What is Play Camera?
Play Camera is a free camera and photo editing app developed by Google for Android devices. It offers the basic functionality you'd expect from a camera app, allowing you to take photos and videos, switch between front and rear cameras, enable grid lines and level indicators, and use a timer.
Beyond just taking photos, Play Camera also includes a range of editing features for enhancing your images. You can crop, rotate and flip photos, apply filters and adjust aspects like brightness, contrast, saturation, warmth, and more. It also includes tools for drawing, adding stickers, inserting text, and using face filters.
The app has a clean, minimalist interface that's easy to navigate. All the main features and tools are accessible from the bottom toolbar, making Play Camera intuitive even for less tech-savvy users. It does contain ads, but they are generally unobtrusive.
As Play Camera is from Google, the app offers easy integration with Google Photos for cloud backup and storage. Your photo library is also accessible straight from Play Camera for quick editing or sharing.
With its simplicity plus relatively robust editing tools, Play Camera is ideal for casual photographers who want more creative control from their smartphone camera app than what their phone's native app offers. It likely won't satisfy more serious hobbyists though.