The Portrait mode on the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL are pure magic. It is amazing to see what Google has managed to achieve using a single 12MP rear camera and machine learning while other OEMs are unable to achieve something similar despite using a dual-camera setup on their phones.
Samsung’s Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ owners, in particular, must be feeling pretty left out and sad after seeing the Portrait mode on the Google Pixel 2. With every major smartphone launched in the second half of the year featuring a Portrait mode, there is little Galaxy S8 owners can do to express their displease over the lack of this mode on their phone.
Thankfully, the Google Camera APK along with its magical Portrait mode was ported to work on some other Android devices running Oreo. Now that same port has been updated to work on Samsung’s 2017 flagship handsets: the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+. This means that using the modded Google Camera APK, Galaxy S8 owners can enjoy Portrait mode on their handset. And we are not talking about a half-assed broken feature here. With the modded Google Camera app, the Portrait mode on the Galaxy S8 works almost as good as it does on the Google Pixel 2.
As if that’s not already enough, the ported Google Camera app also brings Google’s famed HDR+ to Samsung’s flagship handsets from last year. Pictures taken with HDR+ will have more details and better dynamic range which makes them suitable while taking photos in low-light.
How To Get Google Pixel 2’s Portrait Mode on Samsung Galaxy S8
Step 1: Download the modded Google Camera APK from here and install it on your Samsung Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8+.
Step 2: Before you start clicking photos in Portrait mode or with HDR+ enabled, you will have to change a few settings so as to improve the stability of the app. Open the modded GCamera app and proceed to its Settings menu.
From the menu, change the below-mentioned settings to the recommended option by the developer:
- Model: Nexus 6
- Portrait mode on all models: on
- camera.af.debug.show: off
- camera.faceboxes: on
Step 3: Now, you will be able to take photos in Portrait mode on your Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+. Make sure to click a test picture with an actual person in the photo as only then the blur effect would be most visible. The Portrait mode here is not limited to the rear camera — you will also be able to take Portrait photos using the front 8MP shooter on the Galaxy S8 using this modded APK.
You will also be able to shoot pictures with HDR+ enabled for better dynamic range and details using this modded GCamera app.
This modded version of Google Camera will work on both Snapdragon and Exynos 8895 variants of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+. However, do note that there will be a slight delay in taking a picture after you tap the shutter button while in HDR+ or Portrait mode due to the processing involved.
If you end up installing this modded Google Camera APK on your Galaxy S8, do drop a comment and let us know how your experience is while taking Portrait photos with it.
