Yes Gcam on P7Pro is not a very good experience for me at all. I've been a GOS user for a while and this is the first time I've experienced such an awful experienced with Gcam and GOS. I hope it gets fixed. The GOS camera is just lacking in features for me. And yes don't even bother using Portrait mode. It freezes on me and just leads to frustration.
Google Camera very slow portrait mode processing
Same issue here on my Pixel 7 Pro.
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I am having the same issue with the portrait processing time on my P7Pro. My Video is working fine tho - at least from my point oft view. Ill try to confirm the issue in github. Cheers.
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pecan Where do you guys see the portrait setting? Are you in GOS camera or google camera?
[deleted] They're talking about Google Camera.
13 days later
I don't know if I'm way out to left field on this, but there was an sepolicy change needed for the Pixel 6[ Pro] in order to allow the camera software to access the DSP for accelerated image processing. Before that, the Pixel 6 was slow like is being reported in this thread.
Was that change incorporated in the Pixel 7? Has it been properly validated that it doesn't need some tweaking for the minor differences?
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Seems you were on the right track @abcZ
in this issue the problem is also very well explained about SELinux and a special sepolicy which is missing.
One GrapheneDev answered with "Won't Fix" because it can be an attack vector for them ;( ;(
https://github.com/GrapheneOS/os-issue-tracker/issues/1841
They think Google will fix it but I would not bet on that (they don't have sepolicy problems on their firmware).
For me this is unfortunately a dealbreaker against GrapheneOS on my new Pixel 7 Pro (that device was too expensive to not use the camera AND THE DSP to its fullest)
therealmarv Hmm, well unfortunately, "thestinger" is David Micay, who is in charge of GrapheneOS, therefore his position is absolutely authoritative.
I don't believe that it is likely to be fixed by google, their history suggests virtually no chance that they'll fix it.
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Totally agree with your point. GOS is an amazing OS but one of the strongest points of Pixel 7 is its camera. Not having a proper camera means we are loosing a lot.
I already highlighted this above and will repeat that if its the case then it should be at least mentioned in official GOS FAQ that Google Camera will not work as expected. The FAQ currently says that Google Camera works fine but this is not the case for Pixel 7 devices and is misleading. Ultimately, someone will buy the phone thinking the camera will work as per FAQ and then will find out it doesn't and this will negatively affect GOS as people might try posting here and there on the web that there is a misleading promise the camera will work.
I think its necessary to update the FAQ to include this important information so that prospective users will be aware. Obliviously, the choice is ultimately up to GOS team but its my 2 cents.
Agree too - I don't believe Google will fix it as they have no reason to. It seems we are pretty much stuck with an inferior camera... which is really a big shame!
Do you think it's possible that this can be solved by a gcam mod?
I am not an expert in this but don't believe so as gcam still requires that sepolicy to communicate with hardware properly.
I've tried a few gcam mods, all are suffering from the same issue.
Not sure what the risks are to allow the sepolicy in question or at least provide that option to users so that they could enable it if they want to (accepting the possible risk factor).
I was doing a photo session yesterday and the camera was so slow, especially when taking multiple pictures. My old Notes 10 Ultra blows it out of the water which is a huge shame.
I also suffer from the same problem - really frustrating, as GrapheneoOS experience is really good otherwise...
As GrapheneoOS developers probably won't solve that issue, like we have read on the GitHub issue - is there a way we can give this issue priority at Google?
Damn, I noticed this issue some days ago and thought it's just an exception..
I always take portrait photos of people, as it looks incredibly good, especially on this phone. I don't mind waiting (Even though it's very awkward when you say "this phone takes good pictures, but we'll wait a minute for each"), but after like three photos, the camera app won't allow me to take another, and I'll have to wait until at least one is processed.
Waiting is one thing, but not being able to take another shot before it's processed is very very annoying.
I also noticed that Google photos generally has very slow processing, it feels way slower than my old P6P and even the P5. Maybe the new Tensor chip isn't used fully, even if that's the whole reason for Tensor to exist.
BTW, there is one manual workaround for faster processing: Snap a normal picture of the person, and then add portrait blur via google photos. It takes some steps, but that way you're much faster in making portrait shots.
Make sure to zoom in 1.3x to have the same frame, too.
Volen I have the same problem on P7P
May be isolated to the P7P. I have the Google Camera on my P7 and don't seem to have this issue.
18 days later
Not sure if it will help but maybe we can also post in Android's Issue Tracker thread so that Google support team will prioritize this?
