XDA covered a hobbyist Raspberry Pi camera this week that fires four lenses at once for a “wobbly,” out-of-sync Polaroid look. The build is charming, but most Android phones already ship with three or four sensors sitting behind the lens ring. The stock camera app hides that. The apps in this list do not.
We put together the best Android photography apps for 2026 that turn a modern multi-camera phone into a proper experimental rig. Long exposures, multi-lens capture, wide-to-tele stitching, aperture priority, and film-look processing. All on hardware most of us already own.
What matters in an experimental camera app on Android
- Access to every physical lens. Ultrawide, wide, tele, macro, depth. Not just the main sensor.
- Camera2 API with Level 3 support. Manual ISO, shutter, focus, and white balance. The stock camera app almost never exposes them.
- RAW capture in DNG. DNGs open in Lightroom or darktable, JPEG-only apps do not.
- Multi-frame stacking. Astrophotography, long-exposure light trails, and HDR bracketing.
- Video with manual exposure lock. The one feature that separates a serious video app from a novelty.
- Live histogram, focus peaking, zebras. Assistance tools reference photographers expect.
- No cloud requirement. Files stay on device.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Free plan | Starting price | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open Camera | Free, full manual control | Full app | Free, open source | 4.5 |
| GCam Mod (BSG) | Pixel Camera port to non-Pixel phones | Sideload only | Free | 4.6 (community) |
| ProShot | Balanced pro UI | 5-day trial | Around $6 one-time | 4.6 |
| Camera FV-5 | DSLR-style controls | Trial | Around $4 one-time | 4.4 |
| Slow Shutter Cam | Long exposure and light painting | Trial | Around $3 one-time | 4.4 |
| MotionCam Pro | Cinema-grade RAW video | Free tier | Around $8 one-time | 4.4 |
| PhotoPills | Planning night, astro, and multi-lens shots | Free features | Around $10 one-time | 4.7 |
The apps
1. Open Camera — Best free experimental camera
Open Camera supports every Camera2 feature Android has ever added: RAW DNG, HDR, exposure bracketing, focus stacking, and multi-lens switching. The 2026 build finally exposes the ultrawide and telephoto on modern Snapdragon phones without a manual overlay.
Where it falls short: the interface has never won a design award. Every setting is available but nested. New users spend the first hour finding the burst mode.
Pricing:
- Free: Full app, GPL
- Paid: None (donations welcome)
Platforms: Android
Download: Open Camera on Google Play or Aptoide or F-Droid
Bottom line: Install first, before we spend money on anything else on this list.
2. GCam Mod (BSG) — Best computational photography port
The GCam Mod community, currently led by BSG builds, packages the Pixel Camera app for non-Pixel phones. HDR+, Night Sight, and Astrophotography mode run on Snapdragon, Exynos, and MediaTek chips through XML profiles that map each phone’s sensors to GCam’s pipeline.
Where it falls short: sideload only. Every phone needs the correct XML config, which comes from XDA threads and Telegram channels rather than a first-party site. Updates lag behind Pixel official builds by weeks.
Pricing:
- Free: Community builds
- Paid: None
Platforms: Android
Download: GCam Mod builds live on developer forums (search for “GCam BSG build” plus phone model). Never install a random APK; verify SHA-256 against the developer’s post.
Bottom line: Turns any modern Android into a Pixel-grade computational camera for still shots. Worth the setup afternoon.
3. ProShot — Best balanced pro interface
ProShot is the most polished paid manual camera on Android. Curved control layout, quick access to bracketing, and video with independent audio channel control. Runs on the widest range of phones without device-specific tuning.
Where it falls short: the price is one-time, but new versions occasionally require a paid upgrade. No cross-device sync of presets.
Pricing:
- Free: 5-day trial
- Paid: Around $6 one-time
Platforms: Android, iOS, Windows Phone (legacy)
Download: ProShot on Google Play or Aptoide
Bottom line: If Open Camera’s UI is too dense, ProShot is the paid app to switch to.
