Samsung bundles a fantastic wide-angle front-facing camera on the Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10+ and Galaxy S10e; however, they aren’t able to capture an outspread frame in all scenarios, it has been revealed — the South Korean firm locks down the field-of-view for aftermarket applications.
What we mean by that is that the API (that’s the level of code that provides developers with access to core device functions) Samsung created for the front-facing camera, which is used by several social networks and communication services — like Facebook, Instagram and Skype — crops the frame.
It’s unclear why Samsung made this decision, but some have speculated it was on the cusp of a limitation imposed by Google that restricts the maximum field of view aftermarket Android applications can tap into for the front-facing camera to create a unified experience across all devices.
The reason could be a lot more straightforward, though
The selfie camera is set to shoot in a somewhat cropped field-of-view by default in the stock Camera client, with users having the option to adopt a wider frame with the tap of a button — a feature that was recently added to the Galaxy S9 — and that’s missing from aftermarket services.
If that’s accurate, utilising the camera’s wide field-of-view would require extra leg work from developers — that is, of course, is if Google hasn’t locked it down. Then again, that’s just a theory — we’ve reached out to Samsung for comment and will update this article when we hear back.