Looking at the ticket in question: https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/227166806#comment8 Google assigned P4 priority to this issue and P4 is basically the lowest priority they have, described as "An issue that should be addressed eventually. Such an issue is not relevant to core organizational functions or the work of other teams, or else it relates only to the attractiveness or pleasantness of the system".
In other words, they don't seem to care about this as we can see they didn't do anything in the last 8 months.
Camera is the only thing I missed so dearly from Samsung.
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Volen Looking at the ticket in question: https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/227166806#comment8 Google assigned P4 priority to this issue and P4 is basically the lowest priority they have, described as "An issue that should be addressed eventually. Such an issue is not relevant to core organizational functions or the work of other teams, or else it relates only to the attractiveness or pleasantness of the system".
Thanks for looking this up and sharing it.
I would go further than this: enabling full functionality of Google's Pixel hardware and related software so it can fully work in an OS that is used by people who do NOT want to interact with Google is NOT in their business interests. A P4 response should be entirely expected, not only on this issue but others.
There can be and likely will be more impediments like this in the future. It is simply not in Google's business interest for GrapheneOS and the alternate, google-free ROMs which allow people to not be tracked by Google to grow.
I contend that future progress in degoogling depends not only in the software area but equally in the legal area (e.g. privacy and anti-competition).
11 days later
Right now I'm just taking normal photos as a workaround and adding the bokeh effect afterwards in Google Photos....
spl4tt Good call not trusting gphotos, since its primary purpose seems to be to steal your pictures and upload them to a google account.
de0u Yes, however, it doesn't appear that it is likely that it will be accepted by grapheneos.
intelligence Yes, however, it doesn't appear that it is likely that it will be accepted by grapheneos.
Here is the grapheneos.org repo list of open pull requests and the list of closed pull requests.
de0u You need to actually READ THIS THREAD and associated PR.
https://github.com/GrapheneOS/os-issue-tracker/issues/1841
That says IT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.
intelligence You need to actually READ THIS THREAD and associated PR.
I believe @Volen suggested a FAQ change (different from a GOS change). Perhaps I misread the post I replied to?
de0u Hopefully so. However, you replied to me, my message is even quoted in yours.
So, is this issue still a thing or has it been solved by a recent update? I'm wondering why only a few people are experiencing this issue - or report on it. I did not find any reports on the GOS subreddit, a place where I would assume many users would express their complaints about it, which is by no means any reliable metric, of course. But in my experience the frequency of reading about a certain issues often correlates with the probability to encounter that issue. Judging by the github comment every P7 and P7P should be affected by this, right? So it's not much of a question IF I encounter this problem but how much I am annoyed by it?
Phead Probably so few people complaining about it because;
1) The GrapheneOS camera software is NOT affected -- only google camera.
2) Google camera still works, just that some computational functions are slower since it can't use dedicated hardware.
3) Only Pixel 7 is affected -- 6 and lower is not.
4) Pixel 7 has a hell of a CPU, so its not really THAT slow.
- 1+2) Yes, however, as someone pointed out not all features are available to the GOS cam. So if you happen to spend your money on one of the new pixels you probably want to make use of the extra camera and its feature set. Personally I am way too old to care about a few seconds here and there. But, as someone else pointed out, the camera locks down after 3 or so shots (portrait mode) and thats less cool if that's a recurring problem
3) True, did not take that into account
4) Apparently the slow down is intense enough to cause the camera to lock down for some time if you happen to take more than one shot.
Personally, I can live with some downsides to GOS as its fundamentals focus on something else than flashy pics and bokeh effects. But as a soon-to-be GOS User
I would like to know as many downsides as possible before plugging in the cable and press the button. So if this problem persists on all p7 devices ir should be stated somewhere as known issue, just as a heads-up before you dive in.
Phead "it should be stated somewhere"
I don't know about that. GOS' mission is essentially to provide a usable de-googled experience. That any Google app is usable in GOS', perhaps say with altered network permissions, is a bonus. Many users of GOS would never even attempt to install or use Google Camera.
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Right. On the other hand they have a specific section for just the camera: https://grapheneos.org/usage#google-camera
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying a lack of camera features is a no-go. As you said most users won't even be using Google apps. But they specifically say that gcam is fully functional which is apparently not the case for P7 devices (yes, they work just fine except when taking portrait pictures, but you know what I mean) Again I'm not compalinig. GOS is awesome and they're doing a great job. I just think it's good to manage expectations there.
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Considering that Google Camera has these issues on stock P7 line, isn't this a job for Google to do rather than discussing it here? I mean there's nothing wrong with discussion, it just happens in the wrong room.
[deleted] Considering that Google Camera has these issues on stock P7 line
They don't.