Update (13 September 2024): Blackmagic Design has just released an update to the Android version of the Camera app, bringing it to near feature parity with iOS and also expanding support to additional Android devices
- Support for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5/6 and Z Fold 5/6
- Support for the Xiaomi 13T
- Support for higher framerates with Pixel devices
- Time-lapse recording
- Adjusting audio gain
- And other general fixes and stability improvements
Update (22 July 2024): Blackmagic Design has just announced a 1.3 update to the Android version of the Camera app, with the following fixes/additions
While expanding compatibility is good news, there are also other features that will definitely make Android devices a prosumer-favored device:
- Record to external storage (majority of the Android smartphones have USB3 speeds with their USB-C connector)
- Customizable HDMI out feed, including a clean option
It’s almost been a month since the initial release, and the rollout of this update sends a clear message – Blackmagic Design definitely wants to shrink the gap between both platforms on feature parity, and keeping it in sync with iOS to ensure both smartphone ecosystems have the same foundation.
Original Story (24 June 2024)
Initially teased as a side mention at NAB 2024, Blackmagic Design had announced the Blackmagic Camera for Android app; there was no mentioned timeline for the release.
They have finally released the Android version of the Blackmagic Camera app, and it’s already showing up on Google Play here in the Middle East.
First steps on Android
Although the iOS version has seen updates with additional features since its initial release on iOS in September 2023, the Android version won’t have complete feature parity at launch. However, I have noticed a few new iOS features that are available in the initial Android release (e.g disabling proxy recording came to iOS in V1.4.1 but available on Android at launch).
Android users now have a starting ground to filming videos using Blackmagic’s digital film camera controls and image processing.
For those who use smartphones as their primary filming camera (me included!), the same intuitive UI interface from the Blackmagic Design cameras translates to the Android system. This gives you the chance to film just like Hollywood filmmakers and will be useful content creators using Android.
Most of the toggle features that you can adjust include: frame rate, shutter angle, white balance, ISO, recording in H.264 and HEVC, focus peaking, and more (could go on but I’ll let you discover it on your own).
If you want some bragging rights, I installed it on my Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and it allows me to record at 8K (iPhone only supports 4K). Plus, you can also use the S Pen to start/stop recording within the app.
You can also record to Blackmagic Cloud (nearest MENA availability in Turkey and Egypt), which lets you collaborate on DaVinci Resolve projects with editors anywhere in the world.
Device Compatibility
The one challenge with Android devices is the fragmentation of device specs and different UI skins to Android. After a little bit of digging into the app’s tech specs, it will work with select devices made by Samsung and Google running Android 13 or later:
- Samsung Galaxy S23/S23+/S23 Ultra/S23 FE
- Samsung Galaxy S24/S24+/S24 Ultra
- Google Pixel 7/7a/8/8 Pro
When it comes to the Samsung devices, my conclusion is that the Qualcomm Snapdragon SoCs are the main reason they can easily run the app (also for the latest Exynos SoC used in the S23 FE, and the S24/S24+ models sold in non-Snapdragon markets).
With future updates, it should slowly add more compatible devices and some of the current features from the iOS to bring them up to par.
I’m hoping the next Galaxy event will see them pull off something similar to what Apple did in October 2023 – filming using their smartphones and using the Blackmagic Camera app.
You can download the app from Google Play for FREE.
Image credit: Blackmagic Design
