and below, but it does work in Android 2.2. When you press on the review picture, you ll also see arrows on either side of the screen. Use these to browse through other pictures on your camera. In Android 2.2, you ll go directly to that picture in the Gallery app, which is one of the reasons pinch-to-zoom works.

Also notice the quick options on the left. You can delete a photo, share it, and set it as a contact or wallpaper; or click the Done button to exit review mode and get back to the main Camera app. You can also press the Menu button for more options, such as rotating and cropping the photo or viewing the metadata. Depending on the photo s settings, you may also see a Show on Maps option. I ll discuss some of these options in more detail later in this chapter.