4. Camera FV-5 — Best DSLR-style manual controls
Camera FV-5 puts a physical-camera control layout on the phone. Four dials, EXIF-accurate metadata output, and long exposure up to 60 seconds through simulated shutter on flagship phones.
Where it falls short: the app has not moved its UI since 2019. New Android phones sometimes need a profile update before every sensor works.
Pricing:
- Free: Trial with reduced resolution
- Paid: Around $4 one-time
Platforms: Android
Download: Camera FV-5 on Google Play
Bottom line: For DSLR converts who want the same finger positions as their old camera, this is the closest match.
5. Slow Shutter Cam — Best long-exposure app
Slow Shutter Cam stacks frames to simulate a real long exposure the phone hardware would blow out. Light trails, silky waterfalls, and light painting come out closer to a DSLR result than any single-frame trick.
Where it falls short: stacking works best on a tripod. Handheld usage introduces streaks that ruin the effect.
Pricing:
- Free: Trial
- Paid: Around $3 one-time
Platforms: Android, iOS
Download: Slow Shutter Cam on Google Play
Bottom line: The specialist tool for anything longer than a two-second exposure.
6. MotionCam Pro — Best cinema-grade RAW video
MotionCam Pro captures RAW10 video (CinemaDNG) on Snapdragon phones, giving log-graded footage on a device that costs less than a used cinema camera. Frame-drop compensation and thermal management are best-in-class.
Where it falls short: requires a phone with fast internal storage. RAW video generates gigabytes per minute; UFS 3.1 or slower fills the buffer in seconds.
Pricing:
- Free: Basic mode
- Paid: Around $8 one-time
Platforms: Android
Download: MotionCam Pro on Google Play
Bottom line: Not a stills camera. Video creators editing in DaVinci Resolve will love it.
7. PhotoPills — Best planning tool for experimental shoots
PhotoPills is the app astro, milky-way, and long-exposure photographers use before they leave the house. Sun and moon paths, milky-way visibility, augmented-reality overlays that show where a star trail will fall, and a full multi-lens focal-length simulator.
Where it falls short: not a camera. Everything happens before the shot. The learning curve is real; the augmented reality view rewards a weekend of experimentation.
Pricing:
- Free: Feature-limited free tier
- Paid: Around $10 one-time
Platforms: Android, iOS
Download: PhotoPills on Google Play
Bottom line: For any shot that requires “wait until 3:47am when the moon rises,” this is the tool that plans it.
How to pick the right one
- We want the maximum control for free: Open Camera.
- We want Pixel-grade computational photography on a non-Pixel: GCam Mod.
- We want a paid app that will not fight us on a mid-range phone: ProShot.
- We want long exposures without hardware tricks: Slow Shutter Cam.
- We shoot narrative video: MotionCam Pro plus Open Camera for stills.
- We plan the shot before we take it: PhotoPills.
FAQ
Do I need a flagship phone for RAW capture? No. Most mid-range 2023-and-newer Android phones expose Camera2 Level 3, which is the minimum for DNG output. The main-sensor RAW output is usually the best; secondary sensors are often JPEG-only.
Can I access all the lenses on my phone through any of these apps? Open Camera and ProShot expose whatever the Camera2 API returns, which on modern Snapdragon phones includes ultrawide, wide, tele, and macro. Older Samsung and Xiaomi builds sometimes hide the ultrawide behind vendor-specific APIs.
Is GCam Mod safe to install? The community builds are safe when downloaded from the maintainer’s own site or a well-known XDA thread. Verify SHA-256 before installing; random APK repackagers ship modified builds.
Are any of these apps free for commercial use? Open Camera is GPL, so free for commercial use with attribution. The paid apps allow commercial output of images we capture without restriction; the app itself just has to be licensed per install.
What is Camera2 Level 3? The Android Camera2 API tier that guarantees full manual exposure, RAW output, and multi-camera access. Most flagship Snapdragon and Tensor phones ship at Level 3.
